Government Contracts Monitor

Covered Government Contracts Minimum Wage Increases to $10.80, Effective January 1, 2020

October 17, 2019

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently published a Notice [84 Fed. Reg. 49345 (9/19/19)] announcing that, effective January 1, 2020, the minimum hourly wage rate required to be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts, per Executive Order 13658, will increase from the present $10.60 to $10.80.  The minimum hourly tipped wage will increase from $7.40 to…

China's Continuing Threat

April 3, 2019

Pentagon leaders have been speaking out, increasingly, regarding the risks to U.S. military operations created if and when Chinese technology is used in any military related 5G wireless telecommunications networks. Specifically, officials (former and current) are warning that using Chinese firms (for example, Huawei) to outfit military networks creates a high risk ... indeed a probability ... of…

A Preference for U.S. Goods and Services: Buy American Receives A Booster Shot

February 24, 2019

On January 31, 2019 President Trump signed yet another Executive Order addressing Buy American issues: Buy American, Hire American [here]. This Order requires that federal agencies purchase U.S. goods and services in any and all infrastructure projects including, interestingly, cybersecurity projects. Among other things, this recent Order underscores the Trump Administration’s policy of enforcing…

New Year's Resolutions, 2019 - Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your SAM and DSBS Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and Postings

January 2, 2019

Happy New Year!  The start of a new year is the time for New Year’s Resolutions.  Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2019.

     1.  Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status:  Most companies operate on a calendar year for tax reporting purposes.  For such companies the start of a new tax year, and the end of the prior year, means a change and…

Release of Proprietary Information - Tainted Procurement?

December 11, 2018

What happens when a competitor receives proprietary information during a procurement? Will an offeror whose information has been improperly disclosed succeed in a protest? The answer is . . . it depends.  Most recently, in DynCorp International, LLC,  the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that an agency had a reasonable basis for not disqualifying a competitor that had received…

Short Take - Minimum Wage Increases to $10.60, Effective January 1, 2019

October 24, 2018

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently published a Notice [83 Fed. Reg. 44906 (9/4/18)] announcing that, effective January 1, 2019, the minimum hourly wage required to be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts, per Executive Order 13658, will increase from the present $10.35 to $10.60. The minimum hourly tipped wage will increase from $7.25 to $7.40.

By…

Short Take: Fall Is the Season for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and OFCCP Audits

September 13, 2018

In addition to changing leaves and cooler temperatures, some federal contractors will soon also face Affirmative Action Plan (“AAP”) audits by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”). Last week, the OFCCP sent out 750 Courtesy Scheduling Announcement Letters (“CSAL"s) to notifying specific federal contractors that they had been selected to…

Executives Sentenced to Jail Time for Scheming to Violate the Berry Amendment and Trade Agreements Act

June 28, 2018

Executives of Wellco Enterprises were sentenced earlier this month for their role in a rather brazen scheme to defraud the Government by flouting the sourcing restrictions imposed by the Trade Agreements Act and the Berry Amendment. The executives were among the six defendants originally charged in an 11-count indictment including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, major…

New Year's Resolutions, 2018

January 3, 2018

Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your DSBS and SAM Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and Postings

Happy New Year! The start of a new year is the time for New Year’s Resolutions.  Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2018.

    1.    Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies…

Eric Whytsell and John Hays to Speak at ABA Conference

October 19, 2017

Eric Whytsell will be speaking at the upcoming Fall Meeting of the American Bar Association Section of Public Contracts Law, which will take place in Louisville, Kentucky on November 2-3, 2017. He will be part of the "Hot Topics in State and Local Procurement" portion of the Program, which will consist of four TED Talk style presentations. Mr. Whytsell's talk is entitled "Exemptions -…

Short Take: Individual Pleads Guilty to Defrauding More than 1,000 Companies, Promising Contracting Preferences with FEMA

April 18, 2017

The Justice Department recently announced that an individual, Michael Pirolo, residing in Palm Harbor, Florida, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with a telemarketing scheme promising, for a $500 one-time fee. to “register” companies with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA} to enable them to receive FEMA contracting preferences. Approximately 1,200 victim-companies were…

Short Take - VA Increases SDVOSB/VOSB Program Eligibility to Three (vs. Two) Years Before Requiring Reverification

February 20, 2017

One of the biggest complaints about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)’s programs for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) has been that program eligibility, granted on the basis of an exhaustive process, was valid for only one, and subsequently two, years, before having to be reestablished through an intensive reverification…