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In the old system, the contractor could add the contract and all the details themselves. If that's no longer the case, I would screenshot the reports page to show the contract is not there and email it to the CO. Then, you're off the hook.

Well I am left slightly confused as now the scenario changes by my read. In the OP it was benefits now it appears that hourly wage is the issue along with classification. I tend to defer to ji20874's comments regarding the new info. Let me support his comment with this.... 29 CFR 541.2 Job titles insufficient. A job title alone is insufficient to establish the exempt status of an employee. The exempt or nonexempt status of any particular employee must be determined on the basis of whether the employee's salary and duties meet the requirements of the regulations in this part. H

1. Is this a firm fixed price construction contract? I’ve never seen clause 52-242-15 used in a construction contract. FFP construction contracts prescribe (shall insert) 52.242-14 “Suspension of Work”. The other clause is optional for contracts for supplies, services, or research and development. I don’t know why the FAR matrix says the -14 clause is “A”, (as applicable) for FFP construction. But the -15 clause is blank in the FAR matrix under construction contracts. By the way, the Stop Work Order clause provides for an equitable adjustment , which INCLUDES profit or fee. Yo

Hello All, thank for your valuable comments. Let me give some more information about the scenario which I think will provide clarity to all your questions; Our contract is a construction contract and the stop work order was issued under 52.242-15 (AUG 1989). No cares act provision was used. Government reimbursed the actual cost spent by the Contractor on the following items during the stop work period and no other indirect costs or profit was paid; Idle manpower charges (direct works manpower) Idle machinery charges (machineries left at site) I

A sad state of affairs that's taken a long time to develop and would take even longer to change for the better, if possible. But it's an opportunity for those who are ready to take advantage.

Combined with fraud? The possibilities are not quite endless, but include: termination for default; fines; penalties; personal liability for corporate officials; civil law suits; debarment; and jail. The last one is my personal favorite. Just Google <violations of Service Contract Act>. You'll find all kinds of articles on the websites of law firms. You've got an idiot for a client, and you can tell them I said so.

With the DoD change from ECMRA reporting to SCR, there is now a $3M threshold and not every product service code (PSC) that required reporting under ECMRA is reportable under DoD's SCR. https://sam.gov/SAM/transcript/SCR_OSG.pdf That link should get you to the Quick Start guide where the above info is discussed. Note that the DoD and Federal SCR requirements are not identical.

Wage amount is irrelevant for determining wage application. Rather, it is the nature and purpose of the work and the employee that matter. If a brain surgeon was doing brain surgery work at $20/hr, it would not be SCA because brain surgery is not service work done by service employees.

Thank you Mr. Culham. I agree with your comments. Maybe I could pose a question: Is there a wage so low that the SCA cannot be avoided? Like if an employee is paid only $20/hr. is it possible that he could be classified as something other than an SCA Labor Category. Vern, are you out there my friend???

Many offices need several COs to do high volume, routine tasks like signing orders and simple contract modifications. That takes much of the signing workload off the senior experienced COs and these type warrants should have very limited monetary authority. But I agree warrants for high dollar value or unlimited should be “special.” In fact if we ever got significant changes like we are talking about, it’s going to take a rare breed of COs to make it work. OTAs are a prime example. The concept is important to make the acquisition responsive to today’s defense needs. But it also is

Well I could imagine the contractor getting away with it until at some point a wise employee complains to the DOL. In a quick view DOL's investigation and resulting enforcement action could include payment of the fringe, fines or possibly both. I am not sure how far they might reach back to previous contracts to determine a contractors misgivings but my bet whatever statute of limitations applies they would pursue to the extent allowed. Consider a real life story. Contractor pays the required hourly wage and inflates it to include the fringe. Using your numbers lets say wage is $15.

So many subcategories, it's hard to figure out where to post this question. It is rather basic, so I'll post here. As an accounting consultant (not an HRO specialist), I have a customer who would rather face the guillotine than to deal with SCA. They want to hire the cheapest person they can find, and then classify as an overglorified whatever to avoid paying benefits. Paying a guy $15 an hour to sweep the floor and then classifying him as a Cyber Engineer just so they won't have to pay him a lousy $4.50 an hour for benefits. Please comment on this gross misrepresentation, and dis

Love it and am jealous!! Our Federal Courthouse next door also had a law library that I would visit if our own USACE law library didn’t have something. But they didn’t have what you had. I did subscribe to several design and construction case law services, both books with annual updates and also to weekly, monthly and quarterly periodicals.

There was a time when I battled the bid protest attorneys in the Law Library for a desk. Then the attorneys got an online legal service--can't remember the name--and the books slept. One could read Attorney General (AG) decisions too. GAO acquired its AG books from one of the agencies within the Treasury Department. They were first editions. I told the Librarians they had those books there and they gave me a blank stare. With a "b" number, I could go to the librarians desk and get all the documents associated with that decision. I could see from 1st draft to final decision and why t

Good grief Corduroy - are requests for specifics not allowed?

What do you mean that (2) through (5) are directly related to (1)? The semicolon let’s us know they are related in thought, but independent. I’m not sure why you’re mentioning typical service contract to inspect or repair ... I never raised that and only was seeking to better understand something you stated:

Good grief Vern - are idioms of speech not allowed? Specifically, two renewals are being parlayed with zero increase (not even escalation), and another is restructured with a little more money but an increased scope of work.

I mean, I didn't provide you with the delivery instructions (which were going to be fun - "once a week/Tuesday//at 7:01 AM/to a government employee that probably won't be there once awarded/etc.). Therefore, the SOW was in that sense incomplete.

Okay. With CyndiG having left the building, can we create any value in this thread? Two contract clauses have been referenced here (52.246-2 and 52.246-4). I'd like to explore the concept of "reasonable facilities and assistance." What does that mean in this context? For example, CyndiG the government would like a long-term presence in the contractor's facility where, "a couple of days a week," they will attempt to "'get insight' on how we execute the effort." Does that effort, as described, constitute a reasonable inspection or something else? Is is (perhaps) an attempt to illi

This week on the blog we continue to bring you coverage of federal government contracting news as government agencies search for solutions to cyber security challenges and, in response, contractors enhance their own cyber defenses. Here are a several other happenings in federal government contracting news for this week, including an announcement from Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, announcing the latest application data results for the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), passed as part of the American Rescue Plan.

CyndiG appears to have been a drive-by poster or else has found an answer.

52.246-2 Inspection of Supplies (if applicable): (d) If the Government performs inspection or test on the premises of the Contractor or a subcontractor, the Contractor shall furnish, and shall require subcontractors to furnish, at no increase in contract price, all reasonable facilities and assistance for the safe and convenient performance of these duties.

All CO appointments should be "special". No more handing them out as rewards or inducements to stay, or because the office needs signatures.

What does it mean, "I seem to notice..."? "Seem"? Did you notice or didn't you? What did you "notice"? "Tight" by how much?

If you are a defense contractor, and not one of the Top 20, then it is possible that program budgets are tight. There are a few major programs that are sucking a lot of money from the trough (hello, F-35). The government's priorities are shifting (hello, hypersonics). These circumstances obviously impact other contractors. On the other hand, if you are a cybersecurity contractor or a high-tech innovator, then you should be doing just fine. I would say that the current environment strikes me as being very much business as usual -- contractors jostling each other for precious program funds.