As promised in the State of the Union address, on February 12th, President Obama issued an Executive Order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 for federal contractors and sub-contractors. The Executive Order can be found here, and the accompanying fact sheet can be found here. Citing increased morale and productivity, and lower turnover and absenteeism, the Order will apply to all new covered contracts where the solicitation for the contract was issued after January 1, 2015. The wage increase also applies to all subcontracts and lower tiered contractors, and is indexed to inflation.
The Executive Order contains additional provisions requiring that tipped workers earn at least $10.10, and also applies to individuals with disabilities. In the past, disabled individuals working under service or concession contracts may have been paid less due to decreased productivity. This is no longer permitted.
Regulations are due to be published by October 1, 2014.