President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors, giving a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of workers.
Workers who currently earn the minimum of $10.95 an hour would receive a 37% pay hike, though the increase would be rolled out gradually, according to the terms of the order.
All federal agencies would need to include the higher wage in new contract offerings by Jan. 30 of 2022. By March 30, agencies would need to implement the higher wage into new contracts. The increase would also be in existing contracts that are extended.
What about the federal contractors who are currently making $13 or $14 an hour? Are they to join the $10.95 an hour at the new $15 minimum wage. Sounds like there’s going to be a lot of people who where making several dollars above the old minimum wage are now going to become minimum wage earners.
Cha cha ching!