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RFS2015

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  1. BZ, You are correct, it is not illegal and I find it to be good business practice to require employees to sign a contract for training or education cost reimbursement that I (my company) pays them to attend. My quandary is that this is government paid training.
  2. I understand the FAR covers contracts between the Government and the Prime contractor. That is part of the issue, the prime says this is a requirement by the government and they are flowing it down to us. I am asking where in the FAR it allows this?
  3. Ok, I appreciate that.. Clarification, I am not being asked to counter-execute an agreement between the Prime and the government. I am being pushed a modification to my contract with the Prime, presumably via this verbal agreement with the Prime and the government. Yes, my employees will not be able to attend government paid training without me signing this contract modification. The logistical issue of collecting from the employees is actually the hardest part. As current legal findings have favored employees in this area and allow them to reimburse cost through a prorated means. This agreement the Prime would have me sign does not allow for that and therefore I (my company) would be obligated for the full amount while the employee would only be obligated to pay me a prorated amount. Therefore, yes, I am taking a "business risk" that I am certainly trying to mitigate. There rules by which our contracts are governed to prevent companies and others from being leveraged into unreasonable requirements by other companies and the government. No one can seem to point out to me that this is covered under any aspect of any rule. I have had people say it is absurd and absolutely illegal and I have had others say it sounds fine but, I still have not had anyone tell me where in the FAR this is covered? Therefore, I question the validity and yes, I don't like it. Primarily, because I believe the Prime is using it as a tool to limit training to it's subcontractors.
  4. Vern, obviously we have gotten off on the wrong foot. I did not and do pretend that I am the only person who has done things they don't like. I am sure you are a great American. I just asking for a little consideration in how you respond to me. I am trying to be polite to you, as you deserve that respect.
  5. Ok, I get that the Prime may have a policy for it's employees and the government has it for their employees (I am well aware of these contracts, I signed many) how does that allow them to push it onto my company? Wouldn't that be between the receiver of the training and the government too? Furthermore, how do I collect dollars (legally) from an employee who leaves when the cost of training/travel/etc. is not my burden (my company did not pay for it) but the governments? And finally, who am I obligated to reimburse, the government ( a check to the US Treasury) or the Prime (who did not pay the training in the first place). How is this managed legally?
  6. The reference FAR 31.205-44 does not cover reimbursing the government for these costs after the training has been completed and paid for by the government. It merely clarifies what is allowed by the government. This is not in question. The issue here is the reimburse to the government after the training is completed and paid for by the government and the employee leaves the program at some date in the future. I have spoken to several Contract professional and none have ever heard of this and are unaware of how this would be executed. How do you reimburse the government for what was a valid cost, who is liable for the reimbursement and what section of the FAR addresses it. I don't have an issue with the intent, I have issue with how it can be executed. If someone can clarify that for me, I would be grateful.
  7. Thank you for the reference. I get that just because I don't like something that I won't have to abide by it anyway. I spent 25 years in the military, so I did a lot of things I did not like. I came to this forum for your expertise not comments on me. I will endeavor to phrase my future questions to not offend your legal reasoning.
  8. Yes, I have expressed my issues and concerns. So far it has been a one way discussion. If I do not sign the mod then none of my personnel will be eligible for government paid training. I have asked for the formal requirement to be flowed down to me from the government, but I was told there is none, this was a verbal agreement between the prime and the government.
  9. The training is paid for by the government for an employee. As a business owner I do have a policy for company paid training and reimbursement if the employee leaves with a certain period of time but this has to be prorated over the period of time that the employee worked from the time of the training to the term of the agreement, ie I pay $3000 for training in which I require a year commitment, the employee leaves after six months, I can only require repayment of $1500. Additionally, they require all travel which comes from a different bucket of dollars from training costs. Additionally, I have never heard of the government requiring repayment of travel for a valid trip. Regardless of whether the employee leaves the contract early the trip is still valid. Also, what happens after the contract passes into the next Option Year. In this agreement the requirement really falls onto the company not the employee. The company is required to reimburse the Prime. Then I have to go after the employee for training that I did not pay for but was paid for by the government. Additionally, there are training events that last a day and events that require travel and last multiple weeks. There is absolutely no differentiation between any of these events. I am not a lawyer, I am not sure what laws may or may not be violated but it doesn't smell right to me and usually that means that there is something that isn't right.
  10. I am a subcontractor to a larger Prime on a Government contract. Recently, the Prime has submitted a new contract modification in regards to Government paid training. The modification is below: As part of the Program, “Prime” and the Customer are committed to providing employees who work on the Program the ability to participate in professional development opportunities. As a result, “Prime” offers Subcontractor employees opportunities to receive training (“Training”) via course and conference attendance, in conformance with Exhibit G, which are funded by the Customer. If Subcontractor employee(s) attend Training and then voluntarily leave the Program within one year of receiving the Training, Subcontractor hereby agrees to reimburse “Prime” one hundred percent of the Training cost. “Prime”, in turn, will reimburse the customer one hundred percent of the fees and travel expenses associated with the Training. Subcontractor agrees that reimbursement of such Training costs will be accomplished over a mutually agreed upon period, not to exceed one year from the date of Subcontractor employees last day on the Program. I question the validity and legality of this modification from both a Government contract perspective and state law perspective. I have requested to see the government’s request for this modification and have been told it was a verbal request. Can you provide some clarity on the legality of this modification?
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