By Heather Mims, Esq.
Under Executive Order 13495, the policy of the Federal Government was that all Service Contract Act covered contracts over the simplified acquisition threshold were to include a contract clause requiring contractors to make good-faith offers of employment to predecessor SCA-covered employees. However, on October 31, 2019, President Trump issued an “Executive Order on Improving Federal Contractor Operations by Revoking Executive Order 13495” which requires the “Secretary o
By David Warner,
Actually “40,569,816 reasons,” to be exact. Last week the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a press release lauding its performance in fiscal year 2019 in which it obtained a record-setting $40,569,816 in monetary settlements from federal contractors. The results reflect a more than sixty-five percent (65%) increase over the agency’s prior record that was set in FY 2017. Indeed, the agency’s three-year total recovery between FY 2017-2019 is great
By Edward W. Bailey,
All too often, federal contractors let their guard down when it comes to their ethical duties under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). This is largely because the FAR’s provisions concerning ethical conduct do not provide much specific guidance.
For example, FAR § 52.203-13 requires contractors to have a “written code of ethics”, exercise “due diligence to prevent and detect criminal conduct”, and otherwise “promote and encourage” ethical conduct and compliance
By Maureen Jamieson
Call me a skeptic. I had my bets along with others that the Consolidated Schedule would not be released on October 1, 2019. I’ve lived through many disappointments over my years working on Multiple Award Schedules (MAS). I remember the promises of no more Schedules Input Program (SIP) and the advent of the Formatted Price List. Then a few years ago the release of the Formatted Product Tool (FPT) only to be told that tool was being discontinued by the General Services Ad
By Hon. Jack Delman
Under the FY 2018 NDAA, House and Senate Committee Reports called for GAO to examine the effects of Offshoring (OS) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the Defense Supplier Base. GAO reviewed the available public data and convened a panel of experts from academia, industry, and government to address the issues. It submitted a lengthy report to Congress on September 5, 2019, and we provide a brief summary below.
There was no consensus on the definition of OS. Broadly
By Tyler Freiberger, Esq.,
More than one year ago the Federal Housing Finance Agency Special Adviser Simone Grimes testified before Congress describing a former North Carolina representative, and then FHFA Director, Mel Watt’s repeated sexual advances toward Ms. Grimes. As Grimes testified to, and the FHFA Office of Inspector General confirmed, each time Grimes expressed that she was being paid less than her male predecessor, Watt steered the conversation toward his attraction to her. In respon
By Edward W. Bailey,
Boeing just challenged a recent ruling by the Court of Federal Claims which has wide-reaching implications for government contractors. In a May decision, the Court held that, by executing a contract with the government, Boeing had waived its right to challenge the government’s inclusion in the contract of certain mandatory FAR provisions. If the decision were to stand, it would seemingly mean that a contractor’s only recourse in such a situation would be to file a pre-award
By William Weisberg, Esq.,
The Service Contract Labor Standards (“SCLS”) governs how, and how much, government contractors must pay “covered” employees on “covered” contracts. Here are the Top 10 things to keep in mind regarding Service Contract Labor Standards:
It used to be called the “Service Contract Act,” and many people still call it that, or SCA. It is now, however, Service Contract Labor Standards. In real life, either name will do.
The contracting agency, and the Department of Lab
BREAKING NEWS FROM GSA
In late July, GSA hosted a live event about upcoming changes to the new Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) requirements (used to identify companies and individuals within the federal award process). More than 770 people participated in the event.
The presentation provided detailed information about how IAE is moving away from using the D-U-N-S® number to a new, non-proprietary identifier.
During the program, we received numerous questions from participants. As promised,
By Angel N. Davis,
There is an on-going buzz surrounding the upcoming GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Consolidation. If you haven’t heard (I am not sure where you’ve been), GSA is consolidating 24 schedules for products, services, and solutions, into one single platform. This initiative will have an impact on all schedule holders.
This is what you need to do to be prepared for this upcoming implementation:
All twenty-four individual schedules, including service and product schedules, are b
By Heather Mims, Esq.
Contractors (and officials) across the country have experienced some confusion about the implementation of the recently enacted Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018. If you’re unfamiliar with the Act, Congress has amended the Small Business Act to modify the method for prescribing size standards for business concerns – what used to be a three-year standard has now become a five-year standard. Thus, the implementation of this Act would extend the measurement period o
By David Warner
Gone are the Halcyon days, when it looked like the Trump Administration might overturn EEO-1 wage and hour reporting requirements adopted during the prior administration, as the first batch of reports is due to be submitted by contractors on or before September 30, 2019. To make matters more confusing, technically the Trump Administration is still trying to overturn the wage reporting requirements but, unless something unexpected happens, September 30 is still the applicable dea
BREAKING NEWS FROM GSA
if you have questions or need guidance, please reach out to Maureen Jamieson at mjamieson@centrelawgroup.com.
