June 28, 2010
Receipt of a congressional subpoena is a scary moment for any company. In recent years, government contractors have come under congressional scrutiny not faced by commercial contractors.
Congress, in an effort to combat fraud, waste, and abuse – or simply as an act of political theater – has called upon contractors working with federal agencies to produce documents or appear in person…May 27, 2010
On June 21, 2010, federal agencies will begin using contract clauses requiring contractors to post new workplace notices informing employees of their rights under federal labor laws. The Department of Labor’s recent final rule implements Executive Order 13496, which President Obama issued soon after taking office.
The Obama policy revoked Executive Order 13201 and reversed the…
May 3, 2010
The Department of Defense (DoD) is proposing to amend its procurement regulations to “provide uniform guidance” and to “tighten existing requirements” for organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) in DOD contracts. Although the new rule implements § 207 of the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (WSARA) (see our June 2009 post), it would apply to all non-COTS DOD…
March 29, 2010
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently issued a long-awaited decision clarifying the classification of costs as Independent Research and Development (IR&D). ATK Thiokol, Inc. v. United States, No. 2009-5036 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 19, 2010).
In ATK, the contractor (now known as ATK Launch Systems) funded an upgrade of one of its advanced “strap on” rocket motors in the…
December 1, 2009
For some time now, OCIs have been a primary target for regulatory reforms, but now… PCIs?
Background
On November 13, 2009, the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (FAR Councils) announced a proposed rule requiring contractors to take sweeping action related to personal conflicts of interest (PCIs) held by employees performing “acquisition…
September 11, 2009
A proposed regulation would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require government contract offerors with over $10 million in federal grants and contracts to provide information relating to criminal convictions, civil judgments and administrative proceedings directly into a new information system maintained by the government.
Under §872 of the 2009 Defense Authorization Act, the…August 31, 2009
The last hurdle before the implementation of a rule requiring federal government contractors to verify employees’ employment eligibility has been cleared.
On August 25th, the U.S. District Court for Maryland rejected the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s challenge to a regulation mandating the use of E-Verify – the Department of Homeland Security’s internet-based system that checks…
July 10, 2009
The Obama Administration has finally and officially endorsed the rules requiring federal government contractors to use E-Verify – the previous administration’s immigration compliance system extensively covered in this blog.
Originally scheduled to go into effect in January 2009, the imposition of the system has been delayed four times, most recently on June 5 to allow the Obama…
July 8, 2009
If you provide medical services to federal government employees, you may be a government contractor without knowing it. And what you don’t know can hurt you.
Most health care providers have never heard of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), a branch of the Labor Department tasked with enforcing federal regulations prohibiting federal contractors and subcontractors from…
June 18, 2009
On May 22, 2009, President Obama signed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (WSARA), a statute that, in the President’s words, aims to “eliminate some of the waste inefficiency in our defense projects.”
The Act passed unanimously in the House and Senate. “While it is tempting to conclude that a bill so unanimously supported must not do anything,” said House Armed…
June 5, 2009
June 3, 2009
The Service Contract Act (SCA) imposes a three-year debarment for a contractor’s failure to pay its employees prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits specified by the Department of Labor.
Because the SCA regulations impose debarment for all violations of the Act unless the contractor can show “unusual circumstances,” debarment for SCA violations is theoretically the norm, not the…
June 28, 2010
Receipt of a congressional subpoena is a scary moment for any company. In recent years, government contractors have come under congressional scrutiny not faced by commercial contractors.
Congress, in an effort to combat fraud, waste, and abuse – or simply as an act of political theater – has called upon contractors working with federal agencies to produce documents or appear in person…May 27, 2010
On June 21, 2010, federal agencies will begin using contract clauses requiring contractors to post new workplace notices informing employees of their rights under federal labor laws. The Department of Labor’s recent final rule implements Executive Order 13496, which President Obama issued soon after taking office.
The Obama policy revoked Executive Order 13201 and reversed the…
May 3, 2010
The Department of Defense (DoD) is proposing to amend its procurement regulations to “provide uniform guidance” and to “tighten existing requirements” for organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) in DOD contracts. Although the new rule implements § 207 of the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (WSARA) (see our June 2009 post), it would apply to all non-COTS DOD…
March 29, 2010
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently issued a long-awaited decision clarifying the classification of costs as Independent Research and Development (IR&D). ATK Thiokol, Inc. v. United States, No. 2009-5036 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 19, 2010).
In ATK, the contractor (now known as ATK Launch Systems) funded an upgrade of one of its advanced “strap on” rocket motors in the…
December 1, 2009
For some time now, OCIs have been a primary target for regulatory reforms, but now… PCIs?
Background
On November 13, 2009, the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (FAR Councils) announced a proposed rule requiring contractors to take sweeping action related to personal conflicts of interest (PCIs) held by employees performing “acquisition…
September 11, 2009
A proposed regulation would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require government contract offerors with over $10 million in federal grants and contracts to provide information relating to criminal convictions, civil judgments and administrative proceedings directly into a new information system maintained by the government.
Under §872 of the 2009 Defense Authorization Act, the…August 31, 2009
The last hurdle before the implementation of a rule requiring federal government contractors to verify employees’ employment eligibility has been cleared.
On August 25th, the U.S. District Court for Maryland rejected the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s challenge to a regulation mandating the use of E-Verify – the Department of Homeland Security’s internet-based system that checks…
July 10, 2009
The Obama Administration has finally and officially endorsed the rules requiring federal government contractors to use E-Verify – the previous administration’s immigration compliance system extensively covered in this blog.
Originally scheduled to go into effect in January 2009, the imposition of the system has been delayed four times, most recently on June 5 to allow the Obama…
July 8, 2009
If you provide medical services to federal government employees, you may be a government contractor without knowing it. And what you don’t know can hurt you.
Most health care providers have never heard of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), a branch of the Labor Department tasked with enforcing federal regulations prohibiting federal contractors and subcontractors from…
June 18, 2009
On May 22, 2009, President Obama signed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (WSARA), a statute that, in the President’s words, aims to “eliminate some of the waste inefficiency in our defense projects.”
The Act passed unanimously in the House and Senate. “While it is tempting to conclude that a bill so unanimously supported must not do anything,” said House Armed…
June 5, 2009
June 3, 2009
The Service Contract Act (SCA) imposes a three-year debarment for a contractor’s failure to pay its employees prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits specified by the Department of Labor.
Because the SCA regulations impose debarment for all violations of the Act unless the contractor can show “unusual circumstances,” debarment for SCA violations is theoretically the norm, not the…
