Federal Contracting: Assessments and Citations of Federal Labor Law Violations by Selected Federal Contractors

In fiscal year 2009, the federal government obligated over $500 billion on government contracts. Some in Congress are concerned that private companies may be awarded federal contracts even though they had been cited for violating federal laws that are meant to ensure that employees receive proper wages, have the right to bargain collectively, and are not subject to work-site hazards. GAO was asked to (1) investigate the extent to which companies that received federal contracts during fiscal year 2009 had been assessed the 50 largest monetary penalties for closed inspections of occupational safety, health, and wage regulations for fiscal years 2005 through 2009, and (2) develop case studies of federal contractors that have been assessed occupational safety, health, wage, and collective bargaining penalties. To perform this work, GAO obtained and analyzed concluded wage and health and safety inspections from the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for fiscal years 2005 to 2009. GAO also obtained labor union organization and bargaining violations from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). To determine the value of contracts awarded to GAO's case-study companies, GAO analyzed Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG) data for fiscal year 2009