Redstone Government Consulting Blog

Sheri Buchanan

Sheri joined Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. in December 2012 as a Human Resources Consultant. She provides HR consulting services to our customers on a wide range of issues, from specific projects to an ongoing outsourced solution of the human resources function. Sheri has two decades of experience in providing a comprehensive assessment of all areas of HR, including establishing and implementing policies and practices, contract transition efforts/onboarding, and investigations. Sheri’s experience covers a broad spectrum of compensation planning and analysis for total compensation projects, reasonableness assessments including executive compensation, compensation philosophy development, total reward strategies, benefits analysis, market pay and pay equity evaluations. She regularly supports clients with the analysis and mapping of labor categories and the preparation and analysis of wage calculations and supports clients in pricing disputes with DCAA. Sheri has a wealth of experience in navigating the many compliance challenges associated with Service Contract Act and Davis Bacon Act. She has been a valuable resource to our clients in all these areas. She stays abreast of the various requirements of the Department of Labor and, of great importance to government contractors, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, as well as other federal and state regulations impacting human resources. Professional Experience Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Inc., Sheri served in various roles in the Human Resources arena. While employed by a mid-size government contractor she assisted with database development, recruiting, affirmative action planning and contract proposals. Sheri later became an Employment Specialist with one of the largest employers in Huntsville, where she assisted and led managers in the interpretation and documentation of the progressive disciplinary process, conducted employee investigations and allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge and employee disputes, conducted unemployment hearings and conducted new employee orientation. Sheri developed and presented management training, administered facility compensation plan, monitored staffing budgets and wrote job descriptions and handbook revisions.

Effective December 1, 2016: New Dollar Threshold for Salary Exempt Employees

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY: Is Your Employee Compensation Fair?

From the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the creation of the National Equal Pay Task Force and throughout Obama’s administration, we have seen a consistent push for “fair pay” (viewed from the perspective of the Federal Government). Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Jenny Yang explained that “Since the creation of the President’s Equal Pay Task Force in 2010, the EEOC has investigated tens of thousands of charges of pay discrimination, and through our enforcement efforts, we have obtained more than $85 million in monetary relief for those who have faced pay discrimination based on sex.” Of passing interest, the amount is only shown in absolute terms/dollars because in relative terms the recovery (using annualized data) is approximately .000025% of total full-time employee compensation in the United States (annual monetary relief of $17,000,000 and total annual full-time employee compensation is approximately $6,842,500,000,000). Regardless of the statistical insignificance, in relative terms, it is clear that they mean business and that they’ve only just begun--not to be confused with the 1970’s Carpenter’s Song; “We’ve Only Just Begun”.

Does the Service Contract Act Apply to Your Company and Are You Compliant?

What is the Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS)?

The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (41 U.S.C. §§ 351-358) (SCA) requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to provide service employees certain minimum wage and fringe benefits when performing work on those awarded federal service contracts. The Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing SCLS.