DRAFT RFP N6134021R0001_Att BC 13 PACT Users Guide_7.20.21.pdf

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July 2010

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Service Contract Act & Fair Labor Standards Act

PRICE ADJUSTMENTS

FAR 52.222-43 /44, 32

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DRAFT SOLICITATION FTSS V MAC N6134021R0001

User’s Guide (PACT) 2 of 37 July 2010

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COMMON ABBREVIATIONS USED THROUGHOUT PACT:

IT’S NOT THAT SIMPLE

WHY THE NEW PROCESS?

A PRICE ADJUSTMENT IS NOT AN REA

SUBCONTRACTOR APPLICABILITY

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WHAT PACT CANNOT DO

1. DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY FOR PRICE ADJUSTMENT

2. CONTRACT MODIFICATION

3. UNIT PRICING

4. OUT-YEAR CALCULATIONS

5. LOADED RATES

6. ESCALATED PRICING

WHAT PACT WILL DO

I. WAGE DIFFERENCE

a. Previous Required, New Required and Actual Wages

b. Negative Entitlement

c. Exempt vs. Non-Exempt

1. MAN-HOURS

A. FORWARD PRICING

B. ACTUAL PRICING

II. ACCOMPANYING COSTS

a. Social Security and Medicare Contributions (FICA)

b. Workers Compensation Insurance (WC)

i. Background:

ii. Is WC a valid accompanying cost entitlement?

iii. Calculating WC as an accompanying cost

c. Unemployment Insurance (or “tax”)

i. Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)

ii. State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)

III. H&W FRINGE BENEFITS

a. The Importance of Old, New and Actual Rates

b. Hours for H&W Entitlement: Odd vs. Even methods

c. H&W Calculations for Odd Numbered WDs

Hour Type Code (HTC) Treatment Under ODD Numbered Standard WD-table

d. H&W Calculations for Even Numbered WDs Hour Type Code (HTC) Treatment Under Even Numbered standard WD-table

e. H&W Calculations for Collective Bargaining Agreement WDs

IV. HOLIDAYS & VACATION

a. General Entitlements Vacation or Holiday Above and Beyond WD Requirement (also applies to CBAs):

EXAMPLE

b. Part Time or Temporary Employees

c. Increased Number of Holiday or Vacation Hours Required by the WD 23

User’s Guide (PACT) 3 of 37 July 2010

EXAMPLE:

V.OTHER MISCELLANEOUS WD PROVISIONS

a. Shift Premium

EXAMPLE:

b. Paid Time-off (PTO)

c. Bereavement Pay

d. Jury Duty

e. Sick Leave

f. Overtime (OT)

g. Uniforms or other reimbursements for company expenses

UNDERSTANDING THE HOUR TYPE CODE (HTC) TABLE

Figure: HTC Lookup Table Explanation

SUMMATION

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PACT CONTRACTOR SUBMISSION FORMAT (CSF)

I. KEY FEATURES:

a. Standardized:

b. Comment Flags:

c. Color coding:

d. No Employee Payrolls Required at Time of Submission:

e. Validation, Formatting and Locking buttons:

f. Acronym Guide:

II. BASIC TAB DESCRIPTIONS:

a. Instructions Rates and Factors Tab (worksheet):

1. H&W Components:

2. Hour Type Codes (HTC):

Example:

Example:

b. Contractor Wages, H&W:

1. Raw, Aggregate Data:

2. Why Break It All Out

III. COMMON TERMS FOR CLARIFICATION:

IV. USING THE CSF IN A CBA WD

Example Scenario:

V.SPECIFIC REGULATORY GUIDANCE:

a. FAR 52.222-43/44

b. The Navy Desk Guide for Service Contract Price Adjustments

c. 29 CFR Part 4 Subpart D:

User’s Guide (PACT) 4 of 37 July 2010

FOREWORD: TO GOVERNMENT AND CONTRACTOR OFFICIALS

Common Abbreviations used throughout PACT:

CBA=Collective Bargaining Agreement CFR= Code of Federal Regulation CSF= Contractor Submission Format DBA=Davis-Bacon Act DOL= Department of Labor FAR= Federal Acquisition Regulation FLSA=Fair Labor Standards Act H&W= Health and Welfare PACT=Price Adjustment Calculation Tool SCA=Service Contract Act WC=Worker Compensation Insurance WD= Wage Determination (a controlling WD may be a CBA therefore this term may apply to both a Standard WD or a CBA)

It’s Not That Simple On its face, determining the amount of a Service Contract Act (SCA) price adjustment seems simple enough. Obtain a copy of the new SCA WD (WD), compare it to the old SCA WD, and calculate the difference. No problem, right? Not so fast.

As with most money matters, it’s not that simple. There are several key elements that go into such a calculation that are more complex than you may think. Also, the “how to” of such calculations are not well defined within the FAR or DFARs and therefore can present some serious challenges in the process of determining the correct amount of entitlement using the combined legal requirements of the SCA/FLSA price adjustment clauses, FAR 52.222-43/44 and the regulatory mandates in 29 CFR Part 4 Subpart D. Together this body of law dictates WHAT is required in a price adjustment;

not HOW to execute one. Additionally, contracting has evolved into some very complex structures wherein both construction and services are performed under the same contract. In these “combination contract” scenarios, contractors and contracting officers have an entirely separate set of regulatory requirements and a consequent separate calculation of price adjustment entitlement, for just a subset of their records, under the Davis-Bacon Act-Price Adjustment (Actual Method) (DBA) in FAR 52.222-32.

