All,
To answer some of your questions,
1. We are a civilian agency, not DoD.
2. Within the agency, there are civilian service employees and contractors performing the same duties. Quick example, agency staffing guideline includes two (2) Dental Hygienist. However, the medical need requires an additional Dental Hygienist. Therefore, a non-personal service contract is solicited and awarded for an additional Dental Hygienist.
3. To Vern’s last comment……..My thought process for the original post was to see if other fellow Contracting Officers have had a similar experience. If yes, I would value the opinion/comment. If no, ignore the question. I have used Wifcon on numerous occasions while researching an issue and found it to be a valuable asset. I am not going to utilize the services of this website just for giggles and grins. Therefore, I apologize if my question annoyed you. At the request of a superior, I was simply researching an issue that has been a question mark in my mind and several other CO’s in my agency for many years.
That said, I understand the use of private sector temps as outlined in FAR 37.112. However, the medical personnel are needed to fill a permanent need, not on an intermittent basis. I do agree with you that it is time to take the next step and request assistance from our commercial law branch. This question has lingered too long with no one within the agency knowing what is the correct answer