EEO ASL AD HOC PWS.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS): DLA HQC EQUAL EMPLOYMENT

OPPORTUNITY AND DIVERSITY OFFICE PROVISION OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE

(ASL) AD-HOC INTERPRETING SERVICES

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT: INTERPRETING SERVICES

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION, SEE FAR 2.101 AND FAR 3.104

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), as amended by the Amendments Act of 2008, Title 1, Section 501 and 504 require federal agencies to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants and employees with disabilities, barring undue hardship.

1.2 The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is committed to being compliant in providing reasonable accommodations for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals in the workforce, via the provision of interpreting services when applicable to the employee, applicant or tenet customer.

1.3 The DLA Headquarters McNamara Complex (HQC), Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Diversity, provides sign language interpreting services to facilitate communication for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals whose duty stations are located at the DLA HQC/Lorton facility, which includes their tenet customers: the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) and the DLA Energy Major Service Command (MSC).

1.4 On average, there are approximately twenty-five plus (5+) employees and tenet customers from the agencies mentioned in Section 1.0.3 that may request interpreting services either on their own behalf or for a deaf or hard of hearing colleague for events, trainings, meetings, and other functions as needed.

1.5 The need for interpreting services continue to increase as the DLA strives to be a model employer by complying with Executive Order 13548-“Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities.”

2.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE/ SCOPE OF WORK

2.0.1 The awarded contract shall be set for a duration of one (1) twelve (12) month base year. The following CLINS shall apply to the following periods of performance and are subject to extension and modification as necessary.

• CLIN 0001 & 0002 (Base Year): September 1st, 2026- August 31st, 2027

2.0.2 The contractor shall provide ad-hoc interpreters as required per the interpreting request, for applicants, DLA employees and customers of the agencies and organizations serviced by the DLA EEO Office (as hosted by DLA). Assignments shall be located at DLA HQC, the McNamara Headquarters Complex at Fort Belvoir, Virginia or off-post, any location deemed necessary by the government within the specified radius (2.0.2.

2.0.3 The commuting area of the ad-hoc interpreters is within a 45-mile radius from the McNamara Headquarters Complex to account for the National Capital Region (NCR). The contractor shall receive no additional travel-related expenses such as travel time or mileage for travel conducted within the 45-mile radius. Any requests outside of the NCR mileage radius shall require approval from the Contracting Officer (KO) beforehand as submitted via the Contracting Officer Representative (COR).

3.0 REQUIREMENTS/PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

3.0.1 The contractor shall provide the necessary number of interpreters (typically 1-2 interpreters per request), that meet the qualifications as designated in Section 3.1, as requested by the DLA COR or DLA Scheduling Coordinator, for each job request submitted with 5 or more business days’ notice.

Interpreting service requests made by DLA shall be submitted either through the contract vendors’ electronic portal or via email for last minute modifications and for auditability purposes. The contractor shall provide confirmation electronically, via system notification or email notification to the designated DLA inbox, HQSignLanguage.InterpretersRequest@dla.mil.

3.0.2 Ad-hoc interpreting services shall be provided as required at the designated onsite location stated in the interpreting services request, within the NCR and designated mileage area of the contract (as specified in section 2.0.2). In the event that a contingent working environment has been issued, a virtual method of delivery may be approved, by the contracting officer, for use of the interpreting services instead (Section 4.3.3)

3.0.3 Requests shall be made at any time, given the nature of last-minute interpreting service needs and requests. The contractor is required to respond to all interpreting service requests, filled or unable to be filled, 100% of the time. The contract vendor must fill all job requests with certified ASL interpreters, with five (5) or more business days’ notice, 99% of the time. However, the contractor has the right to refuse an assignment when less than 48 hours’ notice has been given to them. The contractor’s refusal must be documented in written format, preferably via email to both the COR and the Scheduling Coordinator. The DLA has the right to contact the other contracted vendors on the IDIQ contract, in an attempt to successfully receive interpreting services as needed. No additional or special rates shall be used for requests placed with less than 5 business days’ notice.