Why the New Process?

Prior to the development of this tool– Price Adjustment Calculation Tool or PACT for short –these regulations have rarely been combined to create a full picture of what a price adjustment should be; particularly for complex contracting scenarios. Policy driven guidelines, while helpful in establishing an interpretation of the intent and requirement of this body of law have fallen short in effectively guiding contracting professionals in the practical execution of these requirements. Yet, understanding and adherence to these prescriptive regulations is a fundamental legal requirement in price adjustment execution. PACT has been specifically designed to address that need, by enabling and facilitating the requisite understanding and adherence in a step-by-step, execution driven process. It is the answer to the “how to” question that has been

User’s Guide (PACT) 5 of 37 July 2010 lacking in the guidance of the past. Beyond that, the process that PACT defines has been automated for rapid, and uniform execution of that process.

That’s why PACT has been developed. It will help contracting officers to more accurately, efficiently and uniformly interpret and apply the regulations to determine the correct and proper amount of a contractor’s entitlement under the FAR 52.222-43/44, 32 clauses and 29 CFR 4 Subpart D. Arguably the greatest benefit is that PACT will help contractors and contracting officers by defining and standardizing the proposal submission requirement for long term economies of scale, and consistency within the interpretation and application of the law.

Make no mistake, PACT will not think for you. A price adjustment will always require careful scrutiny of the myriad of factors that go into determining appropriate eligibility for price adjustment under the clauses. PACT is a method (and a fully referenced explanation of that method) by which to gather the required data from the contractor, automatically calculate the entitlement with the information submitted, and organize it into the meaningful categories for analysis of allowability and scrutiny of each economic factor. A contracting officer will still have to understand, and apply the fundamental requirements of the law in their analysis of the results that PACT calculates and organizes for them.

A Price Adjustment Is Not An REA Also, a brief word about what an SCA price adjustment is not. Despite many contractors referring to their proposals for an SCA price adjustments as “equitable adjustment”, or request for equitable adjustment (REA) proposals, they are not the same. This is not simply a matter of semantics – this is a very important distinction to make because the standard of review, analysis and approval of the contractor’s pricing proposal request are quite different. The “fair and reasonable” standard that is used to analyze proposals under equitable adjustments (FAR 15.404) is very different from the highly prescriptive analysis of proposals under the SCA Price Adjustment clause, FAR 52.222-43/44, 32 and 29 CFR 4 Subpart D. For example, the fair and reasonable standard used under the proposal analysis methods of FAR 15.404 often allow for general and administrative expense, overhead and/or profit; whereas the FAR 52.222- 43/44, 32 standards of review explicitly exclude all three such costs. The intent of the SCA price adjustment clause is to allow for a specific and limited exception to the fixed price contract model when the government causes unexpected labor costs to fall upon the contractor by a change to the SCA WD(s) contained in the contract. It is not a simple modification.

Subcontractor Applicability These price adjustment principles will apply not only to the prime contractors that directly employ ‘service employees’ under their contract, but will also apply to any subcontractors using ‘service employees’ that are likewise subject to the SCA WD requirements. However, any proposals by a subcontractor must be sponsored and endorsed by the prime contractor and must be supported and documented by the payroll records and related information of individual subcontractors. The adjustment will be made to the price of the contract and the prime contractor must then arrange and administer any adjustments to the price of any and all subcontractors.

User’s Guide (PACT) 6 of 37 July 2010

GOVERNMENT

PACT is a powerful calculation tool developed by execution level contracting professionals in conjunction with labor policy experts to accurately calculate a contract price adjustment involving even or odd numbered Standard SCA WD’s and most Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) for firm fixed price contracts. Field testing has proven that use of PACT significantly streamlines the price adjustment process. That said, the first point of note is that PACT is only as good as the data you put in it. “Garbage in, garbage out”. It is absolutely incumbent upon contracting professionals to closely scrutinize the contractor submission. PACT will enable you to do that with easy to use, step-by-step buttons that walk you through, in a narrative format, the myriad of calculations, and analysis that PACT has already performed. It will also explain and provide hyperlinked references for WHY it performed the calculations the way it has. Many factors are visually highlighted to help draw you to important areas to analyze. Comments are heavily utilized to explain the contents of columns.

The second point of note that naturally follows is: PACT won’t help you if you don’t use the buttons and read the explanations and comments about how to validate and understand your data. PACT does the heavy lifting of correctly combining the factors, according to the law and calculating entitlement with the information it’s given. However, price adjustment execution, just like any other contract modification which impacts the price of a contract will always require an astute contracting professional to diligently review the results of the calculations.

Different from any other modification though, the contracting officer is also required in FAR 52.222-43/44 to perform payroll checks to make meaningful comparisons with the contractor’s proposal and validate that the submission is consistent with the actual payroll of the employees.

What PACT Cannot Do Before you engage PACT to properly calculate your price adjustment, it may be equally important to point out what PACT cannot do for you.

