Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors: EO 13658 Coverage and Rates

The federal contractor minimum wage is $13.65 per hour as of May 11, 2026, under Executive Order 13658.¹ That rate applies only to a shrinking group of contracts entered into between January 1, 2015, and January 29, 2022, that have not been renewed or extended since. Tipped workers on those contracts must receive a cash wage of at least $9.55 per hour, and if tips plus that cash wage fall short of $13.65, the employer has to cover the difference. A separate order that had pushed the rate to $17.20 was revoked in March 2025, so many workers on newer federal contracts no longer have a dedicated executive order wage floor at all.

What Happened to the $17.20 Rate

Executive Order 14026, signed in April 2021, raised the contractor minimum to $15.00 per hour beginning January 30, 2022, with annual inflation adjustments that brought it to $17.20 by 2024. It applied to any new contracts, renewals, or extensions on or after January 30, 2022. On March 14, 2025, President Trump revoked EO 14026 through Executive Order 14236. The Department of Labor has stopped enforcing it and is moving to rescind the implementing regulations at 29 CFR part 23.²

The effect on workers depends on what other wage law reaches their contract. Prevailing wages under the Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon Act still apply where they applied before, and those rates often sit well above any executive order floor. Where no prevailing wage determination covers the work, the floor drops to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Lower-wage service workers on newer federal contracts who had been earning at least $17.20 can lose that specific protection unless another law fills the gap.

Which Contracts Executive Order 13658 Still Covers

EO 13658 reaches four categories of federal contracts, as long as the workers’ wages are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Service Contract Act, or the Davis-Bacon Act:³

Procurement contracts for construction covered by the Davis-Bacon Act.
Service contracts subject to the Service Contract Act.
Concession contracts to operate concessions on federal property, such as food services in federal buildings.
Contracts connected to federal property or lands that involve services for federal employees, their dependents, or the general public, such as national park vendors and lodging or food operations on government land.

Subcontracts flowing from a covered prime contract carry the same wage obligation. A prime contractor cannot avoid the requirement by routing work through subcontractors.

One narrow carve-out matters for outdoor operators. Executive Order 13838, issued in 2018, exempts seasonal recreational services on federal lands like river running, fishing, horseback riding, camping, and recreational ski services. Lodging and food services tied to seasonal recreation stay covered.⁴

Which Workers Qualify

Whether you’re covered turns on how closely your duties tie to the federal contract. Workers performing directly on a covered contract qualify for every hour of that contract work, no matter how much of the workweek it takes. A carpenter building a federal facility or a janitor cleaning a government office under a service contract falls here.⁵

Workers performing in connection with a covered contract hold support roles necessary for the contract but not called for by its terms. A payroll clerk processing timesheets for a construction crew is one example. These workers are covered only if they spend at least 20 percent of their hours in a given workweek on duties connected to the covered contract. Below that threshold, the executive order minimum wage doesn’t apply to them.⁵

Workers with disabilities are fully covered, including those whose wages would otherwise be set under Section 14(c) certificates of the Fair Labor Standards Act. If the Section 14(c) rate falls below the executive order minimum, the contractor must pay $13.65. If it exceeds that figure, the contractor pays the higher commensurate wage.⁵

Employees in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional roles are excluded, mirroring the overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Registered apprentices in approved programs are covered but may follow separate wage schedules under their apprenticeship agreements.

How the Rate Changes Each Year

The contractor minimum wage adjusts every year based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division publishes the new rate in the Federal Register at least 90 days before it takes effect, and the figure also appears on Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act wage determinations.¹ The previous rate was $12.90 in 2025, and the current rate of $13.65 took effect May 11, 2026.

What to Do If You’re Being Underpaid

You can file a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division by calling 1-866-487-9243 or submitting a report online.⁶ Have your employer’s name, a description of the work you perform, and details about your pay ready. Investigations are confidential. An investigator reviews contract and payroll records, and if a violation is confirmed, the employer must pay back wages to every affected worker.

Federal law bars employers from retaliating against workers who file complaints, ask about their pay, or cooperate with an investigation. Retaliation covers firing, cutting hours, reassignment to worse work, or any action that would discourage a reasonable employee from exercising these rights.⁷ Retaliation is itself a separate violation you can report to the same agency.

Contractor Obligations and Penalties

Paying the right rate is only part of compliance. Contractors must display the Department of Labor’s official poster informing workers of their rights under EO 13658, placed where employees can easily see it.⁸ Payroll and contract records have to be kept for at least three years after final payment on the contract, documenting hours worked, wages paid, and each worker’s connection to the covered contract.⁹ When records are incomplete, investigators tend to resolve ambiguities in the worker’s favor.

For tipped workers, the employer has to track each pay period whether tips plus the $9.55 cash wage reach $13.65. If they don’t, the shortfall gets paid directly by the employer.

When the Wage and Hour Division finds underpayment, the first remedy is back wages to every affected worker.⁶ The steeper consequence is debarment. A contractor found to have disregarded its wage obligations can be barred from receiving any federal contracts or subcontracts for up to three years, and the bar extends to responsible officers and any affiliated firms in which those officers have an interest.¹⁰ For companies that depend on government work, three years off the eligible list is effectively a business-ending penalty.

1
Federal Register. Minimum Wage for Federal Contracts Covered by Executive Order 13658, Notice of Rate Change in Effect as of May 11, 2026
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors (Executive Order 14026)
3
The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 13658 – Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Executive Order 13658, Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors: Annual Update
5
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 10 – Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors
6
U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Retaliation
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Workplace Posters
9
Acquisition.GOV. Subpart 4.7 – Contractor Records Retention
10
eCFR. 29 CFR 10.52 – Debarment Proceedings