3.0.4 Upon arrival, the interpreter shall contact either the COR, the Scheduling Coordinator, or the designated POC for escort to the assignment. The COR, Scheduling Coordinator and on-call interpreters are located at the DLA HQ’s EEO office, Room 1119 (Pod 1), McNamara Headquarters Complex, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. If the job ends early, before confirmed billable end time has occurred, interpreters are required to check in with either the COR, or the Scheduling Coordinator to receive either confirmation of early release or to be re-assigned to another interpreting request for the same timeframe. If check in does not occur and the COR or Scheduling Coordinator receive notification that the interpreter left without receiving confirmation to release early, the contractor shall be notified of the discrepancy and DLA shall only be invoiced for the amount of time the interpreter was present in the facility, regardless of the initially confirmed billable hours for service. This applies to both onsite services and services with a virtual delivery method for contingency working environments.

mailto:HQSignLanguage.InterpretersRequest@dla.mil

3.0.5 The DLA may submit requests on occasion requiring the contractor to fulfill the request with an interpreter who possesses a minimum level of a Secret Clearance. The interpreter provided through the contractor is required to satisfy all requirements listed in Section 3.1, as well as possess the clearance level requested.

3.1 QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETERS/PERSONNEL

3.1.1 All interpreters must have an active certification or screening level from one of the following:

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID)- NIC Certification at any level (NIC, NIC Advanced or NIC Master level), CI, CT.

National Association of the Deaf (NAD)- Level III (Generalist), Level IV (Advanced), or Level V (Master).

3.1.2 All interpreters will conduct themselves according to the RID Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) and in a professional manner at all times to include but not limited to: timeliness, professional responses appropriate for the work environment, attire appropriate for the work environment, etc.

3.1.3 The modes of requested interpreting services will vary, dependent on consumer preference, and shall be performed as such. This may include expressive interpreting or transliteration from Spoken English to American Sign Language, ASL, (or a mode of ASL such as Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE), Pidgin Signed English (PSE), also known as Contact Sign, or Signed Exact English (SEE) and/or voice interpreting from ASL (or a mode of ASL as referenced above) to Spoken English. If requested, the contractor shall provide a sign language interpreter with strong voicing skills.

3.1.4 Interpreters not meeting the minimum certification requirements, as outlined in Section 3.1.1, will not be considered billable to the government for services rendered, as they do not meet the contract skill level requirements.

3.2 NUMBER OF INTERPRETERS REQUIRED PER ASSIGNMENT

The number of contract interpreters (typically 1-2) required is subject to the assessment of the COR and/or the Scheduling Coordinator and will be specified in each request submitted. In general, two (2) interpreters shall be required for assignments lasting one (1) hour or more due to the technical nature of the DLA’s environment. On occasion, one (1) interpreter may be requested for non-technical meetings or in the event that they will be teamed with a DLA Federal Staff Interpreter or the regular DLA On-call Contract Interpreter. The number of interpreters requested for a job shall be dependent on the assessment made via the COR/Scheduling Coordinator.

3.3 ARRIVAL OF INTERPRETERS/ PERSONNEL SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

3.3.1 All interpreters must have a valid photo identification (ID) that is accepted by DLA’s HQ Security Office to enter the McNamara Headquarters Complex (HQC) and any of its’ grounds, property and facilities. When the interpreter arrives at the security desk, if they do not possess a Common Access Card (CAC), they should contact the designated POCs provided to them through the job assignment request, to request escort from the main lobby entrance to their assignment location. The interpreter shall adhere to the badging requirements designated by the security office and must be escorted at all times while in the facility. The contractor shall not bill the agency for any of the time described in this paragraph.

3.3.4 Contractors must have the ability to pass the minimum-security protocols via the DLA’s Personnel Security office in order to receive a CAC, or DBIDS, when deemed necessary by the COR.

3.3.5 If a CAC has been awarded and if email access has been granted, contractor must complete and maintain minimum required training annually, to include but not limited to the following: Cyber Awareness training and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) training.

3.3.6 The Contractor shall safeguard CAC and/or ID Badges when furnished to them. Contractor employees shall not share CAC and/or ID Badges. Each Contractor employee shall always wear the ID Badge conspicuously on his or her outer clothing above the waist, while working on the installation.

Personnel may be challenged and removed from the work area or denied access to the host installation if the ID Badge is not worn. The Contractor shall not display or use any badge as a means of personal identification outside the installation.

3.3.7 COMMON ACCESS CARD (CAC) LANGUAGE ( See attachment 1 )

3.4 REASSIGNMENT OF AD-HOC INTERPRETERS AS NEEDED

3.4.1 If an ad-hoc interpreter is scheduled for an assignment/event, and the interpreting services are completed early (or in the event that they are no longer needed), the interpreter is required to contact either the COR or Scheduling Coordinator, located in the DLA HQC, EEO Office, Room 1119, McNamara Headquarters Complex, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The preferred method of contact will be in-person, phone, or text and will be provided with every job request. The COR/Scheduling Coordinator may re-assign the ad-hoc interpreter(s) to another meeting request within the previously confirmed time frame. The contractor may not double bill for re-assignments occurring within the previously confirmed time frame. Any additional services falling outside of the original confirmed timeframe will be sent to the contract vendor for review and possible acceptance/declination.

