False Claims Act Penalties Set for Significant Increase Later This Year

Liability under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) results in the imposition of treble damages and penalties. Government contractors should be aware that the mandatory penalties for FCA violations may nearly double starting in August of 2016. On November 2, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Sec. 701 of Public Law 114-74) (the “2015 Act”). The 2015 Act requires federal agencies to issue regulations adjusting civil monetary penalties for inflation . . . Read More

2016 SBA Issues Final Limitations on Subcontracting Rule

Today, SBA issued its final rule to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, which pertains to the limitations on subcontracting (“LOS”) applicable to small business set-aside contracts, socioeconomic program set-aside contracts, and small business subcontracting. SBA issued this rule after considering all comments provided in the rulemaking and, while we are still reviewing the rule in more detail, we are pleased that the rule accounts for concerns raised during the rulemaking process and is not as . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for May 27, 2016

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Debt Refinancing in 504 Loan Program Small Business Size Standards This week’s report follows,  click here if you would like to download a copy . GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Debt Refinancing in 504 Loan Program The Small Business Administration has issued an interim final rule that implements Section 521 of Division E, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, which authorizes projects approved for financing under Title V of the Small Business Investment Act to include the refinancing of qualified debt, 81 Fed. Reg. 33123 .  Comments are due by July 25, 2016 and the rule is effective . . . Read More

SBA Announces New WOSB Online Portal

By Josh Humi Recently, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”)  announced a new online portal  to serve women-owned small businesses (“WOSBs”).  The new portal allows WOSBs to manage their SBA-related documents, complete SBA application forms online, and receive notices of deadlines. In addition, the new portal supports self-certifications for WOSBs. SBA will be transferring existing repository documents to the new online portal, so WOSBs will not need to re-submit documents which they have already submitted to SBA. Furthermore, SBA is now managing all WOSB requirements through . . . Read More

Senate Armed Services Committee Releases 2017 NDAA Bill with Big Changes for GAO Protest Costs

By Julia Di Vito On May 12, 2016, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (“SASC”) completed its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year 2017. Several of the SASC’s changes to the NDAA address the costs of bid protests at the GAO, and appear to be aimed at limiting the number of protests filed regarding Department of Defense (“DOD”) procurements. Specifically, the SASC’s version of the NDAA would add a new section to Chapter 137 of . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for May 20, 2016

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Overtime Final Rule GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Simplified Acquisition Threshold for Overseas Acquisitions in Support of Humanitarian or Peacekeeping Operations Basic Safeguarding of Contractor Information Systems Improvement in Design-Build Construction Process SMALL BUSINESS Small Entity Compliance Guide Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustments This week’s report follows,  click here if you would like to download a copy. LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Overtime Final Rule The Department of Labor issued its final overtime rule which updates the salary level required for the executive, administrative, and professional (“white collar”) exemption to ensure that the Fair Labor Standards Act’s intended overtime protections . . . Read More

How Many of Your Employees Will Now Be Entitled to Overtime? DOL Doubles Salary Requirements for Exempt Employees

We’ve been waiting for months for the Department of Labor (“DOL”) to release its final regulations making changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) overtime exemptions, Part 541, and today, the wait came to an end. As expected, the final rule includes a significant increase in salary threshold and a method to automatically increase the threshold every three years. Following are the highlights you need to know to be the master of the watercooler (or staff meeting) this week . . . Read More

Missing a Wage Determination in a SCA-Covered RFP? Ask for It.

By Megan Connor I recently participated in a  webinar  regarding Service Contract Act (“SCA”) compliance and during the webinar, a number of participants noted instances where a request for proposal (“RFP”) or solicitation did not include the relevant wage determination (“WD”), even though the agency otherwise incorporated the SCA clauses into the RFP. If you face a similar circumstance, you should be aware of your rights. First, the applicable regulations make clear that contracting officers—not contractors—are required to determine if the . . . Read More