Redstone Government Consulting Blog (35)

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 14173, 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.

Lockheed Martin raised a great question to the ASBCA as to “whether the Fly America Act, 49 U.S.C. § 40118 (FAA) and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.247-63 only apply to direct personnel performing direct work on covered contracts, or also applies to indirect personnel or indirect travel.”[1] The Board declined to hear the case as there was no “live dispute” at hand.

[1] Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals Case No. 62377

Below is a novel thought, uttered in 1911 by the President of Columbia University, that may be equally true today:

I weigh my words when I say that in my judgment the limited liability corporation is the greatest single discovery of modern times. Even steam to electricity are far less important that the limited liability corporation, and they would be reduced to comparative impotence without it.[1]

[1]   Corporate Law & Practice (Practicing Law Institute, 2^nd Ed. 1999) at p. 11.

What is the Commercial Item Group (CIG)?

So, what is the DCMA CIG? They are the “cadre of experts” established under DCMA as a result of Section 831 of the FY 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The purpose of the CIG is to assist DoD contracting officers in making commercial item determinations. There are several DCMA ACO’s that have warrants specific to making commercial item determinations on contractor assertions or higher-tier contractor determinations of its supplier’s assertions at the request of a buying command. DCMA CIG has price analysts and engineers that perform market research, evaluate the commercial submission, determine whether pricing is fair and reasonable as well as provide negotiation support.

At the end of each of the DCAA audit programs for contractor business systems, DCAA discusses what it refers to as “Less Severe Significant Deficiencies.” These are clearly deficiencies which do not meet the DFARS definition of a “Significant deficiency.”[1] As a result, the withhold requirement provided for in DFARS 252.242-7005 cannot be applied.

This video is the first 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.

This article is under review as a result of EO 14173, 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.

What is it?

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI), or “Contractor Portal” is a new platform to be used by covered government contractors (prime and subcontractors) to:

• Annually certify that they are complying with the requirement to develop and maintain annual Affirmative Action Plans (AAP).
• Upload Affirmative Action Plans and other requested materials during an OFCCP compliance evaluation.

Overview

• The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury have jointly released information to help answer common questions relating to the coverage of at-home covid tests by group health plans. 
• President Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) on Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects for federal construction projects valued at $35 million or more. 
• On February 1, the US DOL announced plans to hire 100 Investigators “to support its Wage and Hour Division’s compliance efforts.”
• A large automotive employer will pay $600,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit due to their issuance of deficient COBRA notices. 
• Congress has passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act for sexual assault and harassment cases.