The U.S. Department of Labor will increase the minimum hourly wage for federal contractors to $14.05 and the tipped minimum wage to $9.85 per hour, according to a notice set to publish in the Federal Register on Thursday.
The new rates will go into effect 90 days after the notice is published and will apply to certain types of contracts entered into between Jan. 1, 2015, and Jan. 29, 2022, that were not renewed or extended on or after Jan. 30, 2022, per the notice.
The minimum hourly wage for federal contractors currently is $13.65, and the tipped minimum wage is $9.55 per hour, both of which took effect on May 11.
As administrations have changed, so too has the minimum wage for federal contractors.
President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13658 on Feb. 12, 2014, which set the minimum wage for federal contractors at $10.10 per hour starting Jan. 1, 2015, and included annual adjustments.
President Donald Trump then signed another EO on May 25, 2018, that amended Obama’s order to exclude federal contractors involved in “seasonal recreational services or seasonal recreational equipment rental for the general public on Federal lands.”
In turn, President Joe Biden signed an EO that set the minimum wage at $15 per hour effective Jan. 30, 2022, called for inflation-based adjustments and revoked Trump’s previous order. Biden’s order (EO 14026) superseded Obama’s order and applied to contracts entered on or after Jan. 30, 2022, or that were renewed or extended on or after Jan. 30, 2022.
Trump revoked Biden’s order on March 14, 2025.
“As a result, at this time Executive Order 13658 remains in effect,” per the new notice. “Although the number of contracts subject to Executive Order 13658 has significantly decreased over the past several years and continues to dwindle, the Department anticipates that there will be some existing contracts with the Federal Government that would not have qualified as a covered ‘new contract’ for purposes of Executive Order 14026 and that remain subject to the minimum wage requirements of Executive Order 13658.”