Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

DoD could award more contracts to companies with disabled workforce

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The Defense Department may soon have an additional way to award contracts to companies that employ people with severe disabilities, breathing life back into a project Congress set up 15 years ago but that’s languished ever since.

A proposed rule, published April 1, amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement by implementing a demonstration project giving Defense agencies more incentive to purchase contracts directly from eligible firms employing those with severe disabilities.  It gives contractors with a disabled workforce a boost when competing for certain awards.

Most DoD contracts with entities that employ large numbers of disabled Americans are currently handled through a procurement list maintained by the AbilityOne program.  But under the proposed rule, DoD would be able to award contracts to companies — both nonprofit and for-profit — that do not qualify to sell through AbilityOne, as long as the contractors can meet other criteria.

  • Individuals suffering from severe disability must make up at least 33 percent of a contractor’s workforce over a 12-month period from the time the award period begins.
  • The entity cannot pay those with disabilities less than minimum wage.
  • The organization must also provide those individuals with health insurance and a retirement plan comparable to those provided by other contractors.

“Contracts awarded to eligible contractors under this demonstration project may be counted toward DoD’s small disadvantaged business goal,” the proposal said.

Continue reading this article at: Federal News Network

Rehabilitation Act allows discrimination suits against independent government contractors

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accomodationIn a case involving a San Antonio plaintiff, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that employees can sue independent government contractors for discrimination under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Attorney Tiffany Cox of Ogletree Deakins in San Antonio says the decision, though in line with two other federal appeals courts, is part of a split because the Eighth Circuit has ruled the opposite.

“The Ninth and Tenth circuits have held that the Rehabilitation Act does not incorporate the (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirement that any plaintiff (must) be an employee of the defendant, and the Fifth Circuit followed their reasoning in deciding the Flynn case,” Cox said.

“Thus, companies doing business in those jurisdictions must pay close attention. The Eighth Circuit, on the other hand, reached the opposite conclusion and determined that the Rehabilitation Act requires the existence of an employer-employee relationship. The Supreme Court has yet to resolve the split.”

Keep reading this article at: http://legalnewsline.com/stories/510701198-fifth-circuit-rehabilitation-act-allows-discrimination-suits-against-independent-government-contractors

Labor sets disabled worker hiring goal for contractors

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The Labor Department is proposing a rule to mandate at least 7 percent of federal contractors’ workforce be made up of people with disabilities.

The rule, published in the Federal Register on Dec. 9, 2011, strengthens the current affirmative action requirements that call for equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities, according to an agency release.

The proposal would also apply to federal subcontractors.

“For nearly 40 years, the rules have said that contractors simply need to make a ‘good faith’ effort to recruit and hire people with disabilities. Clearly, that’s not working,” said Patricia Shiu, the director of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, in a statement. “Our proposal would define specific goals, require real accountability and provide the clearest possible guidance for employers seeking to comply with the law. What gets measured gets done. And we’re in the business of getting things done.”

The 7 percent goal is based on data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey on the entire workforce, said a department spokesperson in an email to Federal News Radio.

“However, there is no data set that fully quantifies workers with disabilities employed only by federal contractors,” she said.

According to Labor, the rule also increases data collection record-keeping requirements, and contractors would have to conduct annual self-reviews on their recruitment efforts.

Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president for National Security & Procurement Policy at industry group TechAmerica, said his “wish” about the proposal is that it included incentives for contractors who hired disabled workers, such as giving contractors a point advantage in the contract evaluation process.

“That kind of an incentive doesn’t cost the government … and would truly drive hiring of disabled people,” Hodgkins said in a phone interview with Federal News Radio.

He acknowledged that there can be a higher initial cost to accommodate disabled workers. However, Hodgkins added, “What we’ve historically found is they’re very loyal, dedicated people and they’re hard workers.”

Comments on the proposed rule must be submitted within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register.

— by Jolie Lee, Web Editor, Federal News Radio, published 12/8/2011 at http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=491&sid=2662099.

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