President Trump has issued an executive order requiring a review of federal contracting and hiring practices, citing the need to protect the interests of American workers.
What happened?
The executive order requires every government agency head to conduct a review of their 2018 and 2019 contracts to determine if their contractors used temporary foreign workers to perform federal contract work or operated foreign offices where offshoring may have taken place. Agencies must produce a report before December 2020 analyzing the impact of these foreign national workers on the economy, federal function, and national security.
The Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are ordered to take action to ensure that contractor companies are complying with the terms and conditions of their Labor Condition Applications.
What does it mean?
The executive order does not contain any policy changes, but following a review of their practices, government agencies might be ordered to take action to make changes to their contracting and internal hiring policies.
Temporary foreign workers who are currently working under contracts at government agencies are not personally impacted at this time.
How are GIA and Envoy responding?
Envoy and GIA are monitoring the situation closely and will provide updates as they are available. GIA attorneys will reach out to clients who may be impacted by this development.
What do I need to do next?
GIA recommends that HR professionals at companies that have placed foreign national workers at government agency worksites for contract performance purposes set up a consultation with immigration counsel to discuss the new development in detail.
Originally published by Envoy, August 2020
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