This Interact post is the advance notice announcement of GSA’s intention to consolidate the current 24 Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) and release a new single Schedule for product, services, and solutions on October 1, 2019. A revised draft of the MAS solicitation is attached with applicable attachments. The solicitation has been updated based on more than 1,000
With GSA focused on consolidating 24 Schedules into one single Schedule, the Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) pilot has been extended through FY2020, allowing both contractors and the GSA acquisition workforce to spend their resources understanding and participating in the consolidated Schedule — the most immediate priority.
TDR, a GSA Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) rule published in 2016, reduces the burden and increases transparency by requiring monthly reporting of transactional sales data
By Barbara S. Kinosky, Esq.
The big news from MAS PMO Director Stephanie Shutt is that the Consolidated Schedule will be out October 1, 2019. She is very definite on that date. What does that mean for existing GSA Schedule holders? We understand modifications to add the new consolidated SINs will not be accepted after September 30 until sometime in mid-January 2020 after contractors have accepted the mass modification incorporating the new consolidated Schedule terms and conditions.
New offers
By Maureen Jamieson,
Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) is moving to beta.SAM.gov starting on November 8, 2019.
What is FBO?
FBO (commonly known as FedBizOpps) is how contracting organizations across the federal government post notices on proposed contract actions (valued at more than $25,000). These notices, or “procurement opportunities,” include solicitations, pre-solicitations, sole source justifications, and other notices. Anyone interested in doing business with the government can use
By Hon. Jack Delman
In National Government Services, Inc. v. United States, 923 F.3d 977 (Fed. Cir. 2019) the Federal Circuit sustained a pre-award protest, holding that an agency solicitation containing an “Award Limit clause” (ALC) violated full and open competition under the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA), and the agency failed to follow the appropriate procedures that would support an exception.
Background Facts
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of H
By Tyler Freiberger, Esq.,
An interesting mix of states now ban or otherwise restrict employers from requesting applicants’ prior compensation. Now, don’t run off and start rewriting your application forms just yet, the restrictions are mostly for government jobs, but there are a handful of cities and states that outright ban asking for compensation history. But this does beg the question; why is there a non-partisan move to restrict an employment question? Some employers may choose to impleme
By William Weisberg, Esq.,
You may have seen reports about the President’s July 15, 2019, Executive Order on the Buy American Act (“BAA”). The first two BAA Executive Orders were basically “study the BAA and maybe try not to invoke exceptions as often as you do now.” This third Order supposedly has teeth. But here is my contrarian view: this one is not that big a deal. Let’s look at what the Order does, and what it doesn’t do.
In the newest Order, the President directs the FAR Council (the
By Julia Coon,
It’s that time of the year again, and your General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) payment and sales reporting are due by July 30th. In accordance with Clause 552.238-74, all Schedule contractors are required to report sales within 30 calendar days following the completion of the reporting period and remit the IFF within 30 calendar days following the end of each reporting quarter. Even if you have zero sales for the April – June quarter, you a
By Angel N. Davis,
This year, the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) is hosting its 60th annual World Congress Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Centre Law & Consulting team will be in attendance. Please stop by our booth to learn about our service offerings and meet some of our talented team members. Our team members will provide up to date information on GSA’s Consolidated Schedule and other hot topics. Bring your GSA stories to share with our GSA team.
And, do n
By Heather Mims, Esq.
As we get into the summer months, people are gearing up for summer vacation traveling – but be prepared to spend extra time waiting in line for security screening from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Oh No! Why?
In a statement issued earlier this Spring, TSA predicted that this year will be the busiest summer travel season it has experienced, with a more than 4% volume increase. Specifically, TSA is planning for approximately 263 million passengers and
By Barbara S. Kinosky, Esq.
Hot News! Supreme Court Ruling from June 24, 2019
The Supreme Court just gave a victory lap to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) submitters and a defeat to those requesting information under the Act. In Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, the Court held that:
Where commercial or financial information is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner and provided to the government under an assurance of privacy, the information is “confide
By David Warner
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a split between the federal circuit courts of appeal concerning the statute of limitations for False Claims Act (FCA) suits in which the government does not intervene. Unfortunately for contractors, the Court held that a ten-year (as opposed to six-year) limitations period can apply.
As a result, contractors face the expanded prospect of defending FCA matters that are already a decade old at the time of filing. “Good luck” locating yo
By Maureen Jamieson,
Great news! GSA is conducting market research and wants your input on the new solicitation format and the clauses and provisions to be used in the consolidated MAS solicitation set for release later this year.
GSA’s goal for this market research is to gain input on two components of the new consolidated solicitation:
The proposed format of the consolidated solicitation
The updated terms and conditions that will be found in the new solicitation
You can find the RFI o
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