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.
← 3.902 Classified information. · 3.904 Complaints. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 3
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 3 and 49 ↗ · proposed 2026-06-23 · comments due 2026-07-23
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · final rule 2025-08-27 · effective 2025-10-01
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition ↗ · proposed 2025-01-15 · comments due 2025-03-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Controlled Unclassified Information ↗ · proposed 2025-01-15 · comments due 2025-03-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Improving Consistency Between Procurement and Nonprocurement Procedures on Suspension and Debarment ↗ · final rule 2025-01-03 · effective 2025-01-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · proposed 2024-11-29 · comments due 2025-01-28
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Reverse Auction Guidance ↗ · final rule 2024-07-30 · effective 2024-08-29
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Improving Consistency Between Procurement and Nonprocurement Procedures on Suspension and Debarment ↗ · proposed 2024-01-09 · comments due 2024-03-11
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.