Help Is on the Way – Polish Your Resume to Become a Procuring Agency Labor Advisor

“But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The [labor advisor] in this kind of story must be such a man. He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.”

 — Raymond Chandler, The Simple Art of Murder (1950).

A White House Task Force released a report that included recommendations to strengthen Federal contract labor and employment practices. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/M-23-08-Labor-Advisor.pdf. This memorandum provides guidance to agencies to ensure labor advisors are in place at agencies to improve implementation and compliance with contract labor law requirements for Federal contractors. As it stands right now, not all agencies have labor advisors, and those that do sometimes leave the posts vacant. But the new guidance requires them to get into compliance and hire one by Feb. 15, 2023. So, polish your resume.

I think the job of agency labor advisor is one of the more interesting lines of work in the Federal Government. It requires much substantive expertise, and it furnishes the job holders with a variety of interesting work. If I was born again, I want to be born as an agency labor advisor. You get to be one of the last free agents in the government –  you are not beholden to the Department of Labor (“DOL”), although you don’t get to order either DOL or the agency contracting folk around; but you do get to help and guide them. You become an advocate for your agency with DOL. You are a resource for the agency procurement community. And you are a willing ear to listen to the contracting community and try to promote harmony. I have been dealing with agency labor advisors of one sort or another for maybe 35 years, and I generally come away impressed. This is one area of the civil service that really works. They lubricate the process and help avoid unnecessary disputes.

As noted by the White House Task Force:

[L]abor advisors can be a valuable resource to the Federal acquisition workforce, including program officials whose projects are supported by Federal contractors, by helping to ensure the goals of labor laws and implementing regulations and policies are being met by their contractors. Labor advisors can promote Federal workforce understanding of longstanding labor laws, such as the Service Contract Act (SCA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and nondiscrimination and affirmative action requirements such as those in Executive Order (E.O.) 11246. They can also support successful implementation of requirements that have been newly issued, enhanced, or refreshed, such as those addressing an increased minimum wage for Federal contract workers, non-displacement of service contract workers, and the mandatory use of project labor agreements. Equally important, labor advisors can play an important liaison role with enforcement agencies. For example, by regularly communicating with the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in the Department of Labor (DOL) over issues arising under the Davis Bacon Act (DBA), the Davis Bacon Related Acts (DBRA) and the SCA and with DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) over issues arising under E.O. 11246, labor advisors can facilitate early resolution of issues and help prevent or mitigate labor violations. This engagement can also help ensure continued contract performance in compliance with the law.

 Id.

The Task Force is driven by a cooperative effort of DOL and OMB. And every Task Force needs an “in  group.” This Task Force has created the Contract Labor Advisor Group (“CLAG”), an interagency working group comprised of labor advisors and acquisition professionals that is intended  to “promote better understanding and implementation of contract labor laws and improved communication across agencies in support of a strengthened Federal contracting base.”  We will see what comes out of the CLAG.

Questions regarding the White House memorandum may be sent to laboradvisors@dol.gov and/or MBX.OMB.OFPPv2@OMB.eop.gov.