1. Determine Eligibility for Price Adjustment The language of the price adjustment clause in FAR 52.222-43 (d) makes it clear that an entitlement exists only when there is a causal relationship between compliance with the new SCA minimum rate (“made to comply”) and the contractors increased costs (“the contractor’s actual increase”). Refer to sections 1 and 2 of the Navy Desk Guide and FAR 22.107 for a more detailed explanation when a new WD should be incorporated into a contract, thereby creating this causal relationship. FAR 22.1008-2 (c) (1) is crucial to understand if there is an incumbent contractor that inherits the economic terms of a collective bargaining agreement, or if a new collective bargaining agreement becomes controlling for WD purposes. 29 CFR 4.163 (a) and the above referenced FAR sections must be understood in order to determine if consideration under a price adjustment is appropriate.

User’s Guide (PACT) 7 of 37 July 2010

2. Contract Modification PACT does not execute a contract modification for you. It simply helps you arrive at the correct dollar value of the price adjustment under the clauses.

Often, this will be the dollar value of the modification. PACT will also break down the entitlement by contract line item (as well as a variety of other meaningful ways) to assist you in the analysis and funding process. It is a stand alone file that will support the modification price and business clearance documentation.

3. Unit Pricing Pre-priced IDIQ line items of a contract are increasingly prevalent in today’s contracting structures. For instance: a line item to paint 500 square feet of interior wall space. In the price for this line item is material, equipment, travel to the site, potentially a non-productive hour loading of the labor rate, G&A, overhead, and profit, etc… For an SCA price adjustment, only the “bare” labor rate is entitled to increase. Not each of the other factors. Not necessarily even the loaded labor rate. If the new WD raises this painter’s wage by 5%, a contracting officer would not be acting in accordance with the law to raise the entire unit price by 5%. By doing so, they would be applying the increase to factors prohibited by FAR 52.222-43/44, 32.

Currently, PACT does not accomplish unit pricing. After hourly “bare” rate entitlements are calculated by PACT, a contracting officer will have to reconstruct the unit pricing around the new rate. Every unit price scheme may be different making it difficult to automate this task.

4. Out-Year Calculations PACT does not re-price the out-years on your contract. It will still be the job of the contracting officer to take the new values for each line item, and apply the increases to the impacted out-years of the contract for the modification. The calculations PACT produces form the basis of price increase that will be applied to out -year line items.

5. Loaded Rates PACT will not produce an accurate entitlement if the rates are “loaded” or

“burdened”. PACT will arrive at the correct entitlement when productive and non-productive hours are reported and coded on separate lines of data, with the correct hour type, at the unburdened rate. WC insurance and FICA are “re-loaded” onto the new unburdened rate as accompanying costs to the increase.

This method is explained in detail in the contractor submission format (CSF), and examples are included in the blank submission form that the contractors are given. For a better understanding of the categories hours may fall into, see the Hour Type Code (HTC) tables in the H&W section of this guide.

6. Escalated Pricing PACT will not arrive at a correct entitlement if your contract already has escalated pricing where labor is a component of the escalation factor. The implied intent of FAR 52.222-43 (b) is that a contractor will not receive double payment for already escalated pricing at the time of the price adjustment.

Nevertheless, SCA contractors with escalated price schedules, still request price adjustments. If your contract includes an escalated price schedule, you will need

User’s Guide (PACT) 8 of 37 July 2010 to obtain a break-down of components and percentages (or flat rates) included in the escalation factor (usually found in the award documentation) before you try to utilize PACT. If SCA labor is included in the escalation, each labor category increase caused by the new WD must then be compared to the awarded labor escalation factor to determine if any entitlement exists. Again, this comes back to FAR 52.222-43 (b). *Note: this can be a lengthy process that must be performed on each labor category to arrive at an accurate entitlement.

What PACT Will Do After you’ve determined that your contractor is legitimately entitled to price adjustment under FAR 52.222 43/44, 32 reviewing the remainder of this guide will summarize the basic elements and principles upon which the embedded formulas of PACT are based. Specifically, those elements are as follows:

I. Wage Difference If there is a wage differential between the SCA minimum wage rates required in the prior period of performance and the SCA minimum wage rates required in the new period of performance, then an adjustment must be considered. Consideration of entitlement to a price adjustment on this basic element, however, still requires a thoughtful measurement of subordinate components as follows:

a. Previous Required, New Required and Actual Wages What rate of pay is actually paid by the contractor immediately prior to the effective change to a new SCA minimum rate of pay? As shown in the explicit example contained in the SCA price adjustment clause FAR 52.222-43 (d), if the contractor is paying more than the SCA minimum in the prior period of performance, this will have a direct effect on the amount of entitlement to a price adjustment. The rule can be stated: “Price adjustment entitlement shall be the difference between the new required rate minus the old required rate OR the new required rate minus the actual rate, whichever is LESS.” This logic is taken directly from the wording “the contractors actual increase” in FAR 52.222-43 (d).

