Helping individuals, companies, and organizations understand key legal and practical considerations for promoting compliance and making better business decisions in these types of federal, state, and local government contracting matters MORE

Executive Order 14042 (the “EO”) and the implementing FAR clause and Safer Workforce Task Force (SWTF) Guidance – which mandate that government contractors and their subcontractors be vaccinated absent a legal exception – has been challenged by 26 states, as well as other entities.  Many of these suits allege that the President’s actions exceeded his

As reported in an earlier alert and blog, on September 9, 2021, President Biden rolled out his Path Out of the Pandemic plan (the “Plan”) to combat the spread of COVID-19. Two central portions of the Plan include issuance of (1) an instruction to the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a directive that requires companies with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforces are either fully vaccinated or their workers test negative for COVID-19 on a weekly basis before coming to work, and (2) an Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (EO) that requires that covered government contractors and subcontractors at any tier comply with all guidance published by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (or the “Task Force”) that is determined to “promote economy and efficiency in Federal contracting” by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, for those contractor or subcontractor workplace locations where individuals are “working on or in connection with a Federal Government contract or contract-like instrument.”
Continue Reading Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors – COVID Task Force Guidance Issued and Opportunity to Comment Available

On September 9, 2021, President Biden rolled out his Path Out of the Pandemic plan (the “Plan”) to combat the spread of COVID-19. As reported in an earlier alert, this Plan contains a number of moving parts and coverage that remains to be finalized.  Of note to government contractors is the fact that the Plan includes (1) an instruction to the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a directive that requires companies with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforces are either fully vaccinated or their workers test negative for COVID-19 on a weekly basis before coming to work, and (2) an Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (EO) that requires contractors and subcontractors at any tier to comply with all guidance published by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, and determined to “promote economy and efficiency in Federal contracting” by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, for those contractor or subcontractor workplace locations where individuals are “working on or in connection with a Federal Government contract or contract-like instrument.”  The Plan and, in particular, these two prongs leave much to be defined and implemented.  The devil truly will be in the details of the rules to be prepared and issued, as well as in whether and when the OMB, individual agencies, and contracting and agreements officers determine to roll them out to all, or a portion, of Federal government contractors.
Continue Reading Biden Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors –A Number of Questions