Re: RFP that has Department of Labor Wage Determination Youngers, Jane A 08 Jul 2004 16:20 EST
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. ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================