A federal judge in Arizona upheld the White House’s April 2021 executive order that increased the minimum wage of employees working on federal contracts to $15 per hour, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.
The Department of Labor’s final rule on the new minimum hourly wage took effect on Jan. 30, 2022. Federal subcontractors are also included in the pay bump.
U.S. District Judge John Tuchi said the executive order on the higher minimum wage for personnel working on federal contracts was well within the U.S. president’s authority, verified by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act.
“The president here relied on a broad statutory delegation to exercise proprietary authority in an area — general administrative control of the executive branch — over which he enjoys inherent powers,” Tuchi wrote in his Jan. 6 ruling wrote in his Jan. 6 ruling.
Attorneys general for Arizona, Indiana, Idaho, Nebraska and South Carolina filed a preliminary injunction on the new minimum wage for federal contractor employees.
As of Jan. 1, 2023, the minimum wage of federal contractor employees rose again to $16.20 an hour, according to DOL.