3.4.2 For general audience events, the ad-hoc interpreter shall contact the COR/Scheduling Coordinator fifteen (15) minutes after the start of the event if no consumers are present requiring sign language interpreting services. The COR/Scheduling Coordinator has the option to re-assign the interpreter to another request if needed within the 45-mile radius of the McNamara Headquarters Complex without an additional charge/cancellation fee. If the new assignment runs over the originally confirmed and scheduled timeframe, the difference shall be charged accordingly.

3.5 LIVE STREAMING OR RECORDING OF INTERPRETING SERVICES

3.5.1 If the assignment/event is being videotaped or is being streamed live, the interpreter shall provide interpreting services whether or not there are Deaf or Hard of Hearing individuals in live attendance requiring interpreting services. However, the vendor shall be notified at the time of the request if streamed or recorded interpreting services are needed. If the event is not being streamed live or videotaped and no Deaf or Hard of Hearing employees are in attendance in the audience, interpreter(s) are required to follow the standards of procedure set by Section 3.4.1.

4.0 LEAVE, HOLIDAYS AND CLOSURES

4.0.1 This section describes the specific policies and procedures associated with any leave or closure and how they influence the provision of interpreting services provided.

4.1 LIBERAL LEAVE

4.1.1 If the federal government is on liberal leave, all ad-hoc interpreters must report to the designated facility as previously confirmed, unless the COR or Coordinator/Scheduler has contacted the contractor to specify otherwise. Should the contractor receive additional or modified instructions, the ad hoc interpreters shall be informed via the contractor’s scheduling coordinators for updated information to follow. If the job request has been cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, the contractor may invoice for the originally confirmed hours.

4.2 CLOSURE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER OR

EMERGENCY

4.2.1 If the DLA has closed due to inclement weather or emergency, interpreting services shall not be rendered and therefore no charges or fees shall be assessed. The contractor shall not bill the government for interpreting service hours when the facility is closed due to inclement weather or emergency.

4.3 OTHER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CLOSURES/DELAYS/TELEWORK

4.3.1 In the event of a closure of the federal government, ad-hoc interpreters will not report to work or to their scheduled assignments. No cancellation fees or charges shall be assessed. The contractor shall not bill the government for interpreting service hours when the government is closed.

4.3.2. In the event of an unscheduled delay, or unscheduled telework option announced for the federal government, ad-hoc interpreters must contact their own Schedule Coordinator in order to confirm whether services are still required.

4.3.3. In the event that a contingency working environment is in effect, interpreting services may be delivered in a virtual manner instead of onsite, per the DLA Contracting Officer’s approval. The COR or Scheduling Coordinator will have further instructions for the contract vendor on how to connect virtually with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing employees, in order to provide the confirmed interpreting services. The DLA HQ EEO office will make available the virtual platform in which contract interpreters and Deaf consumers will connect on. The contract vendor is not responsible for supplying the virtual platform for interpreting services.

4.4 FEDERAL HOLIDAYS

4.4.1 No interpreting services are required on the celebration of the federal holidays listed below. The contractor shall not bill the government for interpreting services hours when the government is closed due to the following federal holidays.

• New Year’s Day

• Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Inauguration Day (as applicable)

• Washington’s Birthday (President’s Day)

• Memorial Day

• Juneteenth

• Independence Day

• Labor Day

• Columbus Day

• Veterans Day

• Thanksgiving

• Christmas

4.5 INCLEMENT WEATHER: NON-CLOSURES

4.5.1 In the event of severe inclement weather or an emergency, all interpreters are responsible for calling the contractor’s POC (i.e., Scheduling Coordinator) to determine if their assignment is still scheduled. The COR or the DLA Coordinator/Scheduler shall be responsible for relaying information regarding assignment changes or updates/cancellations to the contractor’s coordinator/scheduler/POC.

The contractor is equally responsible for following up with the COR or DLA Coordinator/Scheduler to confirm updates/changes in the event that there is inclement weather.

4.5.2 If an event has been cancelled due to inclement weather, the contractor may assess the cancellation fee for requests for services that are cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice.

