Fox Rothschild LLP has posted its Federal Contractors’ Guide to Small Business Administration Set-Aside Contracts, Size Standards, Size Protests, and Affiliation.

The federal government sets aside a significant portion of its procurement dollars each year for purchasing goods and services from small businesses. Small business set-aside procurements and small business contract awards (“Set-Aside Procurements” and “Set-Aside Contracts,” respectively) provide substantial opportunities for a certified small business concern (SBC) to compete for and perform federal contract work. However, SBCs awarded Set-Aside Contracts are frequently subjected to size protests filed with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) by disappointed competitors looking to challenge the awardee’s size, and if successful, to disqualify the awardee from the procurement.

The Fox Rothschild LLP Guide advises federal contractors on the following issues and concepts:

●SBA Set-Aside Procurements, Set-Aside Contracts, and Size Standards;
●The parameters and purposes for SBA size protests, how they are filed, and how contractors can avoid and defend against such protests; and
●The parameters of SBA affiliation, which contractors can use to challenge Large Businesses masquerading as small business concerns, and, as importantly, must understand to protect themselves from being adversely affected by a finding of affiliation at the hands of a size protest.

Download the guide.

A recent State Department ITAR enforcement case involving a supplier of military spare parts sends a valuable message to small and mid-sized government contractors of every type, writes Thomas B. McVey of Williams Mullen.

In an article on the firm’s website, he explains the case involves Bright Lights USA, Inc., a small New Jersey defense manufacturer.  According to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls Charging Letter, the company’s business primarily consists of “manufacturing minor spare parts (including rubber stoppers, seals assemblies, and grommets) for both private- and public-sector customers.” Many of these parts transitioned off of the U.S. Munitions list (USML) beginning October 2013 as a result of Export Control Reform.

When supplying military parts, the company periodically sought to obtain components from foreign suppliers.  According to the DDTC Charging Letter, when ordering foreign-made parts the company sent drawings of export-controlled components to foreign suppliers to obtain quotations without obtaining the requisite export licenses.  Similarly DDTC claimed the company posted drawings of controlled items online to solicit quotations, including posting on a manufacturing sourcing website where the drawings could be accessed by foreign persons.  DDTC also stated that the Company misclassified certain components as being subject to EAR instead of ITAR.

DDCT concluded that Bright Lights had “significant training and compliance program deficiencies” and charged the company with a number of violations.

Read the article.

Centre Law & Consulting will present a one-day instruction that combines the basics of federal government contracting with the nuts and bolts of compliance issues, subcontractor issues, and hot topics in the industry.

The event will be Oct. 17, 2017, in Tysons, Va.

Topics will include:

• Basic Principles in Federal Contracting
• How the Government Buys
• Types of Contracts
• Labor and Employment Law Issues
• Anti-Kick Back and Gifts
• Organizational Conflict of Interest & Personal Conflict of Interest
• Mandatory Disclosure and Ethics Issues
• Changes, Inspection & Acceptance
• Delays & Payment
• Termination of Convenience / Termination of Default
• Claims, Disputes, and Appeals
• Prime/Subcontractor Disputes
• Bid Protests
• Privilege Issues and Attorney Work Product
• Ethic Issues in Internal Investigators and Managing Relator Lawsuits

Register for the event.

While at first glance, an engagement with the federal government may appear lucrative, the venture comes with many strings attached, and the cost of compliance with the rules can quickly outweigh the financial benefit of the contract itself, warns Jennifer S. Cluverius in an article on the website of Nexsen Pruet, LLC.

She writes that a lack of experience can lead a federal contractor or subcontractor can encounter these pitfalls.

The article discusses some of the most costly and often-unnoticed employment-related compliance obligations.

Read the article.

A proposed executive order could require certain government contractors to provide paid sick leave to certain employees at certain times, resulting to a new benefit for 437,000 employees who currently get no such benefit, and possibly augmenting the leave of about 400,000 more workers, according to U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez.

In a report written by the Federal Contractor Compliance Practice Group and Wage and Hour Practice Group of Paul Hastings LLP, contractors who disregard the new requirements beginning in 2017 can be subject to debarment, among other penalties, so it is important that contractors understand the proposed rules and plan to ensure compliance.

“Federal contractors certainly should examine their policies in light of the proposed regulations, but all employers operating in jurisdictions with paid sick leave laws should review their policies for compliance with state and local laws,” according to the article.

Read the article.

The Office of Management and Budgets (OMB) has issued a memo mandating that all billing and invoicing from government contractors and federal agencies must be electronic. Approximately 12 million invoices still need to make the transition, report two partners in Alston & Bird.

They advise that government contractors and payment service providers should be prepared to implement clear, practical methods of e-payments.

“Pilot programs in the federal government – both pure payment-vendor relationships and added services to banking relationships – are available to facilitate the OMB-directed shift to e-invoicing,” says Jeff Belkin, partner and leader of Alston & Bird’s Government Contracts Group with expertise in complex government contract compliance issues. “While it is unclear if the shift to e-invoicing will ultimately end in a no-fee electronic payments program, or, a model that requires the government (or its partners) to pay others to facilitate the program, there surely will be many challenges before that final equilibrium is reached.”

“As of July 2015, a mere 40% of invoices were processed using e-invoicing,” says Tony Balloon, partner in Alston & Bird’s Financial Services & Products Group, who has deep knowledge of the payments industry. “Though the initial transition leading up to the 2018 deadline will be challenging, the adoption of e-invoicing will result in increased efficiency and timely payments for both federal agencies and government contractors.”

Intellectual property is often a company’s most valuable asset, and for companies with federal government customers, following the government’s rules can mean the difference between maximizing and losing value in newly developed IP, reports McGuireWoods in a legal alert.

Christian B. Nagel, Todd R. Steggerda, Ronald L. Fouse, David G. Dargatis and Lorna J. Tang wrote the article.

Their article addresses rights in technical data and computer software.

Contractors “should place the highest priority on reviewing, understanding and, if possible, negotiating IP terms prior to signing any government contract,” they write. “After the contract has been executed, the contractor should ensure that at least one member of its legal or management team understands the applicable IP rules and ensures strict compliance throughout contract performance.”

Read the article.