The Department of Defense’s Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment issued Guidance on March 10, 2020, addressing internal and external communications in response to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Guidance states that the Contracting Officers (as distinguished from Program personnel) hold the contractual authority to address contract performance impacts related to COVID-19. Moreover, the Guidance encourages close communication between Contracting Officers and contractors, and stresses Contracting Officer transparency, a term not normally seen in contract administration guidance. In pertinent part the Guidance states as follows:

“Communication between the Government and contractors is key to total workforce safety and mission continuity. Therefore, contracting officers should be as transparent as possible as they make decisions potentially impacting contract performance or contractor personnel. Contracting officers should also encourage their contractor site leads/leadership to engage with their employees as soon as possible to share information and discuss any COVID-19 concerns they have, and ask their contractors to identify potential impacts to the welfare and safety of their workforce or contract performance, which impacts our total force.”

The Guidance contains three important messages for defense contractors who may be impacted by COVID-19.

• First, defense contractors can cite this Guidance as a basis to submit questions to the Contracting Officer and request program-specific information about acquisition planning and related issues affecting their contracts.
• Second, the Guidance encourages affirmative efforts by contractors to communicate with their employees about personnel impacts and employee concerns. While social distancing practices may prevent contractors from town hall or other company-wide meetings, technology solutions will substitute for this.
• Last, the Guidance asks contractors to identify (presumably to the Contracting Officer) workforce impacts to health and safety, and contractor performance.

Keep reading this article at: https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2020/03/18/dod-urges-contracting-officer-transparency-in-covid-19-impacts/#more-941

See: Planning for Potential Novel Coronavirus Contract Impacts – DoD – Mar 10 2020

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized.  Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/