FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 3: Improper Business Practices and Personal Conflicts of Interest › Subpart 3.9

FAR 3.903 Policy.

The codified text (eCFR, as of 2026-10-02). Under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ↗, agencies follow class deviations with new text for many parts while the formal rules go through the Federal Register: check the solicitation and your contract's clauses, which rule.

In plain English

This section prohibits contractors and subcontractors from retaliating against employees who disclose certain types of wrongdoing related to federal contracts. It protects employees who reasonably believe they are reporting gross mismanagement, waste, abuse, danger to public health or safety, or violations of law. Retaliation is prohibited even if requested by a government official, unless the request is a non-discretionary directive within the official's authority.

Applies to: Contractors and subcontractors with federal contracts

What it requires

  • Do not discharge, demote, or otherwise discriminate against an employee as a reprisal for making a protected disclosure.
  • Do not retaliate even if an executive branch official requests it, unless the request is a non-discretionary directive within the official's authority.

Key terms: reprisal · disclosure · gross mismanagement · gross waste of Federal funds · abuse of authority

Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.

The text

(a)(1) Contractors and subcontractors are prohibited from discharging, demoting, or otherwise discriminating against an employee as a reprisal for disclosing, to any of the entities listed at paragraph (b) of this section, information that the employee reasonably believes is—

(i) Evidence of gross mismanagement of a Federal contract;

(ii) A gross waste of Federal funds;

(iii) An abuse of authority relating to a Federal contract;

(iv) A substantial and specific danger to public health or safety; or

(v) A violation of law, rule, or regulation related to a Federal contract (including the competition for or negotiation of a contract).

(2) A reprisal is prohibited even if it is undertaken at the request of an executive branch official, unless the request takes the form of a non-discretionary directive and is within the authority of the executive branch official making the request.

(b) Disclosure may be made to the following entities:

(1) A Member of Congress or a representative of a committee of Congress.

(2) An Inspector General.

(3) The Government Accountability Office.

(4) A Federal employee responsible for contract oversight or management at the relevant agency.

(5) An authorized official of the Department of Justice or other law enforcement agency.

(6) A court or grand jury.

(7) A management official or other employee of the contractor or subcontractor who has the responsibility to investigate, discover, or address misconduct.

(c) An employee who initiates or provides evidence of contractor or subcontractor misconduct in any judicial or administrative proceeding relating to waste, fraud, or abuse on a Federal contract shall be deemed to have made a disclosure.

Sections that refer to it

← 3.902 Classified information. · 3.904 Complaints. →

Rule changes for FAR Part 3

Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.

FAR 3.903 Policy · SpendQuery