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The Department of Labor recently announced that January 18, 2013 is the effective date of its Final Rule implementing Executive Order 13495, Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts. The Final Rule was originally published on August 29, 2011. The Executive Order mandates that service contracts include a clause requiring a successor contractor and its subcontractors to offer employees under the previous contract (who would otherwise be terminated as a result of the new contract) a right of first refusal under the successor contract for the position he or she is qualified.

The Executive Order and the Final Rule provided that the Final Rule would not be effective until the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FARC) issued regulations to include the mandatory contract clause in the FAR. The FARC subsequently set January 18, 2013 as the effective date of its final regulations, and the Department of Labor adopted the same. As a result, the Final Rule applies to all solicitations issued on or after January 18, 2013.