The Contracting Education Academy

Contracting Academy Logo
  • Home
  • Training & Education
  • Services
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for compliance

June 21, 2016 By AMK

Acquisition workforce capacity joins competency as an issue

Many issues influence the ability of the federal acquisition workforce’s to get its job done, according to a survey recently released by the Professional Services Council and Grant Thornton.

Acquisition Policy Survey 2016In the annual Acquisition Policy Survey conducted by the two organizations, the development of the government’s acquisition workforce “showed mixed results.”  The 80 persons who were surveyed reported positive trends in workforce capability, but they identified the persistence of lingering weaknesses in critical skill sets. “Workforce development and the ability to hire the right talent are key challenges,” the report states. “More than a competency gap, this year’s interviewees expressed concern about a capacity gap, wherein the existing workforce, however skilled it may be, simply does not have the time and resources to keep up with demand.”

The significance of budget, communication, innovation and oversight are also reported on in the study.  Here are a few excerpts:

  • “Despite ongoing budget challenges … headaches, inefficiencies, and strain, the acquisition community is committed to ‘getting the job done.'”
  • “… [O]pen communication has not been routinely practiced at operational levels. Instead, communication between government and industry is viewed as inherently risky.”
  • “… [T]he government does not have a consistent, successful strategy for soliciting, evaluating, and contracting for innovative ideas from industry, whether in the ‘traditional’ or ‘cutting-edge’ contracting space. In fact, the government often views the traditional contracting base as being mutually exclusive from innovative offerors.”
  • “Policymakers and oversight bodies need to understand the impact of the requirements they place on an already complex acquisition system that is operating beyond its capacity ….”

Download and read the full text of the Acquisition Policy Survey here: Acquisition Policy Survey 2016

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition workforce, budget cuts, capacity, competence, compliance, innovation, oversight

March 7, 2016 By AMK

Scorecard documents DoD shortcomings in implementing cybersecurity contract requirements

A report card recently released by the Department of Defense (DoD) reveals that the department has a long way to go to implement its acquisition cybersecurity standards.

DFARSDoD amended the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) in August 2015 in order to implement, at the contractor and subcontractor levels, information security standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  The first step in the implementation is inclusion of a contract clause in new solicitations and newly awarded contracts and, since August, DFARS Clause 252.204-7012 has been prescribed for use in new solicitations and contracts.

DoD set a goal of 95 percent first-year compliance with usage of the DFARS cybersecurity clause, but the department has a long way to go.  According to a March 1, 2016 report, little more than one-third (34 percent) of DoD contracts issued in the first quarter of FY16 (October through December 2015) contained the required clause.  Lagging most among the activities within DoD is the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) with the required clause in only 16 percent of contracts issued in the first quarter.  During the same period, the Navy scored best within the department, with a compliance rate of 92 percent.

Activity-by-activity compliance within DoD can be seen in the chart below.

DoD Scorecard for Compliance with DFARS 252.204-7012 - 1st Quarter FY16

DoD may face new hurtles in the implementation of the cybersecurity contract requirements.  Last week, we reported that the Advocacy Office of the Small Business Administration (SBA) has raised objections to DoD’s current contract provisions due to an undue burden placed by the clause on small businesses.  SBA fears that the rules will impose a significant financial burden on small businesses and could make it more difficult for small businesses to qualify for DoD contract awards.

More information:
  • DoD Acquisition Compliance Scorecard – 1st Quarter FY16 – http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/policy/policyvault/USA000187-16-DPAP.pdf
  • SBA’s advocacy office objects to impact of DoD’s cybersecurity rules on small businesses –  http://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/2016/03/02/sbas-advocacy-office-objects-to-impact-of-dods-cybersecurity-rules-on-small-businesses 
  • DFARS Clause 252.204-7012 – http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/dfars/html/current/252204.htm#252.204-7012

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: compliance, cyber, cybersecurity, DFARS, DoD, NIST, Office of Advocacy, SBA, scorecard, small business

September 21, 2011 By AMK

Defense department contractors may see new hiring regulations

A proposed Defense Department regulation, if implemented, will substantially change how contractors hire, oversee and track certain former civilian and military personnel. As proposed, it will also establish a new suspension and debarment risk for contractors that hire former personnel.

