DOL_Clauses_7.19.19.docx

ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST CLAUSE - OCI-1 EXCLUSION FROM FUTURE AGENCY CONTRACTS (DECEMBER 2012)

ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST

OCI-1 Exclusion from Future Agency Contracts (DECEMBER 2012)

This clause supplements the FAR provisions on organizational conflicts of interest, located at FAR subpart 9.500 and should be read in conjunction with these provisions. To the extent there is any inconsistency or confusion between the two provisions, the FAR provision controls.

(a) Work under this contract may create a future organizational conflict of interest (OCI) that could prohibit the Contractor from competing for, or being awarded, future Government contracts.

The following examples illustrate situations in which organizational conflicts of interest may arise. They are not all inclusive, but will be used by the Contracting Officer as general guidance in individual contract situations:

(1) Unequal Access to Information. The performance of this contract may provide access to “nonpublic information,” which could provide the contractor an unfair competitive advantage in later solicitations or competitions for other DOL contracts. Such an advantage could be perceived as unfair by a competing vendor who is not given similar access to the same nonpublic information that is related to the future procurement action. If you, as a contractor, in performing this contract, obtain nonpublic information that is relevant to a future procurement action, you may be required to submit and negotiate an acceptable mitigation plan prior to being deemed eligible to compete on the future action. Alternatively, the “nonpublic information” may be provided to all offerors.

(2) Biased Ground Rules. Your contract with DOL may have, in some fashion, established important “ground rules” for another DOL procurement in which you may desire to be a competitor. For example, this contract may involve you drafting the statement of work, specifications, or evaluation criteria for a future DOL procurement. The primary concern, in any such situation, is that any such firm could skew the competition, whether intentionally or not, or be perceived as having skewed the competition, in its own favor. If the requirements of this DOL contract anticipate the contractor may be placed in a position to establish important ground rules, including but not limited to those described herein, the contractor may be precluded from competing in the related action or, if possible, may be required to submit and negotiate an acceptable mitigation plan.

(3) Impaired Objectivity. The performance of this contract may result in the contractor being placed in a situation where it is able, or required, to provide assessment and evaluation findings concerning itself, another business division, a subsidiary or affiliate, or other entity with which it has a significant financial relationship. The concern in this case is that the contractor’s ability to render impartial advice to DOL could appear to be undermined by the contractor’s financial or other business relationship to the entity whose work product is being assessed or evaluated. In these situations, a “walling off” of lines of communication between entities or divisions may be acceptable, but it also may not be sufficient to remove the perception that the objectivity of the contractor has been tainted. If the requirements of the DOL procurement indicate that a contractor may be placed in a position to provide evaluations and assessments of itself or other entities with which it has a significant financial relationship, the affected contractor should notify DOL immediately. The contractor may also be required to provide a mitigation plan that includes recusal by the contractor from one of the affected contracts. Such recusal might include divestiture of the work to a third party.

(b) In order to prevent a future OCI of any kind, the Contractor shall be subject to the following restrictions:

(1) The Contractor may be excluded from competition for, or award of, any government contracts as to which, in the course of performing another contract, the Contractor has received nonpublic and competitively relevant information before such information has been made generally available to other persons or firms.

(2) The Contractor may be excluded from competition for, or award of, any government contract for which the contractor actually assisted or participated in the development of specifications or statements of work.

(3) The Contractor may be excluded from competition for or award of, any government contract which calls for it to evaluate itself, any affiliate, or any products or services produced or performed thereby.

(4) The Contractor may be excluded from competition for, or award of, any government contract calling for the production or performance of any product or service for which the Contractor participated in the development of requirements or definitions pursuant to another contract.

(c) This clause shall not exclude the Contractor from performing work under any modification to this contract or from competing for award of any future contract for work that is the same or similar to work performed under this contract, so long as the conditions above are not present. This clause does not prohibit an incumbent from competing on a follow-on competition but the Contracting Officer may require a mitigation plan or other steps as needed to ensure that there has not been an unequal access to nonpublic competitively sensitive information.

(d) The term “contractor” as used in this clause, includes any person, firm or corporation that owns or controls, or is owned or controlled by, the contractor. The term also includes the corporate officers of the contractor.

(e) The agency may in its sole discretion, waive any provisions of this clause if deemed in the best interest of the Government. The exclusions contained in this clause shall apply for the duration of this contract and for three (3) years after completion and acceptance of all work performed hereunder, or such other period as the Contracting Officer shall direct.

(f) If any provision of this clause excludes the Contractor from competition for, or award of any contract, the Contractor shall not be permitted to serve as a subcontractor, at any tier, on such contract. This clause shall be incorporated into any subcontracts or consultant agreements awarded under this contract unless the Contracting Officer determines otherwise.

(End of Clause)

CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR) CLAUSE _ DOLAR 2952.201-70

"(a) A Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) will be delegated upon award. A copy of the delegation memorandum will be provided to the COR and a delegation letter sent to the vendor.

(b) The COR is responsible, as applicable, for receiving all deliverables; inspecting and accepting the supplies or services provided hereunder in accordance with the terms and conditions of this contract; providing direction to the contractor which clarifies the contract effort, fills in details or otherwise serves to accomplish the contractual scope of work; evaluating performance; and certifying all invoices/vouchers for acceptance of the supplies or services furnished for payment.

(c) The COR does not have the authority to alter the contractor's obligations under the contract, and/or modify any of the expressed terms, conditions, specifications, or cost of the agreement. If, as a result of technical discussions, it is desirable to alter/change contractual obligations or the scope of work, the contracting officer must issue such changes.

