Is Executive Order 13706 Still in Effect? Contractor Sick Leave

Executive Order 13706 is still in effect in 2026. Signed on September 7, 2015, it requires covered federal contractors to give employees at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a minimum of 56 hours (seven days) per year. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division continues to enforce it, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation still requires the paid sick leave clause in covered contracts.¹

Why It Wasn’t Swept Up in the 2025 Revocations

Several federal contractor executive orders have been rescinded in recent years, and it’s easy to assume EO 13706 went with them. It didn’t. In 2017, the first Trump administration revoked Executive Order 13673, the contractor labor-violation disclosure rule.² In March 2025, the second Trump administration revoked Executive Order 14026, the $15 contractor minimum wage order, and the Department of Labor confirmed it is no longer enforcing that order or its implementing regulations.³

EO 13706 was not part of either wave. The DOL still maintains its guidance and FAQ for the paid sick leave order, and contractors asking whether they can stop complying should read the answer as no.

Which Contracts Are Covered

The order applies to new contracts and contract-like instruments with the federal government in four categories:⁴

Procurement contracts for services or construction covered by the Davis-Bacon Act.
Service contracts covered by the Service Contract Act.
Concessions contracts, including concessions otherwise excluded under 29 CFR 4.133(b).
Contracts connected to offering services on federal property or lands for federal employees, their dependents, or the general public.

Wage thresholds under the Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act govern those contracts. Where employees’ wages are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act instead, the order applies only when the contract exceeds the micro-purchase threshold. Grants, contracts with Indian Tribes under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, and any contracts expressly excluded by the implementing regulations fall outside the order’s scope.⁴

Which Employees Are Covered

Any employee performing work on or in connection with a covered contract is covered if their wages are governed by the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, or the FLSA. Workers who qualify for an FLSA overtime or minimum wage exemption are still covered.¹ The obligation flows down the contracting chain. Both prime contractors and subcontractors must comply.

How the Leave Accrues and What It Covers

Covered employees earn at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked on or in connection with a covered contract. Contractors cannot cap total accrual below 56 hours per year, though employees working more than 1,680 covered hours will accrue past that floor.⁴

Employees can use accrued leave for their own illness, injury, or medical condition, or for diagnosis, treatment, or preventive care. The same uses apply when caring for a family member, defined broadly to include children, parents, spouses, domestic partners, and anyone else in a relationship equivalent to family. Employees dealing with domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking can use paid sick leave when the absence is for related medical diagnosis, treatment, or care.⁴

Contractors can require documentation from a health care provider only when the employee has been absent for three or more consecutive workdays, and the employee has up to 30 days after the first day of leave to provide it.

Carryover, Rehire, and Separation

Unused paid sick leave carries over from year to year. If an employee leaves a covered job and is rehired by the same contractor within 12 months, previously accrued unused leave must be reinstated, even if the earlier work was on a different covered contract.⁵

One point catches employers and employees off guard: contractors are not required to pay out unused accrued sick leave when an employee separates.⁶ A contractor that voluntarily pays out accrued leave at a value equal to or greater than what the employee would have received by using it is then off the hook for reinstating that leave on rehire.

State and Local Paid Sick Leave Laws

EO 13706 does not preempt state or local paid sick leave laws. A contractor subject to both must follow whichever gives the employee more generous leave.⁶ A single leave policy can satisfy both obligations only if it meets or exceeds every requirement of each, including accrual rates, permitted uses, and anti-retaliation protections.

Notice and Recordkeeping

Contractors must post a DOL-provided notice in a prominent worksite location. Electronic posting works if the contractor normally communicates employment terms electronically and the notice appears prominently on the relevant site.¹

Records for each covered employee must be kept for at least three years after the covered contract ends. Required items include names, addresses, Social Security numbers, job classifications, wage rates, daily and weekly hours worked, deductions, total wages per pay period, and copies of any paid sick leave notifications given to employees.⁷ Refusing to make these records available for inspection can itself trigger payment suspensions.

Enforcement, Penalties, and Complaints

The Wage and Hour Division’s tools escalate quickly:⁸

A contracting officer can withhold accrued payments or advances to cover what’s owed to employees.
The contracting agency can suspend all further payments, advances, or fund guarantees until violations stop.
If withheld funds aren’t enough to make employees whole, the DOL can sue in court for the remainder.
Non-compliance can be grounds for termination for default.
A contractor that disregards its obligations can be barred from receiving any federal contract or subcontract for up to three years, after a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.⁹

Where the Wage and Hour Division finds that a contractor interfered with an employee’s ability to accrue or use paid sick leave and the problem isn’t fixed, the agency can order relief, including back pay and any benefits the employee lost.⁸

Any person, organization, or entity that believes a contractor has violated the paid sick leave requirements can file a complaint with the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. The complaint does not have to come from the affected employee. The identity of a complainant or witness is kept confidential from non-federal parties unless the individual consents or disclosure is otherwise required by law.¹⁰

1
Acquisition.GOV. 52.222-62 Paid Sick Leave Under Executive Order 13706
2
The White House. Presidential Executive Order on the Revocation of Federal Contracting Executive Orders
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Final Rule: Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors
4
govinfo.gov. Executive Order 13706 – Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Questions and Answers
6
eCFR. 29 CFR 13.5 — Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors
7
eCFR. 29 CFR 13.25 — Records to Be Kept by Contractors
8
Acquisition.GOV. Enforcement of Executive Order 13706 Paid Sick Leave Requirements
9
eCFR. 29 CFR 13.44
10
eCFR. 48 CFR 22.2109 – Enforcement of Executive Order 13706 Paid Sick Leave Requirements