The federal contractor minimum wage has gone through several changes over the past decade, creating some confusion about which rules apply to which contracts. President Obama’s Executive Order 13658 originally established a higher minimum wage for workers performing on or in connection with certain federal contracts. President Biden later issued Executive Order 14026, which created an even higher minimum wage for contracts entered into on or after January 30, 2022, and stated that Obama’s order was superseded where inconsistent. When President Trump revoked Biden’s order in 2025 through Executive Order 14236, but did not address Obama’s earlier order, it left employers uncertain about whether the older minimum wage requirements under EO 13658 had automatically come back into effect for newer contracts.
The Department of Labor has now provided some direction through a recently published notice. The notice announces updated wage rates under EO 13658, and explains that EO 13658 “generally applies to contracts awarded between January 1, 2015, and January 29, 2022, and not renewed or extended on or after January 30, 2022.”
In other words, the rates announced in the notice apply to federal contracts entered into between January 1, 2015, and January 29, 2022, that were not renewed or extended (pursuant to an exercised option or otherwise) on or after January 30, 2022. Beginning on May 11, 2026, the Executive Order 13658 minimum wage rate that generally must be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with contracts covered by Executive Order 13658 will increase to $13.65 per hour, while the required minimum cash wage that generally must be paid to tipped employees performing work on or in connection with covered contracts will increase to $9.55 per hour.
Note that work covered by EO 13658 is often also subject to the Service Contract Act or Davis‑Bacon Act, both of which require prevailing wages that exceed the EO 13658 minimum wage. Contractors should work closely with counsel to evaluate their contract dates, wage obligations, and compliance strategies.