(End Clause)

CONTRACTOR'S OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER OF A REQUEST TO CHANGE THE CONTRACT SCOPE (CONTRACTOR'S OBLIGATION CLAUSE) - DOL 2012-02

"(a) Except for changes identified in writing and signed by the Contracting Officer, the Contractor is required to notify, within five working days of receipt or knowledge, any request for changes to this contract (including actions, inactions, and written or oral communications) that the Contractor regards as exceeding the scope of the contract. On the basis of the most accurate information available to the Contractor, the notice shall state:

(1) The date, nature, and circumstances of the conduct regarded as a change in scope;

(2) The name, function, and activity of each Government individual and Contractor official or employee involved in, or knowledgeable about, such conduct;

(3) The identification of any documents and substance of any oral communication involved in such conduct;

(b) Following submission of this notice, the Contractor shall continue performance in accordance with the contract terms and conditions, unless notified otherwise by the Contracting Officer.

(c) The Contracting Officer shall promptly, within 5 business days after receipt of notice from the Contractor, respond to the notice in writing. In responding, the Contracting Officer shall either:

(1) Confirm that the Contractor’s notice identifies a change in the scope of the contract and directs the Contractor to stop work, completely or in part, in accordance with the Stop Work provisions of the contract;

(2) Deny that the Contractor’s notice identifies a change in scope and instruct the Contractor to continue performance under the contract; or

(3) In the event the Contractor’s notice does not provide sufficient information to make a decision, advise the Contractor what additional information is required, and establish the date by which it should be furnished and the date thereafter by which the Government will respond.

(End of clause)

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PAYMENT REQUESTS - DOL 2014-01

(a) Definitions. As used in this clause-

(1) Contract financing payment has the meaning given in FAR 32.001.

(2) Invoice payment has the meaning given in FAR 32.001.

(3) Payment request means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment submitted by the contractor under this contract.

(b) Electronic Payment Requests. Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this clause, the contractor shall submit payment requests in electronic form. Purchases paid with a Government-wide commercial purchase card are considered to be an electronic transaction for purposes of this clause, and therefore no additional electronic invoice submission is required.

An original invoice shall be prepared and submitted to the Department of Labor (DOL) by email to:

DOL-BLS@quickpay.dol.gov

(c) Data Transmission. A contractor must ensure that the data transmission method and format comply with the following provisions:

(1) The contractor shall:

a. Address the invoice to the appropriate e-mail address specified in the contract.

b. Submit the invoice via attachment in PDF or TIFF format.

c. Submit only one invoice per electronic submittal.

d. Enter specific information in the subject line of the e-mail in the following format:

<Contractor Name>, Bureau of Labor Statistics, <Contract Number, BPA Call or Order Number>, Invoice Number, <Invoice Amount> Example: ABC Co, OASAM, DOL00-00-X0000/X0000, Invoice Number AB-1298433, $15,000.00.

e. Submit a copy of the email with the attached invoice to the contracting officer’s representative (COR) at the COR email address specified in the contract.

f. Before sending another e-mail with the same invoice attachment, confirm whether DOL has already responded and/or whether you have received a success or failure response to your submission.

(2) The contractor MUST NOT:

a. Submit an invoice that exceeds the size limit of 16 megabytes (approximately 400-500 pages). However, if the invoice exceed this limit, a summary invoice attachment of less than 16 megabytes should be e-mailed to the payment e-mail address above; while the detailed invoice, including any supplemental information, shall be sent to the COR or other representative at the address.

b. Submit an invoice that is heavy in shading or color.

1. An e-mailed PDF image cannot have any text that has a background with any color other than white. If the image has a shaded background, it will be converted to black, and the text will be illegible.

2. An emailed TIFF image must be black and white.

c. Submit more than one attachment, as subsequent attachments will not be recognized.

d. Submit more than one invoice in a single attachment.

e. Attempt to use the “Recall or Resend” email message feature.

(d) General Information. Payment due dates will be calculated only from the date that invoices are received in the electronic invoicing e-mail box and determined to be proper invoices.

Inquiries regarding invoices should be e-mailed to BLSInvoiceInquiry@dol.gov. The relevant invoice must be attached to the inquiry e-mail and the subject line of the e-mail must state “INQUIRY,” followed by the information described in paragraph (1) d. above.

Example: INQUIRY: <Contractor Name>, Bureau of Labor Statistics, <Contract Number, BPA Call or Order Number>, Invoice Number, <Invoice Amount> Do NOT use the electronic invoicing e-mail address for inquiries about the invoice.

(e) Invoice requirements. Invoices shall comply with FAR 32.905.

(f) Exceptions. Paper invoices should only be faxed or mailed through U.S. mail when electronic mail cannot be accomplished.

When invoices must be faxed due to e-mail size limitations, fax them to: 202-691-7796

When paper invoices must be mailed due to e-mail size limitations, mail them to the following address:

U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.

Room 4135 Washington, D.C. 20212

(End of clause) PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH ENTITIES THAT REQUIRE CERTAIN INTERNAL CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS – REPRESENTATION (MARCH 2015) -DOL Class Deviation 2015-0002

"(a) In accordance with Section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Resolution Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), Government agencies are not permitted to use funds appropriated (or otherwise made available) under that or any other Act for contracts with an entity that requires employees or subcontractors of such entity seeking to report fraud, waste, or abuse to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting such waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information.

(b) The prohibition in paragraph (a) of this provision does not contravene requirements applicable to Standard Form 312, Form 4414, or any other form issued by a Federal department or agency governing the nondisclosure of classified information.

(c) Representation. By submission of its offer, the Offeror represents that it does not require employees or subcontractors of such entity seeking to report fraud, waste, or abuse to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting such waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information.

(End of provision)