User’s Guide (PACT) 9 of 37 July 2010

In any event, the contractor will never be entitled to more than the difference between the old SCA minimum rate and the new SCA minimum rate -- $1.00 per man-hour in the example used in this discussion. That can be looked at like a ceiling. An amount greater than that shows that the contractor was not in compliance with the old SCA minimum in the prior period of performance. Any liability for compliance is solely that of the contractor and enforcement is the responsibility of Department of Labor (DOL) and is therefore not compensable for price adjustment under FAR 52.222-43/44, 32.

b. Negative Entitlement Although rare, it is possible that the “entitlement” could be negative. In other words, the price could go down if the new SCA minimum is less than the old SCA minimum and the contractor voluntarily decreased rates paid to employees.

c. Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Which job classifications are used to perform the contract services required by the contract? Only non-exempt service employees that are used to perform the specific services required by the contract are subject to SCA minimum wage standards. Exempt personnel such as salaried project management and professional level personnel are not subject to WD requirements. Therefore, the contractor is not entitled to an adjustment for any employees that are exempt under 29 CFR, Part 541 or any employees that are not actually performing contract services as more fully discussed in 29 CFR

4.153. PACT addresses this in Step 1 of the “Analysis Wizard”- “Preliminary Contractual Checks”. On the tabs marked “Labor Classifications”, and “Labor Class Analysis” you will find discussion with hyperlinked reference, an example, a decision tree and drill downs for related definitions and validation procedures.

1. Man-hours Of course, if there is a wage differential (or fringe benefit differential), that number must be multiplied by an appropriate number of man-hours to arrive at the contractor’s correct entitlement amount. This calculation must be similarly performed for each job classification. What should be used to determine the

EXAMPLE

Assume these facts:

If immediately prior to the new SCA minimum being effective under the contract;

the old SCA minimum wage is $10 per hour the new SCA minimum wage is $11 per hour

(a difference of $1 per man-hour) the contractor was paying employees, $10.50 per hour

RIGHT: The contractor’s entitlement is $.50 per hour

WRONG: The entire $1.00 per hour difference between the old SCA minimum and the new SCA minimum.

User’s Guide (PACT) 10 of 37 July 2010 correct number of man-hours? This number of hours is the highest impact factor in the computation of entitlement. A close second is the type of hours included in the request. Close attention must be paid during the payroll check process, in the validation of these totals and categorizations of hours.

a. Forward pricing In most circumstances price adjustments are and should be based upon a

“forward pricing” methodology for which the man-hours that will be used in the new period of performance must be estimated. Since SCA price adjustments are almost always based upon moving to a new period of performance such as a new option period or sometimes a more limited contract extension (referred to in FAR 52.222-43/44, 32 as “the renewal option period”), the number of man-hours used by the contractor in the prior period of performance is the best indicator of what should be used for the new period of performance and this becomes the correct “multiplier”. The number of man-hours estimated in the contractor’s original contract proposal is less accurate than actual hours expended in the previous period of performance. When this forward pricing method is used, the contractor’s payroll data for the most recently completed period of performance should support the estimated man-hours that will be used as the multiplier. For further guidance on this method, refer to the Desk Guide for Service Contract Price Adjustments, 4.2 Computations Based on Projected or Actual Labor Costs.

b. Actual Pricing Also, there are circumstances where actual pricing methods may be more appropriate for use. In those cases, the price should be adjusted only after the new period of performance has been completed and then man-hours may be determined with 100% accuracy by reviewing payroll data of the period of time in question. Again, section 4.2 of the Desk Guide for Service Contract Price Adjustments contains information to use in determining which methodology (actual or projected) to use.

II. Accompanying Costs The contractor also incurs “accompanying costs” of wage increases and any H&W benefits paid to the employees in “cash”. These accompanying costs are limited by FAR 52.222-43/44, 32 to three specific items -- social security taxes, WC insurance payments, and unemployment taxes. The clause explicitly excludes any general and administrative expenses, overhead or profit from being added to the total price increase. When making the decision as to what is allowable as costs accompanying the wage changes, the following sub elements should be considered:

a. Social Security and Medicare Contributions (FICA) Each additional $1 of wages paid by the contractor also causes additional liability of social security taxes and Medicare contributions. This tax is paid by both the worker and the employer (50% each). Only the employer’s portion of this tax is borne by the contractor and therefore only that portion of the tax is a properly reimbursable entitlement under FAR 52.222-43/44, 32. The amount of the tax is established by law and currently it is 7.65% (.0765) of wages paid.

User’s Guide (PACT) 11 of 37 July 2010

UNDERSTANDING WC RATES:

WC rates are determined by:

(1) the job classification in which the employees are performing and

(2) the “experience” rate, which is based upon the number of on-the-job injuries and claims which the individual contractor has experienced.

If the employees are performing inherently dangerous work and the contractor has experienced a high level of on the job injuries, the rate will be higher.

Some contractors will show this as two separate items on their SCA price adjustment proposals, 6.2% (.062) for Social Security and 1.45% (.0145) for Medicare contributions, also known as FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act). These percentages will change only by an Act of Congress and signed into law and will no doubt be well publicized. Bottom line – if the contractor’s proposal contains such costs exceeding 7.65%, it should not be allowed. This percentage is not a required element on the PACT Contractor Submission Format (CSF) in order to prevent misapplication of the cost across other elements of the proposal. PACT simplifies this element of entitlement by “hard-coding” that percentage into the calculations and properly applying it to the applicable wage and cash fringe increases. However, though this cost is not visible on the CSF, contractors may and should include this in their request for price adjustment that accompanies the CSF.

b. Workers Compensation Insurance (WC) The first point of note on this section is that PACT calculates the WC impact on the price adjustment once the appropriate rate is determined (if any).

Bear in mind that each labor category could potentially have a different WC insurance rate. The job of the contracting professional, in regard to this portion of the price adjustment process, is to: 1. Validate that WC insurance is entitled to price adjustment for the state where the contractor is performing, and 2. Verify the rate(s) in the proposal with all of the following factors in mind.

i. Background:

Most states require employers to insure against on-the-job injuries and/or chronic health care expenses.

