Attachment H - FCC Contractor - Telework Policy.pdf

Federal Communications Commission Office of Managing Director

Enterprise Acquisition Center

Date: June 27, 2023

To: All FCC Contractors

From: FCC Senior Procurement Executive

Subject: Contractor Personnel Return to Normal Operations, In-person or On-Site Work and Telework

Thank you for all you do for the FCC! As the Senior Procurement Executive, I am reaching out to all contractors who have employees that will be working onsite at FCC facilities.

As you may be aware, on May 9, 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Moving Beyond COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for Federal Workers, which, as of 12:01 AM EST on May 12, 2023) revokes Executive Order 14042, which had required certain parties contracting with the Federal Government to follow specified COVID-19 safeguards for their workers and 2) revokes Executive Order 14043, which had required vaccination for Federal civilian employees. Furthermore, the Safer Federal Workforce Taskforce also revoked all prior guidance implementing Executive Orders 14042 and 14043.

Pursuant to the Executive Order, the Federal Government will not take any steps to require covered contractors and subcontractors to come into compliance with previously issued Task Force guidance implementing Executive Order 14042 and will not enforce any existing contract clauses implementing Executive Order 14042. The FCC has rescinded any deviations, policies, or other guidance premised on Executive Order 14042, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council has revoked its September 30, 2021 guidance regarding deviations to the FAR to implement Executive Order 14042.

On February 1, 2023, the Commission announced that it would move to Phase 4/Normal Operations of its COVID-19 Reentry Plan on March 13. The Commission indicated at that time that it would have an extended transition period, where Phase 4 telework agreements for employees would go into effect on May 15. As of the date of this memorandum, the FCC has completed its transition to Phase 4/Normal Operations. The central purpose of this memorandum is to provide contractors with reminders and additional guidance regarding steps that must be taken for contractor employees both to be consistent with our employees’ return to Normal Operations and to ensure contractual compliance.

Please read this memorandum carefully and in its entirety, as it contains important information about the Agency-wide return to Normal Operations.

Place of Performance:

Your contract identifies the place of performance and in some cases, that is an FCC facility. Whether this will be the first day that you or your employees will be working in an FCC facility or if they were working in a facility before the pandemic, you will need to coordinate with your designated Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for your contract to make sure equipment and work space have been made available. If you or any of your employees have been issued an FCC laptop, it will need to brought into work when in-person on site work is required. Please coordinate your equipment and space requirements with the COR.

Telework:

The FCC understands that telework offers flexibilities that can provide work/life balance benefits;

however, your contract should provide guidance on teleworking and onsite work expectations. Please note that contract requirements of various FCC Bureaus and Offices may vary so a one-size-fits-all telework/in-person policy is not appropriate for meeting FCC’s mission and satisfying your contractual obligations. Therefore, telework allowances may be modified into your contract.

Please contact the COR for the Contracting Officer’s guidance.

Government personnel:

As of May 15, the FCC completed its transition to Phase 4/Normal Operations that began on March 13.

FCC employees are generally adhering to a mix of telework and onsite in-person activity which has created important opportunities for in-person collaboration. Likewise, the FCC requires that contractors supporting the FCC adopt a similar posture that is well-planned, purposeful, and optimized for in-person collaboration.

Workspace assignments:

As of 15 May, the FCC completed its transition to Phase 4/Normal Operations. Consistent with the FCC’s Headquarters Move Agreement with the National Treasury Employees Union, employees who telework more than 3 days per week/6 days per pay period are not entitled to a sole-occupancy workspace.

However, to allow the FCC to assess space usage and impacts once Phase 4 telework agreements for employees are in place for some time, employees will generally be allowed to remain in their currently assigned, sole-occupancy workspaces, unless operational needs and/or personnel changes necessitate changes to current workspace assignments. The FCC relocated to a new Headquarters during the pandemic and previous space allocations may have changed, please coordinate any space requests or needs with the COR.

Please remember, close coordination with the COR is necessary to determine the appropriate in-person and regular telework schedule as well as any space utilization considerations and requirements. The Government’s need for an in-person contractor presence and the place of performance stipulated in the contract are paramount. If you have not discussed the need for an in-person presence or tailored telework plan with the COR yet, please contact them as soon as possible to ensure full compliance with the contract’s place of performance requirement.

If you have any questions regarding the above, discuss with the COR first and if you still have any questions, please contact the Contracting Officer as soon as possible.

We look forward to seeing our valued contractor support personnel back in our FCC facilities soon.

SUNNY DIEMERT

Senior Procurement Executive Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Office of the Managing Director (OMD) Enterprise Acquisition Center (EAC)