Working with Contractors in the Federal Workplace

For example, the employee in the previous example received a severance package of $15,000 after the company learned that he was considered for a position at the agency. According to the company, the severance package was intended to honor the person for their hard work and contribution to the company`s mission. This person was the first person to receive such a payment from the company, and the company did not have a written policy or contract that specified the benefit. This is an extraordinary payment, and the employee would be prohibited from working on a contract to which the company is a party for two years without waiver. Finally, some agencies have additional rules of conduct relating to employment outside certain companies. In some cases, the Agency`s additional rules may prohibit certain external employment with an Agency contractor (or potential contractor). Z.B. 5 C.F.R. §§ 6901.103(c)(1) (NASA); 5501.106(c)(1)&(2) (HHS). Employees must also meet all of the organization`s approval requirements for external activities. Even if the agency does not have such pre-approval requirements, it would generally be desirable for an employee to seek advice from an ethics officer before engaging in external employment for an agency contractor. A: The Prime Contractor is responsible for ensuring that the required clause is included in its first stage subcontracts in accordance with the implementation schedule set out in Section 6 of Executive Order 14042.

If the clause is included in a subcontract, a subcontractor must comply with the Working Group`s Guidelines for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors and the occupational health and safety protocols listed in this document. In addition, it is expected that first-level subcontractors will pass the clause on to their subordinate subcontractors in the same manner, so that responsibility for compliance throughout the federal contract supply chain for subcontractors and affected jobs at all levels is fully established through the application of the clause. Example: An employee has been friends for a long time with someone who is a health consultant. They meet regularly for lunch and occasionally meet with their families. The agency must purchase health consulting services on a topic that the employee knows his friend is an expert. Before recommending to his agency to award a contract to his friend, the employee must follow the process described in section 2635.502. Employees of on-site contractors must follow required workplace safety protocols when accessing the facility, such as . B wearing masks, physical distancing and testing. The sponsoring executive agency is responsible for ensuring compliance with the relevant occupational safety protocols by the contractor`s employees. Q: If a covered contractor can access a relevant contractor`s vaccination documentation in accordance with applicable data protection laws, does the covered contractor require the employee to provide or provide documentation? Interaction with government employees for contractors working with contractors: What you need to know Example: A contractor asks an employee for a letter stating that the contractor has done all of their work under a specific contract.

After consulting with the contract agent, the employee must provide a statement that the contractor has met all references, submitted all reports and delivered a fully functional product to the Agency. This would not be a forbidden confirmation, even if the entrepreneur is supposed to share the letter with potential customers. Q: If an employee of a covered contractor is likely to be present only on a separate floor or area of a building, construction site or facility controlled by a covered contractor during the performance period of a covered contractor, the other areas of the building, construction site or facility controlled by a covered contractor must: represents work of the affected contractor? For example, an agency has a contract with a medical testing company to provide certain diagnostic services to beneficiaries as part of an agency`s health program. A doctor from the agency orders tests for patients in accordance with the contract. The physician cannot participate in these decisions if he accepts an external position in the company without renunciation. A: Affected contractors should establish a schedule for an employee of an affected contractor whose request for accommodation is denied to be fully vaccinated immediately. A: COVID-19 vaccines can be given at any time for other vaccines. This includes simultaneous administration of the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines on the same day. On September 9, President Biden signed Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (the Order), which directs executive departments and agencies to ensure that contracts and contract-like instruments covered by the order include a clause requiring the contractor – and its subcontractors at all levels – to maintain for the duration of the contract all guidelines issued by the Se Working Group. conform to the location of contractors or subcontractors. These workplace safety protocols apply to all affected contractors, including contractors or subcontractors in the affected contractors` workplaces, who are not working on a federal government contract or a contract-like instrument.

The Order instructed the Working Group to publish the guidelines published today. Example: An agency employee works in an office with employees of various support contractors and is responsible for providing feedback on the performance of all these contracts. She couldn`t get into the habit of going to lunch almost every week at the expense of either of these contractors or their employees, even if a contractor`s donations were within the de minimis limits for a source. The following questions address various issues that may arise when employees work on contractual matters or work closely with the contractor`s staff. That depends. An employee does not have a hidden relationship with someone simply because that person is a personal friend. However, it is clear that employees should consider potential issues of impartiality before participating in a decision to contract with a personal friend and in the procedures set out in section 5 C.F.R. Paragraph 2635.502(a)(2) facilitates the consideration of all relevant circumstances.

Allegations of favouritism can and sometimes occur when government contracts are awarded to a friend, so agencies and staff should pay close attention to concerns about impartiality. A: The FAR Council will conduct a rule-making process to amend the FAR to include a clause requiring affected contractors working under FAR-based contracts to comply with the Working Group`s guidelines for contractor and subcontractor sites. Prior to the rule-making process, the FAR Council developed a clause and recommended that agencies exercise their authority to derogate from fares using the procedures described in paragraph 1.4. Agencies responsible for contracts and instruments similar to contracts that are not subject to the FAR, such as contracts of . B concession contracts, will be responsible for developing appropriate guidance by 8 October 2021 to include requirements in their covered instruments concluded from 15 October 2021. Q: What is done “in conjunction with” a covered contract? Example: On their birthday, an agency employee receives a $20 birthday gift from an employee of a contractor they work with in a shared office space. Later in the year, during the holiday season, the same employee of the agency receives a $15 gift from another employee of the same contractor. The employee was able to accept these gifts. However, if a third contractor offers to pick up a $20 lunch check for the agency employee the next day, the agency employee should refuse the donation as it would exceed the annual limit of $50 per source. .