Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Labor Dept. resumes providing guidance on wage and hour laws

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The U.S. Department of Labor is reinstating the issuance of opinion letters.  The letters, issued by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, is one of its methods the department uses to provide guidance to covered employers and employees.

An opinion letter is an official, written opinion by the Wage and Hour Division of how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by an employer, employee or other entity requesting the opinion. The letters were a division practice for more than 70 years until being stopped and replaced by general guidance in 2010.

“Reinstating opinion letters will benefit employees and employers as they provide a means by which both can develop a clearer understanding of the Fair Labor Standards Act and other statutes,” says Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to helping employers and employees clearly understand their labor responsibilities so employers can concentrate on doing what they do best: growing their businesses and creating jobs.”

The division has established a webpage where the public can see if existing agency guidance already addresses their questions or submit a request for an opinion letter. The webpage explains what to include in the request, where to submit the request, and where to review existing guidance. The division will exercise discretion in determining which requests for opinion letters will be responded to, and the appropriate form of guidance to be issued.

Understanding the scope of GSA Schedule labor category descriptions

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GSA Schedule ContractIn a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) procurement conducted under FAR Subpart 8.4, all items quoted and ordered by the agency are required to be available on the vendor’s schedule contract as a precondition to its receiving the order. This means, in the case of a task order for services, that all of the solicited labor categories must be on the successful vendor’s FSS contract.

GAO-GovernmentAccountabilityOffice-SealGAO has issued several opinions addressing what it means for GSA schedule services to be “on” a vendor’s FSS contract. In US Investigation Services, Professional Services Division, B-410454.2, Jan. 15, 2015, 2016 CPD ¶ 44, a bid protest successfully litigated by Sheppard Mullin, GAO articulated the test as whether the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications for the types of employees solicited by the agency are encompassed within the FSS labor category description. In that case, GAO sustained a protest alleging that the services offered by the awardee were not available on its GSA schedule contract where “none of the responsibilities or activities described in [the awardee’s FSS] labor category description [was] germane to the work required under the RFQ.”

More recently, in AllWorld Language Consultants, Inc., B-411481.3, Jan. 6, 2016, 2016 CPD ¶ 12, GAO articulated what could be interpreted as a more restrictive standard for determining whether services are available on a vendor’s FSS contract.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=471766

GAO: ‘Mechanical’ cost realism evaluation was improper

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An agency’s cost realism evaluation was improper because the agency “mechanically” compared an offeror’s proposed staffing to an undisclosed government estimate.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that it was improper for the agency to apply its own estimates for labor hours and costs without considering the protester’s unique technical approach.

The GAO’s decision in CFS-KBR Marianas Support Services, LLC; Fluor Federal Solutions LLC, B-410586 et al. (Jan. 2, 2015) involved a Navy procurement for base operations support services.  The solicitation contemplated the award of a cost-reimbursement contract, which was to be awarded on a “best value” basis.  Among the evaluation factors, the Navy was to consider offerors’ proposed staffing and resources.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/gao-mechanical-cost-realism-evaluation-was-improper/

Bidder beware: Mind the details when using a GSA Schedule

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The General Service Administration’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) is supposed to be a way for agencies to streamline procurement. However, achieving the desired efficiency requires that the Government buyer use the right contract vehicle for a given requirement. If the Government uses the wrong schedule—or a contractor proposes to provide goods or services that are not available under its schedule contract, and the agency fails to perform a careful evaluation—litigation may effectively eliminate the desired efficiencies. A recent GAO decision, US Investigations Services provides a good example of how thing can go awry.

The FBI issued a task order for services in connection with its National Name Check Program to the awardee using the awardee’s FSS contract. Under the task order, the awardee would research FBI files, assist in responding to FOIA requests, and support the agency in making national security classification determinations.

The protester raised several protest grounds, and GAO sustained one: the labor categories required to perform the task order were not in the awardee’s FSS contract. The agency’s solicitation included four labor categories, and the awardee proposed a single labor category from its FSS contract to satisfy the requirements of three of the categories. GAO compared the labor categories required under the solicitation with the description of the awardee’s category and determined “that the duties, responsibilities and qualifications of the types of employees solicited by the agency are not encompassed within” the awardee’s labor category. The agency was looking for personnel with in-depth knowledge of FBI policy and functions, as well as experience in records management, declassification review, and paralegal services. The awardee’s labor category focused on general aspects of program management, such as developing business methods, identifying best practices, and creating and assessing performance measurements.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=368660

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