Redstone Government Consulting Blog | Human Resources (11)

The objectives of a timekeeping system are to ensure that labor costs are accurately and timely identified as either direct or indirect in the accounting system.  For certain contract types (e.g. cost-type), these accumulated labor costs are reported and billed to the customer.  It is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure that the labor costs posted in the timekeeping system are proper and reliable. 

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.

Are you prepared for a compliance evaluation from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)? If you’re a government contractor or subcontractor, you likely need to be. The OFCCP is under the umbrella of the Department of Labor and their goal is to “protect workers, promote diversity and enforce the law.” OFCCP administers the following laws, all of which are specific to government contractors:

Outsourcing certain administration functions within an organization has become a trending practice among government contractors. In fact, we have seen a noticeable uptick in outsourced accounting, human resources and contracts administration functions over the past year.

Whether a company chooses to outsource a certain administrative function to fill a temporary void or a permanent one, looking to subcontractors for help makes sense for a number of reasons.

A Prospective View of Model Employer (Government Contractor)

On April 15, 2015, members of the self-proclaimed Congressional Progressive Caucus called for an Executive Order (EO) which would define a model employer and provide model employers with preferences in terms of government contract awards.  The Progressive Caucus envisions an EO which would define a model employer to include a minimum wage of $15/hour, other benefits including paid time off, full-time hours and predictable schedules.  As noted by this Caucus, the 2014 EO which raised the minimum wage to $10.10/hour for employees of government contractors was simply not enough to eliminate stagnant wages which tether jobs to poverty and government assistance. 

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.

Though multiple legislative efforts have failed in amending Title VII to include sexual orientation and gender-identity to the list of protected classes which cannot be discriminated against, President Obama’s Executive Order (EO) 13672, signed on July 21, 2014, and the subsequent guidance issued by various government agencies leaves government contractors with changes to make in this arena.  Like EO 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity, issued in 1965, it impacts virtually all government contracts with a very low threshold of $10,000 or more in federal contracts or subcontracts.  Exclusions are few and unaltered as currently stated in the regulations, 41 CFR 60-1.5.

On March 25, 2014, President Obama issued executive orders raising the minimum wage to $10.10/hour for contractor employees on government contracts.  The logic, the hardworking cooks serving hamburgers to our troops should not be living in poverty (most likely a reference to the fast food chains which are located on military installations).  Simultaneously, he also directed the Department of Labor to change the federal rules to make more “salary exempt” employees eligible for overtime pay.   The current threshold of $455/week will likely be increased to a significantly higher amount noting that the last change (April 2004) increased the amount from $155/week to $455/week.  The higher amount could be as much as $950/week in which case someone earning $949/week would be eligible for overtime pay (including overtime premium) for hours exceeding 40 hours per week.   In one press release, the Department of Labor used one example of the severe inequity of the existing threshold $455/week), noting that two “hardworking” gas station managers in New Jersey were effectively making less than minimum wage.