On June 6, the department issued a proposed rule — DFARS Case 2010-D020 “Representation Relating to Compensation of Former DoD Officials” — to require all offerors to submit a representation, upon submission of the offer, that all employees who are former Defense Department “covered officials” (defined in DFARS Clause 252.203-7000), to the best of the offeror’s knowledge and belief, comply with:

  • Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 203.171-3 that
    states that covered Defense Department officials must have received or requested
    an ethics opinion on post-government employment restrictions;
  • 18 U.S.C. 207 and 5 C.F.R. Part 2641, which is the statute and regulations
    affecting post-government employment of ex-government civilian personnel and
    military officers; and
  • Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 3.104-2, which implements the
    Procurement Integrity Act.

This proposed rule would likely have the several effects. For example, it will share responsibility for compliance with post-government employment laws and regulations between ex-government personnel to defense contractors. Current post-government employment laws impose criminal and civil liability on ex-government personnel violations.

It will also require defense contractors to implement new compliance measures. To ensure compliance, defense contractors must establish systems and processes to identify, track, educate, and obtain periodic certifications from all employees, consultants, and others who receive compensation and who are former “covered officials.”

The new requirement will burden both smaller contractors that must establish a new compliance program to meet this requirement, as well as larger defense contractors that must levy the requirement on subsidiaries, joint ventures and affiliates, even those entities that are non-government contractors. Any new compliance system obviously will increase contractor overhead costs, which often are passed on to the government.

It will also impose on defense contractors a new liability over which they have no control. Because the proposed regulation does not limit the certification to the activities of the former “covered employees” on a Defense Department contract or even related to employment by the contractor, the contractor will be required to certify compliance of its employees even as to their personal, off-duty activities.

Consultants and part-time employees working for other companies or organizations may violate their restriction in pursuit of other activities wholly unconnected to the certifying contractor. For example, an ex-military officer employed by a contractor may violate her representational restrictions under 18 U.S.C. 207 by contacting the government on behalf of another company for which she is consulting, or even as a volunteer for a civic,
charitable or scouting organization.

The proposed regulation may also deter smaller companies from bidding on Defense Department contracts. Smaller commercial contractors with less sophisticated employee screening and tracking systems may view this requirement as too costly to introduce across their enterprise in order to seek new defense business.

Another result may be that contractors will be deterred from hiring ex-military and Defense Department personnel. The proposed rule imposes both a new risk of non-compliance, which could lead to suspension and debarment or liability under the False Claims Act, as well as a new requirement for a compliance system to mitigate the risk. Thus, defense contractors likely will be deterred from hiring ex-military and department personnel. Ironically, this proposed rule red flags former department personnel — including Title 10 reserves and National Guard personnel — as potential burdens for Defense contractors.

The proposed regulation applies only to “covered officials,” but the difficulty in identifying who qualifies as a “covered official,” may cause defense contractors, especially smaller contractors, to simply close the door to all former department personnel.

Another potential consequence is that it may deter civilian federal employees from working in the Defense Department. Since the restrictions apply only to former department personnel, civilian employees, especially procurement and senior program managers who qualify as “covered employees,” may choose to serve in other federal agencies instead of Defense, if they envision post-government employment in the commercial sector. This obviously would frustrate Defense Department efforts to build a world-class acquisition work force.

The bottom line is that the proposed regulation offers several dysfunctional, expensive, and possibly unintended consequences that the Defense Department hopefully will address as it considers whether it should be implemented.

– by Steve Epstein, chief counsel for ethics and compliance at The Boeing Company. The views expressed are solely those of the author. Published by National Defense magazine, October 2011 at http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2011/October/Pages/DefenseDepartmentContractorsMaySeeNewHiringRegulations.aspx

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition workforce, compensation, compliance, debarment, DoD, ethics, False Claims Act, procurement integrity, small business

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2

Popular Topics

abuse acquisition reform acquisition strategy acquisition training acquisition workforce Air Force Army AT&L bid protest budget budget cuts competition cybersecurity DAU DFARS DHS DoD DOJ FAR fraud GAO Georgia Tech GSA GSA Schedule GSA Schedules IG industrial base information technology innovation IT Justice Dept. Navy NDAA OFPP OMB OTA Pentagon procurement reform protest SBA sequestration small business spending technology VA
Contracting Academy Logo
75 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30308
info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu
Phone: 404-894-6109
Fax: 404-410-6885

RSS Twitter

Search this Website

Copyright © 2022 · Georgia Tech - Enterprise Innovation Institute