Dive Brief:

• The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, also known as the "blacklist" rule, was stopped by a Texas judge at the very last moment, Politico reports, handing down a preliminary injunction one day before the rule was supposed to go into effect.
• The judge took issue with the public disclosure and disqualification aspects of the rule and claimed that they "conflict directly with every one of the labor laws they purport to invoke," according to the court order obtained by Politico.
• The "blacklisting" rule was considered contentious for those very aspects. Many labor groups were concerned that the rule would put undue burden on companies and create higher regulatory costs.

Dive Insight:

This last minute call for injunction — seen by many as a last ditch effort — turned out to be successful. Critics were concerned that the rule would create compliance headaches and potential high loss of business. Connie Bertram, partner and co-chair of the Government Contractor Compliance Group at Proskauer, told HR Dive back in August that there was widespread concern that federal agencies and private litigants would use the rule to coerce settlements, thanks to the reporting requirements. 

The rule is one example of the Obama Administration's continued push to support workers by setting an example at the federal level. Executive orders have also pushed for paid sick leave for all federal contractors, for example.