Are Federal Contractors Liable for Complying With the Drug-Free Work Place Act?
By Tyler Freiberger, While attitudes about Marijuana and state laws controlling the drug continue to shift toward recreational use, the common advice has been that most employers may still terminate employees for even medical use of the drug unless restricted in particular states. In fact, typically the rule has been that if you are a… Read more »
AND THE WINNER (SO FAR) IS VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS!
By Hon. Jack Delman We promised to keep you updated on the Federal Circuit's disposition of a case addressing the collide between the Veterans Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006 (VBA) and the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (JWOD) in procurements at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Each statute provides valuable award preferences to… Read more »
OTAs Are Totally, Completely, Amazingly, Revolutionizing Government Procurement. (Not)
By William Weisberg, Every year, the swallows return to Capistrano, the leaves change (at least here in Northern Virginia), and something comes along to revolutionize federal procurement. LPTA procurements. Data rights clauses. FAR part 13. Fixed-price development contracts (if you are old enough to remember those pre-FAR days). And now…" Other Transaction Authority" ("OTA"). Avoid all… Read more »
Help! My GSA Contract is Suspended in eBuy and my Catalog/Pricelist has Disappeared
By JW Butler, An email with the subject line "GSA Advantage Catalog/Pricelist Removal Notice" followed by your contract number may cause many to panic, but not to worry, the solution is a simple one. The General Services Administration (GSA) requires that all GSA Schedule contract catalogs/pricelists be updated to ensure the accuracy of prices and… Read more »
A Potential End to the Hate-Hate Relationship with LPTA
By Stephanie Fine, Esq. Good news for Federal contractors. The recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will expand limitations on the use of the much-criticized Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection that was previously imposed on the Department of Defense to now include civilian agencies. The LPTA procurement process requires source selection officials… Read more »
Is the Federal Marketplace Ready for Amazon?
By Barbara S. Kinosky, Esq. Whether you are an Amazon Prime Member, taking advantage of free shipping, video streaming, and other products, or a non-member, chances are good you have either ordered from Amazon or received something from someone that was ordered through Amazon. And if you are a federal contractor, you may be competing… Read more »
When Set Asides Collide! – Kingdomware & the 'Rule of 2' vs. JWOD
By David Warner, "When Set Asides Collide!" Federal Circuit To Determine Precedence Of Kingdomware's "Rule of Two" And Mandatory Procurements Under Javits-Wagner-O'Day Earlier this month, the Federal Circuit heard oral argument in the matter of PDS Consultants, Inc. v. United States, App. No. 2017-2379, to determine whether statutory programs favoring veterans in procurements from the U.S…. Read more »
Federal Circuit Reinforces Government Preference for Commercial Items
By Heather Mims, On September 13, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the Army acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it failed to buy commercially available products whenever possible or, in terms of the statute at issue, to the maximum extent practicable. This litigation began when Palantir USG, Inc…. Read more »
New Minimum Hourly Wage Rates Announced For Federal Contractors & Subcontractors
By Wayne Simpson, CFCM, CSCM New Hourly Rates Effective January 1, 2019 The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced the new applicable minimum wage rates for workers performing work on or in connection with Federal contracts covered by Executive Order (E.O.) 13658. The new rates, effective January 1, 2019, are $10.60 per… Read more »
DOL Releases New Opinion Letters Expanding FLSA Exemptions
By Tyler Freiberger, Following a nine-year gap, in January 2018 the Department of Labor (DOL) again began releasing voluntary opinion letters in response to common or unique questions. The initial batch of released letters only reinstated opinions from 2009 that had been withdrawn for "further consideration." So the two letters released in April of this… Read more »
GSA Posts Request for Information (RFI) on the Consolidation of Multiple Award Schedules (MAS)
Saying "More" When "Less" Will Do: Misleading Pre-Award Discussions Support Protest
The Monkey's Paw of Forced Arbitration
Women-Owned Small Business Set-Asides Remain Only Small Percentage of Overall Federal Contracts
Best Practices for Best In Class Contract Management
Federal IT Modernization: Why It's Important to Government Contractors in 2019
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