Redstone Government Consulting Blog (27)

Due to the recent Russian invasion in Ukraine, there has been a significant increase in cyber-attacks reported across the world. While the U.S. Government has concerns related to attacks on U.S. companies including banks, power companies, fuel suppliers, they are also concerned with defense contractors. President Biden has issued multiple warnings to companies including defense contractors about looming cyber-attacks.

Now that year-end and quarter 1 is behind us, what is next? If you guessed Incurred Cost Submissions (ICS), you are correct. June 1^st is fast approaching and there are a few housekeeping items you can do to ensure that your accounting team has an efficient and painless process ahead of them.

Overview

• The 2022 Annual Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) national hiring benchmark was recently updated on the VEVRAA Hiring Benchmark Database.
• Component 1 EEO-1 reports are due May 17, 2022. The Redstone GCI HR team can support you with preparing and filing your EEO-1 report. Please contact us today if you are in need of assistance.
• Covered federal contractors must certify their Affirmative Action Plans (AAP) through the OFCCP Contractor Portal by June 30, 2022. Please contact our HR Team if you need assistance with your AAP or the certification process.
• The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued a new directive (DIR 2022-02) that is intended to promote effective enforcement of the equal employment opportunity laws that the agency enforces.
• The Department of Homeland Security has announced updates regarding the I-9 form and its verification Beginning May 1, 2022, DHS will no longer allow employers to accept expired List B Documents for form I-9 verification. If an employee presented an expired List B document between May 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022, employers are required to update their I-9 forms by July 31, 2022. DHS has provided a helpful table that explains the updated requirements.
• The current version of the I-9 form expires on October 1, 2022. DHS plans to “re-vamp” the form with several goals in mind:
  • Compressing Sections 1 and 2 from two pages to one page to reduce paper use.
  • Moving Section 3 to a separate Reverification and Rehire Supplement.
  • Updating the List of Acceptable Documents to include a link to List C documents (on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website) issued by DHS.
  • Reducing and simplifying the form's instructions from 15 pages to 7 pages.
  • Removing electronic PDF enhancements to ensure that the form can be completed on all electronic devices. 
• It is expected that the US Department of Labor (DOL) will publish a proposed overtime rule in the very near future.
• An Appeals Court recently upheld a COVID-19 Vaccination Directive that requires federal workers to be vaccinated.
• EEOC leaders recently discussed four areas that they aim to focus on in 2022. These areas include:
  • COVID-19 Mandates
  • Diversity and Tech
  • DEI Demographics Audits
  • Disability Rights
• The EEOC recently released a technical assistance document regarding Caregiver Discrimination due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  

 DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION: Redstone's Unanet Release 22.3 Brief

Redstone is excited to provide our Unanet Clients with the new features and functions that are part of Unanet Release 22.3. There are numerous new functionalities that will help clients streamline their processes.

This article is under review as a result of EO 141713, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

The last blog in this series focused on who (what) OFCCP is, what they require of contractors of various sizes and why compliance is important. Now we want to provide a bit more clarity as to what these requirements are and later in the series, how those requirements impact your processes and policies.

Government Contractor Purchases below the Micro-Purchase Threshold Require NO Documentation

This is a common misconception within the GOVCON community. While the expectations are clearly less documentation and effort are required than that of a larger dollar value purchase, there is not a magic threshold at which NO documentation of the fair and reasonable price is allowed.

The Government runs away to fight another day and another day.

What is this Groundhog Day?

L3 Technologies, Inc. (L3) takes the Government to task[1] for “challenging both indirect and direct costs paid to L3 on several government contracts for certain years.” During the long-drawn-out process of the litigation, “the government apparently thought better of its claims and withdrew them in toto[2] and represented it would make no further claims on the contract years in question.” L3 opposed, the dismissal seeking either summary judgment in its favor or that the Board “keep the appeals live so that it can obtain a victory that, it believes, would preclude its suffering similar government claims in other contract years.” No such luck, the Board granted the government’s motion and dismissed the appeals.

All we can hope is that someday the fox will get the gingerbread man (aka the Government) and this Groundhog Day nightmare will stop.

[1] Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) Case Nos. 61811, 61813, and 61814

[2] Fancy Latin word for completely.

Overview

• The 2021 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection is scheduled to open April 12, 2022 with a deadline of May 17, 2022 to file the report.
• OFCCP’s Affirmative Action Plan Certification period begins March 31 and ends June 30. Covered contractors must certify their AAP in the new Contractor Portal.
• The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled on March 14, 2022 that the Biden Administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it delayed and then withdrew the Trump era Independent Contractor Rule. Accordingly, the Court ruled that the Contractor Status Rule became effective on its original effective date, March 8, 2021.
• The Department of Labor announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to update the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.
• The US Department of Labor released a field assistance bulletin (FAB) regarding specific examples of what constitutes unlawful retaliation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and visa programs.
• The EEOC has updated its question-and-answer COVID guidance, this time with information about Title VII’s prohibition on religious discrimination in the context of religious accommodations to workplace vaccination requirements. This new guidance helps employers better understand the process of reviewing requests for religious accommodations and when and how to grant them.
• The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) released a new directive (DIR 2022-01) regarding pay equity audits.
  

• On March 31, 2022, the OFCCP issued Directive 2022-02 in an effort to “promote greater contractor compliance” by “conducting comprehensive compliance evaluations” in a timely manner, promoting contractor’s self-audit of systems, implementing cross-regional approach to multi-establishment reviews and promoting communication with contractors.

This article is under review as a result of EO 141713, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

As mentioned in a previous blog, OFCCP’s Contractor Portal, we are kicking off a blog series related to OFCCP and Affirmative Action requirements for contractors of all sizes. We begin this series by laying the groundwork of who (or what) OFCCP is and what affirmative action is. This series will focus on supply and service contractors; however, construction contractors may also find it helpful. Regardless of the type of contractor, our HR Team is available to assist with all of your OFCCP compliance and Affirmative Action Program (AAP) needs.

This video is the second part of a two part series where we provide an overview of some of the expectations that come with completing a Government proposal and their respective realities.