GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
The Washington Post Quotes PilieroMazza’s Tony Franco: Potential Impact of Social Disadvantage Ruling on Minority-Owned Government Contractors, PilieroMazza News, Antonio R. Franco
Thousands of Black, Latino and other minority business owners are scrambling to prove that their race puts them at a “social disadvantage” after a federal judge declared a key provision of a popular Small Business Administration (SBA) program unconstitutional, extending the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent retreat from affirmative action. Read more here.
GSA’s OASIS Unrestricted Contract Now Runs Until March 2025, GovConWire
The General Service Administration added six months to the initial period of performance for the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services Unrestricted contract to ensure availability of the acquisition vehicle when high-spend activities hit during the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year. Read more here.
Conflict of Interest Policy for Recipients of NASA Financial Assistance Awards, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA is publishing a new policy and term and condition regarding conflict of interest disclosures. The revised policy requires NASA grant and cooperative agreement recipients to maintain and enforce a conflict of interest policy that requires the disclosure of significant financial interests to an authorized official prior to application submission. Read more here.
Department of Education (DOE) Issues Final Regulations Modifying DOE Acquisition Regulation
The DOE Secretary modifies the Department of Education Acquisition Regulation to revise aspects of those regulations that are out-of-date or redundant with other DOE policies and procedures and to accurately implement the current Federal Acquisition Regulation and DOE policies. The final regulation is available here and is effective October 1, 2023.
New DFARS Rule Gives DoD Permanent Authority in Commercial Acquisition, MeriTalk
According to an August 17, 2023, notice posted to the Federal Register, a new finalized proposed rule gives the Department of Defense authority to acquire commercial products and services using general solicitation competitive procedures known as a “commercial solutions opening.” Read more here.
Upcoming Government Contracts Presentations
WEBINAR: How to Use and Protect your Intellectual Property When Performing Federal Contracts, September 27, 2023, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV. Read more here.
CONFERENCE: Small Business Compliance with the FAR, Govcon Giants Contracting Connections Summit 2023, October 12, 2023, Meghan F. Leemon. Read more here.
WEBINAR: Keys to Preparing a Winning Bid for DHS’s $5.6 Billion PACTS III IDIQ, October 26, 2023, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV. Read more here.
WEBINAR: Joint Venture and Mentor-Protege Bidding Strategies (2023), November 9, 2023, Peter B. Ford and Meghan F. Leemon. Read more here.
LABOR & EMPLOYMENT
Clocking in with PilieroMazza: New Laws Affect Non-Compete Agreements and Applying Them to Government Contracting Workforce, PilieroMazza Podcast, Sarah L. Nash and Nichole D. Atallah. Click here to listen to the podcast.
NLRB Reverses Rulings On Employer Unilateral Changes, Law360
The National Labor Relations Board said recently employers cannot make certain types of unilateral changes to their workers’ job conditions after the expiration of a labor contract or during negotiation of an initial deal, even if the change was in line with past practice, reversing two Trump-era decisions. Read more here (subscription required).
OFCCP Updates Supply and Service Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing, Department of Labor (DOL)
The DOL’s updated scheduling letter encourages contractors to submit information electronically, clarifies existing requirements, and requests new information to allow the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to better assess compliance. Read more here.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees, Department of Labor (DOL)
The DOL proposes updating and revising regulations issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act implementing the exemptions from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees. Significant proposed revisions include increasing the standard salary level to the 35th percentile of weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census Region (currently the South)—$1,059 per week ($55,068 annually for a full-year worker)—and increasing the highly compensated employee total annual compensation threshold to the annualized weekly earnings of the 85th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally ($143,988). The Department is also proposing to add to the regulations an automatic updating mechanism that would allow for the timely and efficient updating of all the earnings thresholds. Read more here. Comments are due 60 days after publication.
Department of Labor (DOL) Notice of Proposed Rule to Revise DOL Acquisition Regulation System
DOL proposes revising the Department of Labor Acquisition Regulations (DOLAR) to update and streamline agency procurement regulations consistent with the Federal Acquisition Reform Act, and the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act. The proposed updates remove provisions that are redundant or obsolete and codify the use of certain contractual provisions DOL developed and deployed in recent years to put potential contractors on notice of these provisions and to formalize their usage. The provisions address a range of matters, including government property, continuity of operations, system requirements, records management, telework policy for contractor personnel, submission of invoices, mandatory training for contractors, organizational conflicts of interest, and changing the scope of a contract. Read more here. Comments are due November 5, 2023.
Upcoming Labor & Employment Presentations
PILIEROMAZZA WEBINAR: Overhaul of Davis-Bacon Act Increases Wage Requirements and Enforcement for Federal Construction Contractors, September 14, 2023, Sarah L. Nash. Read more here.
