One of the trickiest areas of compliance for federal government contractors is following the regulations of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) of 1965, for services that are non-professional in nature. FAR Subpart 22.10 was recently updated to call this regulation the Service Contract Labor Standards, however, in practice you will still hear it commonly referred to as the SCA. With this update contractors saw major changes to the wage determinations.The SCA of 1965 was amended to ensure that businesses who worked in the service industry observed minimum wage standards as well as safety and health standards, when doing business with the Federal Government, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands.

Here's how the False Claims Act and Mandatory Disclosure works towards protecting the Federal Government. The False Claims Act was first enacted in 1863 by Congress, to prevent defrauding of the Federal Government. It is the government’s top tool in recovering false claims for government funds and property. The False Claims Act is pertinent to any person who knowingly submits a false claim for payment, receives a false payment claim or conspires to conceal an obligated payment to the Government. A person can be found liable if they are knowledgeable about the false claim but also if they are acting recklessly or in ignorance of the truth. In the world of government contracting, it is important to know how this law applies to your contract and how you can ensure your compliance while also expanding your government sales opportunities.

Maintain compliance by keeping up to date with TAA policies! The 2016 Presidential election was filled with a lot of “America first” rhetoric. Within the Trump Administration, that language is continued and there will very likely be an increased importance of American made products purchased through the GSA. With that in mind, reviewing the Trade Agreements Act (TAA) and what it means for GSA spending is important for contractors and buyers alike. The Trade Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. & 2501-2581) of 1979 was enacted to foster fair and open international trade, but more importantly, it implemented the requirement that the U.S. Government may acquire only U.S. – made or designated – end products.

As government contractors, it is imperative to handle protected health information and personal identifiable information because cyber threats are constantly increasing! Things just got a whole lot trickier for companies that handle Protected Health Information and Personal Identifiable Information (PII). Over the last 18 months, the Government has been cracking down and handing out stiff fines for those who breach government protocols, but a recent court decision solidified the severity of things.

The GSA is announcing a consolidation for Schedule 84! During the month of May, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced that a Special Item Number (SIN) consolidation for Schedule 84 would be considered. The GSA would like to implement the changes to the SINs in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. Are you wondering what this means for the future of Schedule 84 holders? Here are 4 important questions to consider:

FedMall will change the way government agencies procure their goods! Federal Mall (FedMall) has gone live, as of June 19th! The idea behind FedMall is to improve upon EMALL, which was created by the Department of Defense (DoD). It will sell Commercial Off-The-Shelf items (COTS) and will replace the DOD EMALL. Here are some things to be aware of as you’re transitioning from DoD EMALL to FedMall.