UPDATE: President Biden is expected to announce executive orders that will mandate universal vaccination for federal workers and contractor employees with no testing option. We will post an update when the expected orders are issued. Federal contractor employees who work on Government sites must comply with President Biden’s vaccine or test policy. Must contractors pay employees for their time to get tested if they refuse to get a vaccine? Must contractors foot the bill for the tests? So far, these questions are going unanswered.
Read MoreAfter being frozen for two years, the SCA H&W rates were modestly adjusted upwards by DOL effective July 16, 2021.
Read MorePer Bloomberg News, President Biden is reviewing his options with regard to updating President Obama’s Executive Order encouraging Project Labor Agreements.
Read MoreGovernment Contract claims for monetary relief under the Contract Disputes Act must demand “the payment of money in a sum certain.” Read on to consider the pitfalls that can arise when you have more than one way of framing your claim.
Read MoreThe new Federal Contractor Minimum Wage will make it difficult for contractors to bid on new contracts without knowing how the Government will compensate them for the cost of increased wages.
Read MoreThat seemingly benign boilerplate is not toothless throw-away verbiage. When negotiating a contract modification that pays a claim or resolves a dispute, consider whether there are contingencies you might be waiving. Bottom line - stop and think before you sign.
Read MorePresident Joe Biden signed an Executive Order increasing the federal contractor minimum wage to $15.00 an hour.
Read MoreThe relationship between gig economy businesses such as Uber and Lyft and the people who do their work has come under considerable scrutiny as state and local governments have struggled over whether their wage and hour laws should apply to gig economy workers. But what happens to gig businesses if they have federal contracts? Will their workers be entitled to prevailing wages and benefits? Well—perhaps yes.
Read MoreWhen it comes to proposal submission, late is late, for material RFP requirements, even if it is your subcontractor’s data which is untimely. It is a harsh but long-standing rule of law for offerors.
Read MoreJust some musings on practicing government contracts law and the stability of the federal contracting community.
Read MoreWe’ve all heard the old adage that a deal’s a deal. The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals recently demonstrated how this adage can cost a federal contractor a fair chunk of change when it comes to the cost of increasing wages owed to service contract employees—especially for work performed overseas. Bottom line - carefully determine what your contract requires for service employee wages and benefits. Then, make sure your proposal meets those requirements and ensure that you’re protected from the shock of increased costs.
Read MoreCivil Money Penalties were subject to their annual adjustment. This year it was about a 1.2% upward adjustment. This includes the FLSA penalties. But it didn’t affect the CWHSSA or PCA penalties since they are rounded to a whole number and the inflation factor was not significant enough to cause that to happen.
Read MoreWhen an employee performs work before traveling to the office, or after leaving the office, and has sufficient time to use for her own purposes, then the time spent traveling between home and the office is not compensable.
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“…. insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war -- seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.”
— Lincoln, Second Inaugural
Read MoreIf you are inclined to inform on your neighbor or employer, the Trump Administration has set up a new hotline number at 202-343-2008 or you can email OFCCPComplaintHotline@dol.gov and let them know if a government contractor is violating the new diversity training Executive Order.
Read MoreA Contracting Officer’s choice of what industry classification (aka NAICS code) applies to a contract can determine whether a business is or is not eligible to compete for a small business set aside contract. It all comes down to the size standards applicable to the chosen category. Read on to learn more about the implications of such classifications and whether you can do something about a bad choice.
Read MoreThe Small Business Adminstration (“SBA”) recently changed the process by which companies can obtain certification as Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) or Economically Disadvantaged Small Businesses (EDWOSB). Self-certification no longer is an option. Here’s what companies need to know to obtain new certifications or to figure out if your current certification might be in jeopardy.
Read MoreWhen new employees start work on a SCA covered contract, the employer faces a connundrum with respect to vacation bnefits. The employer can furnish the benefits immediately, and just pay benefits in excess of the SCA, resulting in payments above the minimum prevailing wage and impairing its right to a price adjustment the next option year. Or it can pay no vacation benefits, or just give leave without pay, and demoralize the new workers. But there is a third although relatively infrequently used course of action called an advanced or prepayment agreement or policy whereby the worker elects to receive the vacation benefit immediately on hiring, but the employer reserves the ability to get a credit for furnishing the benefit on the next anniversay date of employment.
Read MoreDon’t let the Boards of Conract Appeals fool you. Contractors have 120 days to appeal decisons to the Federal Circuit. Sitting on your claim for reimbursement is never a good idea. Once you get a final decision, the appeal clock is running.
Read MoreA new Executive Order was issued on August 3, 2020 to require reports be created by federal contracting agencies on use of foreign labor on government contracts and to discourage the employment of H-B1 Visa holders on federal government contracts.
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