4.5.3 In the event that the interpreting service is still required but the confirmed interpreter is unable to attend and provide interpreting services, the contractor is responsible for replacing the interpreter with one who can provide the services. If the contractor is unable to supply the DLA with replacement interpreters, the contractor shall not bill the government for interpreter service hours.

5.0 NEW INTERPRETING SERVICES

5.1 When there are new interpreting services outside the scope of this contract, but they are of interest to the DLA, the KO may request information and a demonstration of the available services and the contractor shall provide the demonstration of these services at no additional cost to the agency. Such request shall not change any of the terms and conditions of the contract.

6.0 REIMBURSEMENT FOR SERVICES, INVOICING AND BILLING

6.0.1 This section outlines the requirements and expectations regarding reimbursement for interpreting services as well as procedures for invoicing and billing.

6.1 REIMBURSEMENT FOR SERVICES- AD HOC INTERPRETER (ING) REQUESTS

6.1.1 Regardless of assignment duration, the contractor shall be reimbursed for a minimum of two (2) hours per the DC metropolitan ASL interpreting service industry standards as long as the interpreter complies with the procedure set forth in Section 6.1.3.

6.1.2 Assignments lasting more than two (2) hours shall be invoiced either for the scheduled time requested and confirmed or rounded to the nearest 15 minutes increment thereafter. Example: An assignment is scheduled for three (3) hours but it lasts three hours and twenty minutes (3 hours 20 min), the invoice shall reflect billing for three hours and thirty minutes (3 hours and 30 minutes).

6.1.3 In the event that a job assignment ends earlier than the scheduled and confirmed timeframe, interpreters are required to contact either the COR or the DLA Scheduling Coordinator to either be re-assigned to another job within the same timeframe or to be released early. The contractor shall bill the agency for the confirmed amount of time per the job request, as specified in Section 6.1.1, unless the interpreter(s) leave the premises early without confirming early release first with either the COR or the DLA Scheduling Coordinator. In the event that the interpreter(s) leaves early without approval, the contractor shall only be allowed to bill the agency for the amount of time the interpreter(s) are on the premises, beginning from the start time confirmed.

6.2 INVOICE: RATES AND SCHEDULE

6.2.1 The contractor shall bill the agency using the rates established and agreed upon in the Rate Schedule, as applicable with either “Non-Specialty” or “Specialty” services. The contractor will also include a separate hourly rate for interpreters requested needing a clearance to perform the duties of the job request. The Specialty CLIN(s) will be used to provide all rates associated with a security clearance. The CLIN for the specialty work will be an as needed CLIN.

6.2.2 The contractor shall invoice DLA via the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) system at the beginning of each month for the previous month’s services rendered, in accordance with DFARS 252.323-7003, the Electronic Submission of Payment Requests and Receiving Reports. ***This is a Fixed-Labor Rate agreement with a Not to Exceed (NTE) quantity/number of hours.

The Government will only pay the contractor the actual services/number of hours rendered/utilized each month. The NTE quantity for non-specialty CLINs is 5,000 hours per contractor per year. The NTE quantity for specialty CLINs is 1,000 hours per contractor per year.***

6.2.3 The contractor shall provide a monthly breakdown report (in the form of an attachment within PIEE) for the invoice submitted containing the following (if applicable): job request number, the date of the assignment, the start and end time of the assignment, the numerical value being billed, the names of the interpreters who provided the services and the description of the assignment event that interpreting services were provided for. Before validating the invoice for approval, the COR or the DLA Scheduling Coordinator shall review the information provided to identify any discrepancies. If any discrepancies are found, the contractor shall be notified and expected to update the invoice appropriately and re-submit within PIEE. Once an accurate invoice is provided, the COR shall process the approval.

6.3 CANCELLATION OF REQUESTS: BILLABLE VS. NON-BILLABLE

6.3.1 The COR or the DLA Scheduling Coordinator shall notify the contractor regarding any cancellations primarily via the contractor’s servicing portal. If no such portal exists, then the contractor shall be notified both in writing via email as well as with a phone call.

6.3.2 Requests that are cancelled with equal to or less than twenty-four (24) continuous hours’ notice prior to the event shall be reimbursed to the contractor and considered billable. Requests cancelled with more than twenty-four (24) hours’ notice shall not be reimbursed and are considered unbillable.

7.0 FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICE

7.0.1 If the contractor fails to provide sign language interpreting services (after confirmation has been received by DLA), as described in Sections 3.0 -3.1.3 for reasons other than the reasons described in Sections 4.0 – 4.5 and Section 6.3, the contractor shall not charge the agency for the services not provided.

