Labor Rates | The Contracting Education Academy

February 18, 2016 By AMK

Robins Air Logistics Base has not effectively negotiated depot contractor profit, says IG

The Air Force has not effectively negotiated depot labor profit at its logistics complex at Robins Air Base in Warner Robins, Georgia, the Defense Department watchdog concluded, missing an opportunity to cut contractor profit and fees by $9.6 million to $24.9 million.

“Contracting officials did not adequately reduce or eliminate profit and fees paid for work performed” through a public-private partnership, said an inspector general’s report dated Feb. 8. “This occurred because program officials either did not prepare or update the business case analysis supporting the partnership type selected.”

The labor charges based on repair and maintenance affect such weapons programs as the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift aircraft and the AN/APN-241 high resolution radar system developed by Northrop Grumman.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/02/air-force-told-save-millions-contractors-depot-labor/125912

May 28, 2015 By AMK

New GSA tool lets agencies compare contract labor rates

The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a new tool to make it easier for agencies to figure out the hourly rates for various labor categories.

The Contract Awarded Labor Category (CALC) tool allows contracting officers to conduct market research and price analysis across awarded prices on 48,000 labor categories from more than 5,000 recent GSA contracts.

Need to know the hourly rate for a financial analyst with a bachelor’s degree and five years of experience? Or a lab director with a Masters degree and 10 years of experience? The CALC tool cuts down on time and effort by helping contracting officers crunch the data instead of having to comb through contract data by hand, according to GSA.

CALC shows 48,000 hourly rates for labor categories from more than 5,000 recent GSA contracts. — The new CALC tool shows 48,000 hourly rates for labor categories from more than 5,000 recent GSA contracts.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/acquisition/gsa-gwac/2015/05/14/gsa-contracting/27317419/

June 6, 2014 By AMK

Army to Seek Northrop refunds over inflated labor rates

The U.S. Army will press Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) for refunds after the Pentagon’s inspector general found the contractor charged the service inflated labor rates on programs to fight drug trafficking.

The Army Contracting Command will conduct its own audit “as soon as feasible” of Northrop’s billings and the resumes of subcontractor workers to determine how much money should be repaid, spokeswoman Giselle Lyons said in an e-mail.

Allegations in the report “are being further investigated by the U.S. Army Contracting Command,” she said. “The command is implementing the recommendations proposed to help ensure the proper management and oversight of current and future contract actions.”

Northrop, the fifth-biggest U.S. contractor, charged the Army excessive labor rates for almost six years for more than 300 subcontractor employees working in Afghanistan and in the U.S. on counter-narcotics efforts abroad, the inspector general said in a May 13 report labeled “For Official Use Only” and obtained by Bloomberg News.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-29/army-to-seek-northrop-refunds-over-inflated-labor-rates.html

April 10, 2014 By AMK

Privately-financed development project not subject to Davis-Bacon Act, rules U.S. District Court

The Labor Department was wrong to declare a privately financed development project a “public work” that would be subject to higher wages under the Davis-Bacon Act, a federal court ruled Monday in a lawsuit brought against the labor agency by the District of Columbia.

In the ruling, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the “CityCenterDC” development won’t be built or used by the government or the public. While the mixed-use project of condominiums, apartments, offices, hotel, retail stores and some public open spaces will sit on a parcel of land owned by the District of Columbia, it will be entirely privately funded, occupied, and maintained for the duration of the developers’ 99-year leases with the city, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in her decision.

That contradicts the decision that was made by the Labor Department’s Administrative Review Board, which had determined the project was a “public work” for purposes of the Davis-Bacon Act. That law — enacted during the Great Depression to stop contractors from driving down wages with cheap labor — requires the payment of local prevailing wages to workers on federal construction projects. The Labor Department determines the wages.

Legal experts who’d watched the case had said the Labor Department’s decision could have a significant effect on construction projects if it were to stand.

Keep reading this article at: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/04/01/court-rules-against-labor-department-in-citycenterdc-case

The Air Force has not effectively negotiated depot labor profit at its logistics complex at Robins Air Base in Warner Robins, Georgia, the Defense Department watchdog concluded, missing an opportunity to cut contractor profit and fees by $9.6 million to $24.9 million.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a new tool to make it easier for agencies to figure out the hourly rates for various labor categories.

Search this Website