Minimum levels of coverage must be purchased in order to satisfy state WC insurance requirements.

These state mandated insurance requirements are generally satisfied by the purchase of a WC insurance policy from a private sector insurer. There is not any “one size fits all” rate for WC insurance and the rates vary significantly depending generally upon two factors discussed in the box to the right.

ii. Is WC a valid accompanying cost entitlement?

In some states WC insurance requirements are based on a flat hourly rate, not as a percentage or “per $100” rate. For instance, 2 cents for every hour worked vs. 3% of wages and cash fringes for every hour worked. In flat hourly rate instances, a price adjustment for WC insurance “accompanying costs” (of wage increases) would not be allowable since the SCA or FLSA wage increase would not cause a corresponding increase in the contractor’s WC insurance costs.

User’s Guide (PACT) 12 of 37 July 2010

DIFFERENTIATING THE TWO FACTORS OF

WC COST INCREASES:

Total Straight Time Wages and Cash Fringe o If straight time wages and cash fringe increase, WC cost increases o If the contractor WC cost increases because the new SCA WD increased wages and therefore consequently increased WC cost the contractor IS entitled to accompanying WC cost in their price adjustment.

Specific WC Rate o If WC rate increases, WC cost increases.

o If the contractor WC cost increases because the

WC rate itself increased, the increased costs were NOT CAUSED by the new SCA WD then the contractor IS NOT entitled to accompanying WC cost in their price adjustment.

For further guidance on WC insurance in your state, refer to the link below to access the United States DOL, Office of Workers Compensation Programs.

Do not assume WC insurance is an allowable expense in your price adjustment, simply because there is a column for it on the CSF. Look for references to percentage of wages paid (per 100$) based calculations versus flat rate based calculations. Use the examples above to determine entitlement.

http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dfec/regs/compliance/wc.htm

iii. Calculating WC as an accompanying cost If it is determined in the step above, that there is WC entitlement as an accompanying cost to the price adjustment, the contracting professional will have to validate the rates in the proposal for price adjustment. If there is any question on the rate used in the contractor’s SCA price adjustment proposal, the contractor should be requested to provide verifiable documentation from the state office of WC and/or the contractor’s WC insurer.

FLAT RATE vs. % of HOURLY PAY

FLAT HOURLY RATE States(i.e. 2 cents/hour) o NEVER any WC entitlement in SCA price adjustment o NO CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP

% of hourly pay States(i.e. 3% of wages and cash fringes) o WC adjustment allowable on increase only for SCA price adjustment o CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP EXISTS

User’s Guide (PACT) 13 of 37 July 2010

Also, SCA price adjustments for increases to WC insurance rates are limited to only the wage (and/or cash fringe) increase caused by the new SCA WD, on which the rate is paid and not the amount of the increase as it affects the entire wage (and/or cash fringe) rate of the service employees.

As was mentioned above, the contractor’s WC insurance costs generally increase according to two separate factors. It’s important to distinguish which factor has caused the increased cost in order to determine the amount of accompanying cost entitlement under the FAR 52.222-43 (e).

WC costs are calculated on total straight time wages (and/or cash fringes) paid multiplied by a specific WC rate charged by the insurance company. If the pay rates make total wage costs higher, the WC cost increases by that factor.

Also, if the WC rate goes up, then the contractor’s WC insurance costs increase based on that factor. If the contractor’s rate increases independent of and irrespective of an SCA mandated wage increase (for instance a higher accident rate during the year), the costs of such increases must be born by the contractor as simply one of the risks of a fixed-price contract.

However, the contractor is entitled to an SCA price adjustment when the WC cost increases are caused by SCA mandated wage increases. The WC insurance cost increase “accompanies” the wage (and/or cash fringe) increase in those instances and the FAR clause explicitly allows this type of adjustment under FAR 52.222-43 (e).

EXAMPLE:

Assume the following facts:

The old SCA minimum rate was $10 per hour the new SCA minimum rate is $11 per hour the actual rate paid by the contractor in the prior period of performance was $10.50 per hour.

This scenario would entitle the contractor to a $.50 per man-hour wage increase.

Not only would the contractor be entitled to the $.50 per man-hour increase to the wage rate, but they also would be entitled to the WC insurance rate multiplied this same amount as an “accompanying costs” of the wage increase.

In the example above, if the WC rate were 3%, and the employee worked 2080 hours the calculation would be:

2080 hours x $.50/hour wage increase x .03 WC=$31.20

User’s Guide (PACT) 14 of 37 July 2010

c. Unemployment Insurance (or “tax”) Unemployment insurance is paid to both the Federal and state governments. – Although FAR 52.222-43/44, 32 allows for this as an “accompanying cost” to SCA mandated wage increases, generally the contractor does not have an entitlement to such cost and when they do it is normally very minimal. Here’s why.

i. Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)

FUTA is paid on only the first $7,000 of earnings. Therefore, an increase to an employee’s wage rate will usually not cause the contractor to incur any additional FUTA cost. Using the WC example, if a regular full time employee is paid $10.50 per hour, then the annual earnings for the employee is approximately $21,840 ($10.50 x 2080 man-hours). If the employee’s pay rate is then increased to $11 per hour, then the annual earnings is approximately $22,880 ($11 x 2080 man-hours). Regardless of the increase in earnings the contractor would pay FUTA on only the first $7,000 of these earnings in both the old performance period and the new performance period. Generally, the FUTA rate is .8 percent (.008). Therefore, the contractor’s costs of FUTA for both the old period of performance and the new period of performance amount to $56 (7,000 x .008).

