Labor & Employment

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), a $2.2 trillion emergency relief bill passed by Congress on March 27, contains certain provisions specifically targeted to small businesses and federal government contractors.  The most significant help for these companies are: 1) partially forgivable loans through the SBA’s 7(a) program to support business...

Late Wednesday night, President Trump signed into law a coronavirus relief package with provisions targeting paid sick leave and paid family leave. The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act expands the federal Family and Medical Leave Act to include paid leave for certain COVID-19 related absences and mandatory paid sick time.  The Act provides workers at companies with...

Developed in conjunction with our friends at The Pulse of GovCon, and from the desk of Ryan Bradel, Partner at Ward & Berry PLLC, here is what government contractors should know while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic: I.       Introduction The last week has seen a stunning advance in the breadth of the Coronavirus...

On September 26, 2019, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to significantly restrict DOD's use of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection procedures. The new rule, which went into effect on October 1, 2019, should not come as a surprise to federal government...

Over the past several months, we have seen a considerable increase in the number of clients who have contacted us seeking advice on how to navigate the domestic preference and sourcing requirements contained in their federal government contract(s). Recent inquiries include issues involving the Buy American Act, the Trade Agreements Act, and the Berry...

A glance at some relevant data may provide some initial orientation to the landscape. The congressionally mandated FY18 RAND Corporation study on bid protests of DoD procurements found that less than 0.3 % of contracts are actually protested. Of the protests that were filed, more than half of all bid protests were made by...