The SCA is uncertain with respect to how to compensated a service worker who is just temporarily posted to a different locale than their home base. It has been said that contractors only have to ask for new WDs for the missing site, or pay the rate specified for a different site, if the temporarily assigned worker is going to be there for 2 months or more. Periods of time of less than 1 or perhaps 2 months are considered to be temporary postings and may not always trigger a new WD wage rate.
Read MoreWhile some specific additive payroll taxes are picked up and adjusted under the Service Contract Act Price Adjustment clause, the situation with state or local Gross Receipts Taxes (“GRT”), assessed as a percentage on government service contract revenue, is fraught with uncertainties. Contractors who failed to price these costs into their proposal up front have been left holding the bag.
Read MoreThe principles which determine whether or not time spent in travel is working time will depend on the kind of travel involved and the particular circumstances .
Read MoreUnlike the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act, which covers most US Government construction projects, the Service Contract Act does not dictate the weekly payment of wages. So while Davis-Bacon Act covered construction workers' wages must be paid weekly, other federal laws like the SCA do not necessarily require such frequency of payment.
Read MoreAfter final arbitral award, a cost reimbursement contractor should have an opportunity to argue at the Board for the recovery the overtime backpay and other costs from the Federal government. There is no U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) procedures it has to exhaust first.
Read MoreThe interaction between show up pay requirements and the Service Contract Act (“SCA”) Price Adjustment clauses (FAR 52.222-43 and -44) is ambiguous, and this is thus a cause of potential disputes between contracting agencies and the federal contractors
Read MoreGovernment service contractors working at federal facilities that have closed down for a day of mourning should review their contracts and wage determination(s) carefully and make sure they don’t cover events, like Presidential funeral closures, and if they do, follow them to get reimbursed, if possible for the cost of the day off.
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Gilbert J. Ginsburg, a giant of the government contracts/wage and hour world passed away Oct. 26, 2018. This is my personal remembrance of the impact of Gil on my life.
Read MoreThe better strategy is re-evaluating the terms of your SCA CBAs to look for items arguably not covered by the SCA — like premium overtime, call-in/reporting pay, call-back pay or expense reimbursement (such as per diems, and other compensation not for hours worked) — and renegotiate the CBA to remove them and add items that are subject to a price adjustment from the Government.
Read MoreIt pays to carefully check the DOL regulations and, if necessary, get the advice of counsel when determining whether travel time is compensable for nonexempt staff.
Read MoreThe SCA doesn’t make the prevailing wage rate into a floor on rates in a section 4(c) unionized collective bargaining situation. The regulatory admonition that the prevailing wage floor “must be observed for any work performed on a contract subject to that determination” doesn’t apply since the contract is now subject to a section 4(c) wage determination.
Read MoreThe Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recovered a record $304 million in wages owed to workers in Fiscal Year 2018.
Read MoreThe short answer is that a company that acquires all or substantially all the assets of another company and continues its operations — providing the same services in the same locations with the same employees and equipment — may be found liable for the wage-hour liabilities of the predecessor.
Read MoreIf employers don’t coerce or “require” employee participation in wellness programs, then the time spent therein is likely not working time under the FLSA or other federal wage and hour laws.
Read MoreThe new SCA H&W benefit rates are generally $4.48 per hour on or after July 11, 2018. But for SCA-covered contracts subject to Executive Order 13706 (the “Sick Leave E.O.”), the new rate is $4.18. And for contractors doing business in Hawaii, the H&W rate may be as low as $1.91.
Read MoreAppeals centered on whether the proper of Service Contract Act (“SCA”) wage determination (“WD”) has been incorporated into the contract go to the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) and are not addressable under the Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”) process.
Read MoreDOL takes the position that “the first principal activity of the day for agents/specialists/representatives working in call centers includes starting the computer to download work instructions, computer applications, and work-related emails.” Thus, in DOL’s view, logging on and logging off tasks are compensable working time. Is DOL right? Well perhaps not, but who wants to fight it out?
Read MoreThe Contractor Minimum Wage goes up by 2.4%. It is, of course, an automatic increase mandated by President Obama Executive Order. The Trump Administration is no fan of minimum wage increases. No similar inflation adjustment happens to the FLSA.
Read MoreThe SCA and DBA both provide that direct contractor payments of plan expenses are not deemed to be bona fide fringe benefit contributions. But that truism doesn’t tell the complete story. Plan expenses paid for by the plan do not invalidate otherwise bona fide contributions made by the employer to the plan under the prevailing wage laws.
Read MoreThe time line for a SCA covered employer to reconcile the health and welfare (“H&W”) cash benefits potentially depends on the type of wage determination (“ WD”) found in the contract. There are different rules for different kinds of WDs.
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