What to Do When an Investigator Comes Knocking

Our firm has observed a significant uptick in the investigation of government contractors in the last few years. This is driven, in large part, by a political and regulatory environment that assumes fraud, waste and abuse are endemic in the government contracting space. Operating in this environment, contractors should have plans in place to deal with government investigators. We usually recommend that firms take the following steps in the event an investigator comes knocking at their door: Contact your legal . . . Read More

SCA H&W Rate Increases to $4.02 per hour Effective July 22, 2014

The prevailing health and welfare (H&W) fringe benefit rate was increased effective July 22, 2014 to $4.02 per hour, with the exception that the benefit rate in Hawaii will be $1.66. The new H&W rate  applies to “all invitation for bids opened, or other service contracts awarded on or after July 22, 2014.” The contracting agency must include a new wage determination reflecting the new H&W rate to trigger the contractor’s obligation to pay the higher H&W rate. The contracting . . . Read More

An 8(a) Contracting Cautionary Tale’s Final Scene

Many may have fond childhood memories of their parents reading cautionary tales or poems to them before going to bed, such as Hilaire Belloc’s “Rebecca: Who Slammed Doors For Fun and Perished Miserably” or Shel Silverstein’s “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out.” Like these poems, the stories are usually very funny. Yet, however ludicrous they may be, the writings often teach valuable life lessons without (usually) giving children bad dreams in the process. When one exits . . . Read More

The gTLD Explosion: Changes to Domain Names that All Businesses Should be Aware Of

The universe of domain names within the internet is undergoing radical change and businesses need to be aware of how to navigate in this new world. On June 20, 2011, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”), the international non-profit corporation that oversees the domain name system in the internet, approved the launch of its new generic top-level domains (“gTLD”) program dramatically expanding the existing gTLD system. gTLDs are the extensions (i.e., letters or words) that come to the right of the “dot” in a . . . Read More

EEOC Issues New Pregnancy Discrimination Guidelines

On July 14, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in a split decision, issued  new guidelines  regarding its enforcement of pregnancy discrimination laws. Although the guidance should be carefully reviewed, among the most notable changes is that the EEOC now interprets the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) to require employers to provide reasonable accommodation to employees who have work restrictions due to pregnancy even if the employee does not qualify as disabled or is not regarded as disabled under the Americans with . . . Read More

Attorney-Client Privilege Protects Against Production of Internal Investigations of Fraud

By Katie Flood If you have been worrying about a potential issue related to an audit or False Claims Act (FCA) complaint, but have been nervous to proceed with an internal investigation in case those results should come back damning and later be disclosed a court case, there is good news from the DC Circuit.  In a petition filed in the case In re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., DC Circuit No. 14-5055 (June 27, 2014), the DC Circuit overturned the . . . Read More

Minimum Wage for Contractor Employees on Fast Track to Your Contracts

At some point in the past few months, you may have heard about Executive Order 13658 (EO), issued on February 12, 2014, wherein President Barack Obama establishes a $10.10 per hour minimum wage for employees of federal contractors and subcontractors by January 2015, adjusted annually thereafter by the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. There is a disagreement about the actual impact the EO will have since most federal contractors and subcontractors subject to the provisions . . . Read More

GAO Affirms Timeline for SBA Approval of Joint Venture Agreements

By Kelly DiGrado The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently affirmed that joint venture (JV) agreements need not be approved by the Small Business Administration (SBA) prior to submission of a proposal for an 8(a) set aside contract. See BGI-Fiore JV, LLC,  B-409520 (May 29, 2014). The case arose in the context of a pre-award protest of NASA’s decision to eliminate of BGI-Fiore’s proposal from competition for an 8(a) set aside contract.  NASA rejected the proposal of BGI-Fiore, JV, LLC, a JV between . . . Read More