By JW Butler Multiple Award Schedule Modification Guidance On March 6, 2020, GSA released the final MAS Modification Guidance package. The new MAS Modification Guidance package can be found here. GSA previously had different modification guidelines for the 24 different legacy Schedules, but with the release of this modification package all contractors under the new MAS… Read more »
News & Articles
Trump Administration Continues To Align “Joint Employer” Standard Government-Wide
By David Warner, Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published its final rule setting out the standards for determining when two entities might both be considered an employer of an individual for purposes of coverage under the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under the NLRB’s promulgated rule, entities will be considered joint… Read more »
Good News for Employers! NLRB Upholds Employee Handbook Policies Tailored to Legitimate Business Purposes
By Edward W. Bailey, Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) guarantees employees the right to organize and collectively bargain through representatives and applies to a wide range of employer conduct including the contents of employee handbooks. Until recently, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) standard for determining whether employee handbooks violated the… Read more »
Court Awards Equitable Adjustment for Legal Fees to Defend Qui Tam Suit!
By Hon. Jack Delman The Court of Federal Claims recently awarded an equitable adjustment (EA) to a contractor providing reimbursement of legal fees to successfully defend a False Claims Act (FCA) action. The Tolliver Group v. United States, No. 17-1763C, 1/22/20. The Facts In 2011 the Army awarded the contractor a firm fixed price level… Read more »
“Ok Boomer”- Cringy But Not Discrimination (Yet)
By Tyler Freiberger, Esq., Nearly half a century after passage of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the American workplace remains confused as to the line between an innocent joke and potential legal exposure. While jokes involving race at last have found their way to the “hard no” category, the debate over pop culture… Read more »
Current GSA Contractors Alert – Consolidation Mass Modification Rollout Begins
By Julia Coon, The General Services Administration (GSA) has begun issuing the mass modifications for Phase II of the Multiple Award Schedule consolidation. Current GSA contract holders will be receiving a mass modification for each contract updating the Special Item Numbers (SINs) and terms and conditions in accordance with the new consolidated Multiple Award… Read more »
Random Procurement Musings in the Dog Days of January
By William Weisberg, Esq., A dreary day in late January–too late for a “Predictions for the Coming year” blog post, and a little too early for “Emerging Trends in Procurement So Far This year.” So, a few thoughts, (or maybe predictions, anyway): The Amazon JEDI protest is going to come to a head sooner than… Read more »
DOL Breaks Records in Wage & Hour Enforcement: How Employers Can Protect Themselves in 2020
By Edward W. Bailey, Soon after the end of fiscal year 2019, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) reported that its Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) had made record breaking recoveries against employers. In its year-end report, the DOL revealed that it collected a remarkable $322 million in back-wages owed to workers. WHD’s new administrator, Cheryl… Read more »
GAO Finds That DOD Faced Fraud and National Security Risks From Contracting in 2019
By Heather Mims, Esq. The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published a report on November 25, 2019 which recommended that the Department of Defense (“DOD”) should include an assessment of risks related to contractor ownership as part of its ongoing efforts to conduct fraud risk assessments. See Ongoing DOD Fraud Risk Assessment Efforts Should Include Contractor… Read more »
“Cold Take” Alert: There’s A Reason It’s Called “Working At Risk”
By David Warner, Last month, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued a decision underscoring the substantial risk contractors incur if they perform work not properly authorized by the appropriate government authority. The decision in Panther Brands, LLC v. United States, No. 16-1157C (Dec. 17, 2019) serves as a stark reminder that, even in the… Read more »
