The Department of Labor has now issued its final rule implementing a raise in the minimum wage for workers who perform on or in connection with federal contracts. Here are some thoughts about the new regs and how the new $15 per hour rate may require contractors to devote renewed attention to whether their employees are receiving the required minimum.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently sent around an email soliciting “feedback” from interested parties about the Davis-Bacon Act (“DBA”). The inquiry references a Spring 2021 “Davis-Bacon Initiative (DBI21).” This is a rare opportunity to ask DOL to fix some of the ambiguities or inanities in the law and regulations.
Read MoreStobil appealed a Civilian Board of Contract Appeals decision to the Federal Circuit but could not show it was entitled to all of their wage rate increases were due to the new wage determination.
Read MoreIs a legally correct result always the right outcome? A recent bid protest held that an offeror could be downgraded for lack of experience even though the RFP stated (as it should) that lack of past performance information couldn’t be held against it.
Read MoreWhen Service Contract Act (“SCA”) covered nonexempt employees work at home or an alternate work site, does the employer have to get a new wage determination (“WD”) to cover the new locale? And if that new WD has higher wages must the contractor pay the higher rate? And how is DOL enforcing the SCA for remote workers in this pandemic era? The answers are maybe and very gingerly.
Read MoreThe ASBCA holds that FAR 22.404-12(c) does not require that notice be given to offers that they have the opportunity to escalate labor rates into their bid pricing even when the offers will not receive a price adjustment after a new Wage Determination is incorporated into the contract.
Read MoreMany federal contractors are being asked to accept contract modifications to implement President Biden’s vaccine mandate. So, what will compliance look like? For now, things are a bit vague; however, we hope the roll-out of this mandate will be reasonable. Contractors should be allowed some flexibility if they’re making good-faith efforts to cajole their workforces into being fully vaccinated.
Read MoreOfferors are entitled to a SCA price adjustment for increased costs incurred for vacation pay benefits during a contract renewal option period. Savvy offerors will exclude those vacation benefit costs for their bid costs in order to get a compeittive advantage. But this doesn’t work for existing employees or those hired from the predecessor contractor, who are entitled to a grant of vacation benefits in the base term of the contract.
Read MoreAn Eastern District of New York Court holds that the Department of Labor is not bound by arbitration agreements to which the Department of Labor is not a party.
Read MoreThe Tenth Circuit holds that the Union in this case cannot compel the Contractor to arbitrate Davis-Bacon job classifications. However, the court did not hold that Davis-Bacon job classifications are not arbitrable. This article was written by our very own Kirby Rousseau for The Government Contractor publication.
Read MoreThe evolving COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal employees and contractor employees are a work in progress. New Executive Orders that will require near universal vaccination of employees are replacing the vaccine-or-test mandate issued mere weeks ago. Read on for more about the new requirements and the confusion that may ensue in the meantime.
Read MoreWhen bidding on and pricing US government extended term fixed price contracts, contractors need to price in the possibility that state minimum wages will exceed the SCA or DBA wage levels, and require an escalation be paid, but the contracting agency will not adjust the contract price for that occurrence.
Read MoreThe District of Columbia is allowing workers to bring a prevailing wage claim under the guise of a municipal statute, thereby eroding the rule that only DOL enforces the federal prevailing wage laws and there is no private cause of action.
Read MoreUPDATE: 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 MoreJust what you have been waiting for all your life — here is a short policy providing for the pre-payment or advanced payment of SCA vacation benefits to new workers who otherwise would have no paid leave, particularly in their first year of employment. Please note, it remains unclear whether DOL will approve of the use of such a policy, but then you are no worse off than before.
Read MoreAfter being frozen for two years, the SCA H&W rates were modestly adjusted upwards by DOL effective July 16, 2021.
Read MoreOn July 21, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published proposed regulations that implement President Biden’s Executive Order establishing a $15 an hour minimum wage for workers who perform on or in connection with federal contracts. While this is a new rule, it’s nearly identical to the existing federal contractor minimum wage requirements. Thus, what was clear before is still clear. What wasn’t, isn’t.
Read MoreHere is an unofficial “form”, with some minor edits and adjustments made by us, which requires subcontractors to acknowlege their obligations with repect to the prevailing wage laws. It is no panacea or substitute to good flow down of subconract terms, but in one page it does an effective job of emphasizing the duties being imposed on the subcontractor, and thus can help avoid misunderstandings or minimize inadvertent errors.
Read MoreThe Davis-Bacon Act contains different price adjustment clauses that are used in a variety of scenarios.
Read MoreWage and Hour Opinion letters provide much-needed guidance regarding the application of various requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. While one can raise questions over the validity of a specific opinion, the long term value of these opinions outweighs any one decision.
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