The Service Contract Act (SCA) and the regulations implementing SCA are some of the most challenging requirements for contractors and for contracting agencies involved in federal contracts for services.  If you are competing for the award of a service contract, or performing a service contract and administering your responsibilities under SCA, this two-day course is critical to understanding SCA and ensuring fair competition and full compliance throughout performance of the awarded contract.  

PSC’s updated and enhanced “2019 Service Contract Act Training” teaches the fundamental requirements of SCA as it affects preparation of proposals, wage determinations, classifications and conformances for missing classifications, staffing, pricing, out-year price adjustments, response to payroll audits and worker inquiries, administering SCA provisions as they apply to collective bargaining agreements, and numerous other issues on service contracting.

The course is designed to provide important information for all personnel in your company whose work may involve covered service workers.  All of these persons must have relevant knowledge, work together, and communicate with each other in order to be successfully competitive, maintain compliance following award, and avoid unexpected payroll and benefit liabilities.

The July SCA Training Program will include compliance assistance training on Executive Order 13706 - Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. E.O. 13706 requires service contractors to allow their employees to accrue up to 7 days of sick leave per year. The paid sick leave requirement is in addition to a contractor's SCA obligations. The Paid Sick rule is applicable to most new SCA contracts awarded after 1/1/2017. Don't be caught off guard; prepare for the sick leave rules now! 

Highlights of PSC's SCA Course include:

• Instructors include experts with long careers in the service contracting industry, in Department of Labor enforcement programs, as procurement agency advisors on contract labor issues, and legal experts specializing in SCA and related labor issues.

• Attendees participate in interactive exercises, worksheets, and question/answer sessions.

• The presentation will include one-hour panel discussions.  Typically PSC invites representatives from the Department of Labor’s national office to discuss their procedures in administering and enforcing SCA (preparation of wage determinations, processing conformances, enforcement statistics, and any questions the attendees offer).  PSC also invites procurement agency labor advisors from the Department of Defense, NASA, and other civilian agencies to discuss the agencies’ administration of labor standards on their contracts, including the processing of solicitation and options/extensions where decisions are necessary under SCA and related requirements.

• The current course includes discussion on relevant executive orders, regulatory changes (those that have occurred or may be pending), e.g., new contractor minimum wage requirement; changes to the exemption at 29 CFR Part 541 (salary); interaction with the Affordable Care Act; and the potential changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements.

• Attendees will receive extensive course materials, copies of the presentations, and contact information for post-course follow-up.

PSC maintains constant oversight on executive orders, changes to regulations or enforcement processes, and proposed legislation that would affect our industry.  Join PSC and take advantage of this unique member benefit.  Visit www.pscouncil.org for information on current issues, PSC’s advocacy on these issues, comments, and membership information.

Instructors:

• Eric Crusius is an attorney with the law firm of Holland and Knight, Tysons, Virginia, where he represents government contractors in bid protests and labor-related litigation matters.  He counsels clients on a broad range of government contract issues including the Service Contract Act and other labor issues. 

• Tim Helm spent 30 years with the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, and served as its Branch Chief responsible for the administration and enforcement of federal prevailing wage statutes and related executive order and regulations.  A significant part of his responsibilities involved the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, the Service Contract Act, and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act.

Schedule

Day 1: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Day 2: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. 

Breakfast and lunch provided. Contact us if you have special dietary needs.

The program begins with an overview of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, its applicability, and how it relates to other labor laws. In addition to the basic provisions of SCA and related contract labor standards, the course will address employee classifications; collective bargaining agreements under SCA Sec. 4(c); payment of wages and benefits, hours worked; compliance procedures; contract proposals and contract price adjustments; challenging Department of Labor decisions; and communicating contract labor standards issues with federal procurement officials.

Attendees will also be offered up-to-date information on issues pertinent to the most significant cost factors in service contracting. The course also covers the effects of the Affordable Care Act on SCA covered contracts and examines the effects of the numerous EOs related to contractor labor policies that have been issued over the past several years. 

    This course has been approved for 13.5 HRCI credit hours.