7.0.2 For every instance in which the contractor does not provide services for reasons other than mentioned above in Section 7.0.1, the COR shall document the instance(s) in a quarterly inspection report and a warning letter shall be sent notifying the contractor of non-compliance. The DLA expects the contractor to remedy the issue brought forth in a timely manner (within a month’s timeframe from time of notification).

7.0.3 The DLA reserves the right to send both warning correspondence as well as a Show Cause letter(s) to any contractor that repeatedly is unable to supply interpreters for the Government’s requests.

If the contractor is repeatedly unable to fulfill the contract, their inaction may result in termination to the contract. This statement applies to non-fulfillment of the contract for any reason other than reasons listed in Section 7.0.1.

8.0 EVALUATION OF SERVICES

8.0.1 The contractor’s performance will be evaluated in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) and uploaded to the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System

(CPARS).

8.0.2 If any services are provided that do not meet the satisfaction of the COR or any of DLA’s employees, customers or tenets, the COR shall notify the contractor promptly. The contractor shall work with the COR to determine what actions will be taken such as but not limited to: not sending an interpreter back to provide services, replacing an interpreter, etc. A written record shall be provided to the contractor regarding the issue, usually via email.

9.0 INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY

9.9.1 When a situation arises where the contractor has received a CAC and requires access to government computers and systems, they shall request Information Technology (IT) eligibility for all positions requiring a minimum IT III category eligibility.

9.9.2 All contractor personnel provided with access to government computers and systems shall observe all security policies and procedures as provided by the COR. The contractor shall notify the COR within twenty-four (24) hours when personnel no longer require access to government systems, for reasons of any of the following: personnel resignation, reassignment, termination or completion of portions of the contract.

9.9.3 The contractor shall observe all copyright agreements. In the interest of protecting government systems from computer viruses, the contractor shall not use public domain software nor shall contractor personnel download software from public bulletin boards or Internet websites. The contractor shall use only commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), contractor-developed, or government software in performance of the contract requirements. Should the introduction of a computer virus or malicious destruction of computer software, stored information, or hardware result from the use of public domain software or from software taken from a public bulletin board or Internet website, the contractor shall be required to repair the damage and incur all costs at no expense to the Government and without impact on delivery schedules.

10.0 INFORMATION AWARENESS

All contractor employees with access to a government information system shall be registered in the ATCTS (Army Training Certification Tracking System) (https://atc.us.army.mil/iastar/index.php) prior to commencement of services, and shall successfully complete the DOD Information Assurance awareness training prior to access to the IS and then annually thereafter.

(https://ia.signal.army.mil/DoDIAA/).

https://atc.us.army.mil/iastar/index.php https://ia.signal.army.mil/DoDIAA/

11.0 COMBATTING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

The United States Government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy regarding trafficking in persons.

Contractors and contractor employees shall not engage in severe forms of trafficking in persons during the period of performance of the contract; procure commercial sex acts during the period of performance of the contract; or use forced labor in the performance of the contract. The Contractor shall notify its employees of the United States Government’s zero tolerance policy, the actions that will be taken against employees for violations of this policy. Such actions will include, but are not limited to, removal from the contract, reduction in benefits, or termination of employment. The contractor shall take appropriate action, up to and including termination, against employees or subcontractors that violate the US Government policy as described at FAR 22.17.

12.0 NON-PERSONAL SERVICES

The services and performance required under this contract are determined to be not inherently governmental. The contractor shall not perform or give the appearance of performing inherently governmental functions as described in FAR Part 2 and Subpart 7.5, and all applicable DoD policy. The Government shall neither supervise contractor employees nor control the method by which the contractor performs the required tasks. All contractor personnel shall identify themselves as contracted support personnel in all forms of communication with all entities with whom the DLA HQ Office or all Military Services have business dealings. It shall be the responsibility of the contractor to guard against any actions that are of the nature of personal services or give the perception of personal services. If the contractor believes that any actions constitute, or are perceived to constitute personal services, it shall be the contractor's responsibility to notify the Contracting Officer immediately.

16.0 PROTECTION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII)

The contractor shall protect all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) encountered in the performance of services in accordance with DFARS 224.103 and DoD 5400.11, Department of Defense Privacy Program, and DoD 5400.11-R. If a PII breach results from the contractor’s violation of the aforementioned policies, the contractor shall bear all notification costs, call-center support costs, and credit monitoring service costs for all individuals who’s PII has been compromised.