On March 14, 2025 and pursuant to EO 14236, President Trump revoked President Biden’s EO 14026. EO 14026 had required most federal concessioners to pay a minimum hourly wage to their employees. (As of January 1, 2025, EO 14026 imposed a minimum hourly wage of $17.75.) Because an executive order is direction from the president to a federal agency, as a result of the revocation, the Department of Labor has effectively been directed not to enforce regulations which it had previously issued for the purpose of implementing President Biden’s EO 14026. It is expected that the Department of Labor will formally withdraw the regulations it had previously issued to implement EO 14026 in the coming weeks.
It is also expected that the Department of Labor will re-issue a regulation which had implemented an exemption from the federal contractor minimum hourly wage for certain seasonal concession operations pursuant to President Trump’s EO 13838 issued in 2018. That prior regulation stated:
[The regulatory requirement imposed on federal concessioners mandating payment of a minimum hourly wage] shall not apply to contracts or contract-like instruments entered into with the Federal Government in connection with seasonal recreational services or seasonal recreational equipment rental for the general public on Federal lands, but this exemption shall not apply to lodging and food services associated with seasonal recreational services. Seasonal recreational services include river running, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, camping, mountaineering activities, recreational ski services, and youth camps.
The above regulation had previously been withdrawn as a result of President Biden revoking the executive order upon which the exemption was based (President Trump’s EO 13838). EO 13838 had been issued by President Trump in response to President Obama’s EO 13658. EO 13658 requires federal contractors to pay a minimum hourly wage to their employees, albeit in an amount lower than the amount required under President Biden’s EO 14026, and is still in effect.
The bottom line is that the revocation of President Biden’s EO 14026 will restore the status quo in place at the end of President Trump’s prior administration which included an exemption for concessioners who provide seasonal recreational services as noted above from the federal contract minimum wage imposed under President Obama’s EO 13658. Other concessioners should determine whether or not they are required to pay the federal minimum hourly wage established pursuant to President Biden’s EO 13658 which remains in effect. (As of January 1, 2025, EO 13658 imposed a minimum hourly wage of $13.30.)
