On Jan. 30, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council released a proposed rule, Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting.

The proposal would prohibit federal contractors and subcontractors from requesting or considering information about a job applicant’s salary history during hiring for certain positions and would also require them to publicly disclose the salary for certain positions as part of any advertisements for the job opening.

Companies would be required to comply with these provisions for any position that will perform work on or in connection with a federal contract. The rule also establishes a complaint process for job applicants to report contractor noncompliance to the contracting agency.

Comments on the proposed rule are due April 1. ABC will be analyzing the proposed rule and participating in the regulatory process.