The GAO recently found that a contract modification was so far outside the scope of a contract that it should have been the subject of a new procurement. Read on to learn what happened and what to consider when a contract is significantly modified such that it almost seems like a whole new beast.
Read MoreYou just won a contract. You brought that brilliant project manager on board. Then, your competitor files a protest and you have to stop work. What do you do to keep that manager in the stable? A recent case at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals denied a contractor the cost of doing something quite reasonable—keeping the manager on board.
Read MoreDOJ has issued guidance about how trade secrets and commercial or financial information should be treated under new Supreme Court precedent interpreting the Freedom of Information Act. This guidance hopefully will achieve the Court’s “fair reading” of the term “confidential” when it comes to determining whether information should be exempt from FOIA disclosures.
Read MoreUnder the Service Contract Act (“SCA”), employers with self-insured unfunded health and weflare (“H&W”) plans are better off forming a trust and paying acturial premiums into the trust monthly so they can get proper credit for the fringe benefits furnished.
Read MoreThe Court of Federal Claims decsion in Just In Time Staffing maintains the long-established practice of limiting the FAR price adjustment clause to its plain language – covering the increased costs of wages and fringe benefits of the contractor’s employees and certain enumerated payroll taxes — and not to the cost to negotiate a CBA.
Read MoreTeaming arrangements provide great opportunities to corral the expertise and experience of two or more organizations to pursue federal contracts. A recent case illustrates how technicalities can hinder an otherwise qualified team.
Read MoreFederal contractors frequently face the release of their confidential information as a result of requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). On the surface, FOIA exemption 4 should protect such information from disclosure. However, long-standing precedent required contractors to establish they would suffer substantial competitive harm if their information was released. The Supreme Court today handed down a game-changing decision that could greatly simplify contractors’ efforts to keep their sensitive information secure from disclosure.
Read MoreIn some disputes under the Service Contract Act (“SCA”), the contractor has to take his claims first to the US Department of Labor (“DOL”). In other circumstances, a final determination by the DOL is not required to bring a direct claim for reimbursement against the Government.
Read MoreWhen a covered service employee is given leave with or without pay for absences for sickness or injury, “there would not be a break in service” under the SCA rules, and the employee would be entitled to newly accrued but unused vacation benefits immediately upon his return to work.
Read MoreThe Government usually is a good customer that pays its bills, except when it doesn’t. Can a contractor pursue a claim for an unpaid invoice? It will depend on whether the government had a reasonable time to review and pay the invoice.
Read MoreWhile some specific additive payroll taxes are picked up and adjusted under the Service Contract Act Price Adjustment clause, the situation with state or local Gross Receipts Taxes (“GRT”), assessed as a percentage on government service contract revenue, is fraught with uncertainties. Contractors who failed to price these costs into their proposal up front have been left holding the bag.
Read MoreUnlike the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act, which covers most US Government construction projects, the Service Contract Act does not dictate the weekly payment of wages. So while Davis-Bacon Act covered construction workers' wages must be paid weekly, other federal laws like the SCA do not necessarily require such frequency of payment.
Read MoreAfter final arbitral award, a cost reimbursement contractor should have an opportunity to argue at the Board for the recovery the overtime backpay and other costs from the Federal government. There is no U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) procedures it has to exhaust first.
Read MoreThe interaction between show up pay requirements and the Service Contract Act (“SCA”) Price Adjustment clauses (FAR 52.222-43 and -44) is ambiguous, and this is thus a cause of potential disputes between contracting agencies and the federal contractors
Read MoreSometimes federal contractors are working on goverment installations and find themselves being sued under state or local wage and hour laws. In exceptional crcumstances, these state causes of action may be barred by the federal enclave doctrine, which makes federal law supreme over certain government properties where the state has receded from jurisdiction.
Read MoreGovernment service contractors working at federal facilities that have closed down for a day of mourning should review their contracts and wage determination(s) carefully and make sure they don’t cover events, like Presidential funeral closures, and if they do, follow them to get reimbursed, if possible for the cost of the day off.
Read MoreThe National Defense Authorization Act of 2018 (NDAA) was enacted roughly one year ago. In the midst of the NDAA’s customary laundry list of mandates, Congress directed the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide new “enhanced” debriefing rights. Where do things stand today?
Read MoreGSA announced it will consolidate its 24 Multiple Award Schedules into a single contract vehicle. One. Really? Yes. One.
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Gilbert J. Ginsburg, a giant of the government contracts/wage and hour world passed away Oct. 26, 2018. This is my personal remembrance of the impact of Gil on my life.
Read MoreAppeals centered on whether the proper of Service Contract Act (“SCA”) wage determination (“WD”) has been incorporated into the contract go to the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) and are not addressable under the Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”) process.
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