ii. State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)

The situation for state unemployment tax (SUTA) is similar. However, the amount upon which SUTA is collected varies from state to state. For example, in the State of California the “taxable base” (the amount of earnings on which the SUTA tax is owed) is $7,000, the same as the Federal unemployment tax. The taxable base for the State of Virginia is $8,000 and the State of Washington is $34,000. In the WC examples, there would likely be no additional SUTA costs caused by the SCA minimum rate change if the work was performed in Virginia or California. On the other hand it is possible that additional SUTA costs would

EXAMPLE:

Using the WC example on page 13, if during the course of the year the contractor had a higher accident rate and we learn their WC rate went from 3%-5%:

WRONG:

In this scenario, the contractor might ask for the 2% difference times the $10.50 per hour paid to the employees. (it’s actual increase as a result of the rate hike)

2080 hours x $10.50 x .02 WC increase=$1092

However, while this increased cost actually occurred, it did not occur as a result of the new mandated SCA WD, so it would simply need to be borne as a risk of the contractor within the fixed price environment. There is no entitlement on the increase on the entire wage.

RIGHT:

In this scenario, the contractor’s correct entitlement would be:

2080 hours x $.50/hour wage increase x .05 WC rate (the new actual rate)= $52.00

User’s Guide (PACT) 15 of 37 July 2010 be incurred by the contractor if the work was performed in a state with a very high taxable base such as Washington. Also, if the contractor experienced a very high turnover rate, it is possible that some additional SUTA costs would be incurred and caused by the SCA minimum rate increase. In any event contractors that are asking for price adjustment money due to FUTA or SUTA costs increases need to clearly document the rationale upon which those costs are based. Due to the rarity and low dollar value of impact, this is not part of the PACT process. If applicable, it should be calculated outside the PACT and added to the total for the modification as a separately calculated entitlement.

III. H&W Fringe Benefits A separate part of the SCA WDs commonly require a minimum amount of

H&W fringe benefits be provided to the affected service employees. The minimum standard for such fringe benefits is based upon the monetary cost to the contractor rather than on the level of benefits provided. For example, the WD may read “$3.50 per hour”. This establishes that the contractor must provide fringe benefits to the affected service employees that cost a minimum of that amount per hour to provide. The SCA WD does not generally require any specific type of fringe benefit, but some that are commonly provided and accepted by DOL as “bona fide fringe benefits” are health insurance/care, retirement plan contributions, life and disability insurance, and additional paid time-off such as for sick days. The contractor may also make payments directly to the employees in lieu of providing fringe benefits or they may provide any combination of bona fide fringe benefits or direct monetary payments so that the minimum contribution level is met. A detailed discussion of discharging fringe benefit obligations by equivalent means can be found in 29 CFR 4.177. If the contractor is meeting its H&W requirement by providing cash in lieu of bona fide fringe benefits for all or part of their obligation, there will be accompanying cost entitlement on top of those dollars paid as cash. PACT automatically accounts for this by requiring separation of bona fide fringe benefits and cash fringe benefits in the CSF. Refer to Step 4 of the “Analysis Wizard” for a detailed discussion of this subject. The “Accompanying Cost” sections of this guide also make reference to the application of allowable accompanying cost to cash fringe benefits.

a. The Importance of Old, New and Actual Rates As with wages, the old SCA minimum rate and the new SCA minimum rate must be compared and they must also be measured against the amounts actually paid and provided by the contractor in the previous period of performance. Therefore, all three amounts must be known (and verified through payroll checks) and compared in order to calculate the correct amount of the contractor’s SCA price adjustment entitlement under FAR 52.222-43/44, 32.

User’s Guide (PACT) 16 of 37 July 2010

b. Hours for H&W Entitlement: Odd vs. Even methods There is also another important distinction that must be made in calculating the correct amount of a price adjustment for H&W benefits. On which hours should the calculation be based? Should the H&W differential be based upon hours actually worked (regular and OT hours; the even numbered WD model) or upon hours paid (the odd numbered WD model), including paid time-off (holidays and vacation, etc.)? The answer depends on the H&W methodology required by the WD. In this regard there are three possibilities based upon the WD requirements in the contract. The next three sections will discuss each of the scenarios. It is not uncommon to have more than one of these scenarios on the same contract. In such circumstances, each subset of records must be calculated under the proper regulations for the WD that governed those hours.

Use of two PACT models may be necessary.

c. H&W Calculations for Odd Numbered WDs The most common is what DOL refers to as a “per employee” H&W methodology – or the odd numbered standard DOL WDs. The contractor’s H&W fringe benefits under these WDs are an hourly rate to be paid on all hours paid to each individual worker. However, the DOL regulations limit the required payment to a maximum of 40 hours per week (non-OT hours). The H&W entitlement is therefore not required for OT hours worked and paid. For example, if an individual employee is paid 2400 hours for the year and 320 OT hours, the contractor would be required to pay only 2080 (2400 minus 320) hours H&W rate. Likewise, any SCA price adjustment entitlement is limited to the first 40 hours paid per week (hours paid, not necessarily just hours worked i.e. vacation or holiday hours are counted into hours paid even though they are not hours

EXAMPLES:

the old SCA minimum “H&W” rate was $3.35 per hour the new SCA minimum “H&W” rate was $3.50 per hour

AND

PAYMENT GREATER THAN THE WD

the contractor was providing a health insurance plan to workers in the prior period of performance that costs $4.00 per hour

NO PRICE ADJUSTMENT ENTITLEMENT

EXACT PAYMENT

the contractor was paying for fringe benefits in the prior period of performance that cost exactly the previous minimum rate of $3.35

THE PRICE ADJUSTMENT ENTITLEMENT WOULD BE $0.15/HOUR (the ceiling)

PAYMENT LESS THAN THE WD

the contractor was paying fringe benefits in the prior period of performance of

$3.25.

