Government Contracts

The FAR Council issued a final rule on December 20, 2016, amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to add FAR Subpart 24.3, requiring privacy training for all contractor employees who (1) access a system of records; (2) handle personally identifiable information (PII); or (3) design, develop, maintain, or operate a system of records. A “system of records” is a “group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.” 5 U.S.C. § 552a(a)(5); FAR 24.101.
Continue Reading The FAR Council Wishes Contractors a Happy New ‘Privacy Training’

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17 NDAA), signed into law by President Obama on December 23, includes limitations on a low price evaluation methodology and a preference for fixed price contracts that could have a significant impact on the way the Department of Defense (DoD) procures goods and services in the coming years. The FY17 NDAA also featured changes to the task order protest jurisdiction, which we outlined in this blog post.
Continue Reading LPTA Out, Fixed Price Contracts In

Recently, I discussed contracting financial burdens in an article for National Defense Magazine outlining the potential for the new Trump administration to alleviate some regulations to lure new businesses into the government contract industry. As I point out in the article, “contracting regulations in recent years have added hundreds of millions of dollars in costs…

We authored a chapter in the Court of Federal Claims: Jurisdiction, Practice, and Procedure, a comprehensive treatise focused exclusively on practice before the United States Court of Federal Claims, with detailed discussion and analysis of all areas of the court’s jurisdiction. Our chapter was titled, “Congressional Reference Cases”, which discusses the unique role the…

Just one month after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas shut down a Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces final rule, the District Court has enjoined the implementation of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule updating its Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) exemptions. Had these gone into effect, they would have had a significant impact on government contractors’ labor costs.

In 2014, President Obama directed DOL to update and modernize its overtime regulations to be consistent with the intent of the FLSA. The FLSA provides for minimum wage and overtime pay protections for those covered by the Act. Exempted employees generally fall into the executive, administrative and professional (EAP) categories, and DOL has used the following three tests to determine whether an exemption applied: salary basis test, salary level test and duties test. “Exempt” employees are not eligible for overtime pay (time and a half) for hours worked over 40 in a work week.Continue Reading DOL Oversteps Overtime Regulations

Government contractors are learning the hard way that agencies need to be kept apprised of major changes within the company during the entire period of bid evaluations. Most recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) made an example of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Inc. (LMIS), which was excluded from awards for failure to disclose its spin-off agreement with Leidos.
Continue Reading Buyer Beware: Lessons of Disclosure Learned the Hard Way

I provided comments for an article outlining the potential impact that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration may have within the defense industry. As I point out in the article, “[m]any companies have chosen to exit the government market because of the [recent] regulatory burdens. The compliance obligations have piled on. An enormous amount of regulation has…

On October 24, 2016, U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone granted a preliminary injunction to halt the implementation of the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order 13673 (EO 13673), implementing provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in the final rule, and Department of Labor (DOL) guidance that impose new reporting requirements on contractors regarding labor law violations.
Continue Reading Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Not “Fair” to Contractors, According to Texas Judge

I will be in Knoxville today presenting at the 2016 GovCon Seminar hosted by Strategic Consulting Solutions and PDS Consulting Services. My session will be focused on the expansion of the Small Business Administration’s Mentor/ Protégé Program. Specifically, I will discuss how the recent program expansion is creating opportunities for contractors, large and small. The…

I authored an article for Bloomberg BNA outlining the details of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) new Limitation on Subcontracting rule. This new rule limits the definition of a “similarly situated entity” to first-tier subcontractors. As I point out in the article, “[w]ith the option to team with other similarly situated entities, working essentially as…

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

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