Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – January 19, 2023

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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT

Remedies for NLRA Violations Now Include Consequential Damages: Important Takeaways for Employers, 01.05.23, Sarah Nash
Last year, the National Labor Relations Board, the agency tasked with enforcing employee rights to organize and discuss terms of employment, issued a number of decisions that impacted U.S. labor law. One decision stands out as fundamentally changing enforcement mechanisms under the National Labor Relations Act. In this blog post, PilieroMazza discusses the decision and important takeaways for employers. Read more here.

Biden Administration Fends Off Challenge to Higher Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors
A federal judge in Arizona ruled that the Biden Administration was well within its authority to issue an executive order in April 2021 raising the minimum wage for federal contractor employees to $15 an hour. The federal judge’s ruling upholds the Biden Administration’s higher minimum wage for federal contractors nearly a year into its implementation. The final rule that set the higher minimum wage went into effect on January 30, 2022, and the minimum wage for federal contractor employees increased again to $16.20 per hour on January 1, 2023. Read more here.

DOD Rescinds COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate
The Department of Defense (DOD) rescinded its August 24, 2021, memorandum mandating that members of the Armed Forces under DOD authority be vaccinated against COVID-19, along with its memorandum of November 30, 2021, pertaining to the vaccination of National Guard and Reserve personnel.  The rescission requirement was established by the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. DOD’s full rescission memorandum can be found here. DOD’s press release on the rescission is available here.

Federal Court Orders Chesapeake Home Healthcare Company, Owners to Pay $1.5M in Back Wages and Damages
A Chesapeake home healthcare company and its owners must pay more than $1.5 million—$759,698 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages—to 194 employees after the Department of Labor obtained a summary judgment ruling in its favor in federal court. The court required Kynd Hearts Home Health Care LLC and its co-owners, Shawndell Harris and Alvonda Evans, to pay the back wages and liquidated damages for willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read more here.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

SBIR/STTR Reauthorization: Do’s and Don’ts of Program Eligibility for Small Business Contractors in Science and Technology, 01.04.23, Cy Alba and Ustina Ibrahim
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering oversees the Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. In September, Congress reauthorized the programs through 2025, and President Biden signed the SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022. SBIR/STTR programs present an opportunity for small business contractors in science and technology to assist the government with unique research and development needs. In this blog post, PilieroMazza discusses the do’s and don’ts of SBIR/STTR program eligibility. Read more here.

Biden-Harris Administration Begins Accepting Applications for SBA Veteran Small Business Certification Program
The Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications through the Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) program on January 10, 2023. SBA is implementing several changes to streamline the certification experience for veteran entrepreneurs. These include:

• providing veterans with a central support platform for their small business certification needs;
• providing reciprocal certification for businesses with remaining eligibility in the women-owned small business (WOSB) and 8(a) programs; and
• creating a more business-friendly approach by streamlining the application process and aligning ownership and control requirements across the VetCert, 8(a), and WOSB programs.

Read more here.

GSA Updates Alliant 3 Draft RFP with Greenhouse Gas Disclosure Criteria
The General Services Administration (GSA) issued a notice that the Alliant 3 Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) has been amended to add section L.5.7, Volume 7, Sustainability-Related Disclosures, which includes 3,500 points for sustainability-related public disclosures of greenhouse gas emissions for Scopes 1, 2, and 3. Due to the amendment, GSA has extended the comment period on the draft RFP to January 31, 2023. Read more here.

Ensuring Only Approved Software Is Acquired and Used at GSA
The General Services Administration (GSA) published an acquisition letter that highlights how current GSA acquisition policy and information technology policy work together to ensure only approved software (including products containing software) is acquired and used at GSA. The acquisition letter also discusses the status of upcoming changes to GSA and federal software acquisition policy. Read more here.

NASA Plans to Issue RFP for $2 Billion Contract Vehicle in Late February
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced plans to release a request for proposals (RFP) for a nearly $2 billion contract vehicle. The proposed NASA Consolidated Applications and Platform Services contract vehicle will be a comprehensive enterprise solution for the entirety of NASA’s IT support. The vehicle includes the maintenance of IT systems, development of new applications, a rationalization of duplicative efforts to create efficiencies across NASA Centers, and other functions. The vehicle’s RFP is scheduled for release on February 28, 2023, with an estimated offer due date of March 31, 2023. Read more here.

Early Engagement Opportunity: Implementation of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023
The Department of Defense announced an early engagement opportunity regarding implementation of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA) within the acquisition regulations. The public is invited to submit early inputs on sections of the NDAA via the Defense Acquisition Regulations System website here. Read more here.

LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Conyers Doctor Pays $1,850,000 to Resolve Allegations That She Performed and Billed for Medically Unnecessary Cataract Surgeries and Diagnostic Tests
Aarti Pandya, M.D., and the Aarti D. Pandya, M.D. P.C. have agreed to pay approximately $1,850,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by, among other things, billing the government for cataract surgeries and diagnostic tests that were not medically necessary, tests that were incomplete or of worthless value, and office visits that did not provide the level of service claimed. Read more here.