From my experience, once you get a wage determination with an RFP that
is covered by the Service Contract Act you are required to provide
employees working on the contract with equivalent pay and benefits.
This includes vacation and sick leave packages.  Most often,
universities have a tough time meeting these standards.  I'm not clear
that an argument that wages are lower in this area would mean much since
it is being nationally competed and there is the prospect that federal
employees could have done this work in a location that is not
necessarily lower paying.  Bottom line--I think you have to comply but
you may wish to consult counsel.  I am aware of one institution that,
years ago, got into very, very hot water on this issue.

FYI, all RFP's that contain provisions of the Service Contract Act don't
necessarily have wage determinations as this one does.  My take is that
when I get an RFP with the Service Contract Act, I call the agency to
inquire as to whether or not there will be a wage determination.  If
not, I don't worry about it.  If yes--well, I'd be going through the
same issues that David is right now.

Good luck.

Jane
Jane A. Youngers
Director, Grants Management
University of Texas Health Science Center
 at San  Antonio
MC 7828
7703 Floyd Curl Drive
San Antonio TX  78229-3900
210.567.2333 voice
210.567.2344 fax
xxxxxx@uthscsa.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On
Behalf Of David Hollingsworth
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 8:16 AM
To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG
Subject: [RESADM-L] RFP that has Department of Labor Wage Determination

Need guidance on the following:  We are working on a Federal RFP that is
subject to the service contract act.  This requires contractors to pay
service employees no less than prevailing wage and fringe benefits found
in the geographic area where work will be performed.  The RFP includes a
DOL wage determination which lists various job titles and their wages.
In this RFP we are given job titles and we have to proposed equivalent
job titles and are required to provide hourly labor rates for the
costing evaluation.  There is a costing form where we list our
non-exempt titles and rate and list the equivalnet DOL titles and rates.
In the example given the contractor rate are equal or higher than the
DOL rates.

Question(s):  What to do if the labor rates for our university titles
are less than the DOL wage determination?  Will showing them as lower
raise a red flag? Are state universities exempt from this clause?  From
my review it I think this does apply to state universities as it would
to any other contractor.  If you know otherwise please let me know. The
DOL wage determination included in the RFP coverd a major metropolitian
area and our university is located about 100 miles away in a more rural
area.  Would it be appropriate to list lower wages than the DOL one and
if valid use the argument that wages are indeed lower in this area?

Or would the safe bet be to find our labor titles (with a higher level
of education or experience)  that would not be lower than the DOL
determined wages.

Of course this is due in the nest few days.

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