By Michelle Litteken As many contractors are all too aware, OCI stands for “organizational conflict of interest.” An OCI arises when, because of other relationships or circumstances, a contractor may (1) be unable to render impartial advice or assistance to the government, (2) be unable to objectively perform contract work, or (3) have an unfair competitive advantage. An OCI can lead to disqualification from a procurement, termination of an existing contract, or sanctions. Given the severity of these potential consequences, . . . Read More
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Interpretation of the “Advice” Exemption This week’s report follows, click here if you would like to download a copy . DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Interpretation of the “Advice” Exemption The Office of Labor-Management Standards of the Department of Labor (Department’) is revising the Form LM-20 Agreement, Activities Report and the Form LM-10 Employer Report in response to its June 21, 2011 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). In the NPRM, the Department proposed to revise its interpretation of the advice exemption in section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) . . . Read More
Back in February, we wrote about SBA’s new size rule for IT value-added resellers (“ITVARs”) and the major ramifications of the new rule. The rule requires ITVARs to comply with the nonmanufacturer rule when reselling IT products to the federal government under NAICS code 541519, footnote 18, which has a size standard of 150 employees. This was a 180-degree turnaround from SBA’s prior position on ITVARs, which were not previously required to comply with the nonmanufacturer rule. The upshot of the new rule is that ITVARs performing . . . Read More
By Ambi Biggs The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments next month in a False Claims Act (“FCA”) case that could significantly broaden the scope of the statute and resolve a split among the U.S. Circuit Courts. If the Supreme Court were to rule in favor of an implied theory of certification, government contractors across the country could be held liable for violating the FCA by breaching regulations and contractual provisions to which they never certified that . . . Read More
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors Procedures for Handling Retaliation Complaints under MAP-21 Procedures for Handling Retaliation Complaints under the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 This week’s report follows, click here if you would like to download a copy . DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors The Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, issued a proposed rule extending the comment period for filing written comments on the proposed rulemaking: Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors from March 28, 2016 until April 12, . . . Read More
You may recall that, back in July 2014, we advised that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned a D.C. District Court decision in a False Claims Act case that required the results of an internal investigation, which the investigating company had asserted were protected by the attorney-client privilege, to be turned over to the whistleblower’s counsel. The trial court had supported its decision against the application of the privilege by, among other things, pointing out that the employees that had been interviewed—by non-attorneys—had not been told that the interview was being conducted for the purpose of obtaining or providing legal . . . Read More
By Corey Argust For employers, it seems like every time you turn around there is a change in the law or regulations to add to the list of compliance challenges. Federal contractors can now add paid sick leave to that list. On February 25, 2016, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its proposed rule for providing employees working on federal contracts with sick leave. The proposed rule would implement Executive Order 13706, which President Obama signed on September 7, 2015. . . . Read More
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors This week’s report follows, click here if you would like to download a copy . GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Information on Corporate Contractor Performance and Integrity DOD, GSA, and NASA issued a final rule amending the FAR to implement section 852 of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2013 to include, in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System, to the extent practicable, identification of any immediate owner or subsidiary, and all predecessors of an offeror that held a Federal contract or grant within the . . . Read More
