DFARS Class Deviation 2020-O0021 Revision
On January 15, 2021, the Principal Director at Defense Pricing and Contracting (DPC) issued a memorandum on the CARES Act Section 3610 Reimbursement Requests, DFARS Class Deviation 2020-O0021, Revision 2. This memorandum revises and supersedes the DFARS Class Deviation 2020-O0021 Revision 1 issued on October 14, 2020. The only revision is to extend the period for which paid leave must be taken from March 27, 2020 through December 11, 2020 to March 27, 2020 through March 31, 2021. The remainder of the memorandum remains unchanged and details are included in Redstone GCI’s blog.
DFARS Class Deviation 2020-O0013 Revision
On January 13, 2021, the Principal Director at Defense Pricing and Contracting (DPC) issued a memorandum on the CARES Act Section 3610 Implementation, Class Deviation 2020-O0013, Revision 3. This memorandum revises and supersedes the DFARS Class Deviation 2020-O0013 Revision 2 issued on October 14, 2020.
Section 3610 of the CARES Act allows agencies to reimburse contractors at applicable billing rates (not to exceed an average of 40 hours a week), for paid leave including sick leave to keep its employees or subcontractors in a ready state. Class Deviation 2020-O0013 Revision 2 included a time period for the reimbursement from March 27, 2020 to December 11, 2020. Class Deviation 2020-O0013, Revision 3, revised the time period for which paid leave must be taken from March 27, 2020 to March 31, 2021. The Class Deviation 2020-O0013, Revision 3 supersedes Revision 2 in its entirety and is effective immediately.
Contracting Officer’s Authority
The memorandum addresses the contracting officer’s authority under Section 3610 for reimbursement:
- Enable the contractor to stay in a ready state (treating as allowable paid leave costs to keep employees and subcontractors)
- Use “funds made available to the agency” by Congress for workers lost time, not otherwise reimbursable between March 27, 2020 and March 31, 2021
- Modify contracts to provide reimbursement of allowable paid leave costs, not otherwise reimbursement, without securing additional consideration and
- Provide reimbursement on any contract type.
Limitations on Reimbursements
Limitations on reimbursements are also addressed including contractor reimbursements if employees unable to work due to closures or restrictions or telework, payment up to 40 hours per week, reimbursement period, reduction for credits to contractors related to other provisions of the CARES Act, and availability of funds.
DFARS 231.205-79
The DPC memorandum includes an attachment updating DFARS 231.205-79 (b)(5) CARES Act Section 3610 – Implementation to revise the extended paid leave date from December 11, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
Redstone GCI is available to assist contractor’s in assessing their risk of audit intervention and assisting with the development of Section 3610 requests. Redstone GCI assists contractors throughout the U.S. and internationally with understanding the Government’s expectations in applying new guidance as it comes out.
Lynne is a Director with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. providing government contract consulting services to our clients primarily related to Commercial Item Determinations and support, Cost Accounting Standards, DFARS Business System Audits, Proposals, and Incurred Cost. Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Lynne served in several capacities with DCAA and DCMA for over 35 years. Professional Experience Lynne began her career working with DCAA in the Honeywell Resident Office, Clearwater, FL in 1984. Lynne’s experience included various positions which involved conducting or reviewing forward proposals or rate audits, financial capability audits, progress payments, accounting and estimating systems, cost accounting standards, claims and disclosure statement reviews. She is an expert in FAR, DFARS, CAS and testified as an expert witness. Lynne assisted in drafting the commercial item guidance for DCAA Headquarters. Lynne was assigned as a Regional Technical Specialist where she provided guidance to 20 field offices on highly complex or technical issues relative to forward pricing, financial capability or progress payment issues. As an Assistant for Quality, she was involved in reviewing and ensuring audit reports were in compliance with policy and GAGAS as well as made NASBA certified presentations to the staff including but not limited to billing reviews, CAS, unallowable cost and progress payments. To enhance her experience in government contracting, Lynne accepted a position with DCMA in 2015 as part of the newly organized DCMA Cadre of Experts in the Commercial Item Group. This included performing reviews of prime contractor’s assertions and/or commercial item determinations as well as performing price analyses. Lynne was a project lead and later became a lead analyst where she engaged with the buying commands on requests and reviewed price analysis reviews performed by a team of 5 analysts. She also assisted the DCMA CPSR team relative to commercial items and co-instructed the Commercial Item Training presented to DCMA. Education Lynne earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from the University of Central Florida. Certifications State of Florida Certified Public Accountant State of Alabama Certified Public Accountant Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level III- Auditing DAWIA Level III – Contracting