Despite the $0.25 differential, THE PRICE ADJUSTMENT ENTITLEMENT WOULD BE $0.15/HOUR (the ceiling)

User’s Guide (PACT) 17 of 37 July 2010

REG: Regular Straight Time OVT: Overtime HOL: Holiday VAC: Vacation SCK: Sick Hours BER: Bereavement or Funeral Hours JUR: Paid Jury Duty Hours MIL: Paid Military Leave Hours PTO: All other Paid Time Off Including:

-All hours not covered by the above categories for which company policy permits an employee to receive PAID time off.

worked). Therefore, the embedded formula in PACT excludes OT hours for H&W adjustments on these odd numbered WDs, but includes vacation and holiday. See the cells highlighted in light grey on the table below.

The PACT tool has simplified the distinction of hour types for proper treatment in wage and fringe entitlements by creating a table that applies these rules to the different types of standard WD’s. (See below) The information on this table is used in the background code of many of the formulas, particularly the H&W formulas, and is invisible to the user for a more seamless and less confusing experience. Nevertheless, understanding the concepts and regulatory basis that support the calculations is of great benefit to both government and contractor officials and are therefore contained in this guide as a reference.

Hour Type Code (HTC) Treatment Under ODD Numbered Standard WD-table

d. H&W Calculations for Even Numbered WDs The second possibility is the “average cost” H&W methodology which occurs in even numbered WDs. Under the even numbered standard DOL WDs the contractor must pay at least the minimum H&W fringe benefit rate contained in the WD on average for each employee. The average cost calculation is based only on the actual hours worked, including any OT hours, but excluding paid time-off such as holidays and vacation. Therefore, the embedded formula in PACT includes OT hours in the calculation, but excludes paid time-off hours (note the cells highlighted in dark grey in the table below). Assuming that no OT is worked by employees, the H&W calculation under these WDs for a typical 40-hour a week employee would be significantly less than the 2080 hours that would be calculated under the per employee (or odd numbered) WDs. For example, if an individual employee is paid 2080 hours (40 hours X 52 weeks), but 160 hours of this is for paid time off (10 holidays and 2 weeks paid vacation), the contractor’s fringe benefit obligation under the WD is for only 1920 hours (2080 minus 160 holiday/vacation hours). Likewise, any price adjustment for H&W increases would be limited to 1920 hours for the year. It’s important to note that some contractors also provide employees other paid time-off (PTO). This other

HTC

Hours Count for Wage Entitlement

Hours Count for Fringe Entitlement

Hours Count for Additonal Bona Fide Benefits (Paid as Time- Off)

Hours Count for Regular Productive Hours

HOL YES YES NO NO

OVT YES NO NO NO

PTO NO NO YES NO

REG YES YES NO YES

SCK NO NO YES NO

VAC YES YES NO NO

BER NO NO YES NO

MIL NO NO YES NO

JUR NO NO YES NO

User’s Guide (PACT) 18 of 37 July 2010

REG: Regular Straight Time OVT: Overtime HOL: Holiday VAC: Vacation SCK: Sick Hours BER: Bereavement or Funeral Hours JUR: Paid Jury Duty Hours MIL: Paid Military Leave Hours PTO: All other Paid Time Off Including:

-All hours not covered by the above categories for which company policy permits an employee to receive PAID time off.

PTO (which may include sick leave, bereavement, jury duty, etc…) also provides credit toward the satisfaction of the average H&W payment. There is a detailed discussion of this concept in the section V of this guide titled “Other Miscellaneous WD provisions”. Suffice it to say, for even numbered WDs, the impact of paid time-off (beyond that which is required by the WD) is magnified by the average nature of the calculation. This average for the group, in essence becomes the actual against which the new requirement is measured to determine entitlement, for all applicable records. If the contractor is paying other PTO, PACT will recognize the hour type (HTC) and perform the calculation to convert those wages paid into a productive hourly rate that will then be added to the other H&W payments and consequently considered into the average. In the table below, you will see these hour types distinguished for calculation in the “Additional Bona Fide Benefits Paid” column highlighted in light grey.

Similar to the explanation above in the section for odd numbered WDs, PACT has simplified the distinction of hour types for the purpose of calculation by creating a table that applies the even numbered rules to the data entered into that version of the tool. That table runs in the background of many of the formulas, particularly the H&W formulas, and is invisible to the user for a more seamless and less confusing experience. As mentioned before though, understanding these concepts and their regulatory basis that supports the calculations is of great benefit to both government and contractor officials and are therefore contained in this guide as a reference.

Hour Type Code (HTC) Treatment Under Even Numbered standard WD-table

e. H&W Calculations for Collective Bargaining Agreement WDs

The third possibility is that the controlling SCA WD may be based upon a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) per FAR 22.1008-2. When the H&W benefits of a CBA control for WD purposes, both the SCA minimum rate and the number of hours upon which the H&W calculation is based will be determined by the explicit terms stated in the CBA. Some specify that the H&W payments/contributions must be based on all hours paid and some on all hours actually worked and in some cases a different standard is provided within the CBA. The minimum monetary contributions required by the H&W benefits in the

HTC

Hours Count for Wage Entitlement

Hours Count for Fringe Entitlement

Hours Count for Additional Bona Fide Benefits (Paid as Time- Off)

Hours Count for Regular Productive Hours

HOL YES NO NO NO

OVT YES YES NO NO

PTO NO NO YES NO

REG YES YES NO YES

SCK NO NO YES NO

VAC YES NO NO NO

BER NO NO YES NO

MIL NO NO YES NO

JUR NO NO YES NO

User’s Guide (PACT) 19 of 37 July 2010

CBA vary substantially from one CBA to the next. Also, many CBAs do not contain the H&W contribution amount in one convenient place, but may list specific requirements separately. It is common to have such independent articles of the CBA for health insurance/care, pension contributions, life and disability insurance and additional paid time-off such as sick leave, bereavement, jury duty etc… Therefore, it is crucial to review the CBA in detail to determine the minimum H&W requirements for the prior period of performance for comparison to the minimum H&W requirements for the new period of performance. A price adjustment calculation is appropriate only when a differential in cost is required (“made to comply with the SCA”) between the two periods of performance.

In CBA situations, the contractor will enter specific information about the H&W structure of their CBA, as part of the CSF proposal. In essence, they are expected to read and interpret their own contract with their union and propose their entitlement accordingly. The government’s job then remains, review and validation of the proposal against the controlling WD (a CBA in this instance) and against actual payroll records. It is imperative that the contracting professional performing the price adjustment validates the contractor’s CBA against the hour type rules that they provide by customizing the CBA Tailoring Form. (Pictured below). The information that they fill out in the form translates to the HTC lookup table in the PACT and forms the basis (or sets the rules) by which all entitlement calculations are made for that CBA. Note, in situations involving multiple CBAs on one contract, each CBA may be substantively different in the way entitlement must be calculated. Each and every CBA should be validated against the HTC rules by using the “Check the Rules” button found throughout the PACT. If a CBA is silent on particular hour type, payroll records should bear out the intent of the signatory parties. It may be necessary to engage the contractor to clarify treatment of a particular set of hours. If the CBA is silent, and there are no substantiating payroll records for an hour type listed in PACT, then the hour type is assumed to have no entitlement for compensation of either wages or fringe benefits or the contracting officer may need to apply basic DOL rules & criteria, if appropriate.

User’s Guide (PACT) 20 of 37 July 2010

*note* the max hour cells default to 0 if the data is not filled in by the contractor or is not applicable. There is no impact to entitlement that is automatically calculated by this value. It is included so that a contracting officer can manually review hour types against the HTC PivotTable.

IV. Holidays & Vacation Paid vacation and paid holidays are routinely separate and distinct parts of DOL issued WDs. Since these provisions do not change often from one period of performance to the next, the likelihood that a price adjustment for these provisions will be required as a stand alone item is rare. It is also important to note that there is no entitlement simply because an employee reaches a subsequent level of vacation entitlement prescribed by the WD. Only when the rate of pay changes, is there an entitlement to SCA price adjustment.

User’s Guide (PACT) 21 of 37 July 2010

a. General Entitlements Contractor proposals routinely include holiday and vacation hours as paid time and as such it is appropriate to pay a wage adjustment of the rate of pay for these hours. If the minimum SCA wage rate increases by $.50 per hour, then the contractor is entitled to this wage increase for wages paid on these vacation and holiday hours.

The hours upon which this increase is based should be reviewed to assure that it does not exceed that provided for in the WD. See the PACT solution box below for instruction on what to do if a record is found to be in excess of the WD requirement.

The “HTC pivot table” in PACT separates hours by hour type (grouping all vacation hours together, all holiday hours together, etc..) and then by individual employee for quick visibility on total number of hours worked or paid. A scan through the holiday section (denoted HOL) should easily reveal anyone who exceeds the standard 80 hours (or whatever is appropriate for your WD.)

You may notice that the paragraph above also is specific to wage increases vs. fringe increases. Odd and even numbered WDs handle H&W entitlement differently for vacation and holiday hours. Please refer to the ”HTC” tables in the H&W section to better understand how each of the standard WDs handles payment of H&W entitlement. These tables and the resultant PACT calculations are based on 29 CFR 4.175 (a [for odd numbered WDs] & b [for even numbered WDs]). A full explanation of each consideration for H&W entitlement is found in Step 3 of the “Analysis Wizard” of PACT. An explanation of the calculations performed by PACT for vacation and holiday hours follows in the example below.

Keep in mind, that accompanying costs will also apply to the increases in the example and that this calculation will be performed for every record of data and then added to the price increase through each out-year. While $4-$20 may not seem like an egregious error, when multiplied by every employee, and then again multiplied over every out-year, it can amount to many thousands of dollars over the life of a contract, particularly if the mistake is repeated year-after-year.

As stated before, collective bargaining agreements have no standard treatment for these hour types.