-P00002021.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Office of Procurement, Acquisitions, and Logistics Strategic Acquisition Center – Frederick (SAC-F) 321 Ballenger Creek, Suite 125 Frederick, MD 21703

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a modification to a current contract, using sole sorce justification, to add additional user licenses for HR&A users on contract number 36C10X18P0177, with LRP Publications, Inc. The period of performance of the current contract is August 17, 2018 to August 16, 2019 with no option periods. The modification will add CLINs for 98 HR&A users and 12 optional licenses if needed before the end of the performance period.

The Office of Human Resources and Administration (HR&A) has a requirement for its HR practitioners who work in the areas of Labor Management Relations (LMR), Human Resources Management (OHRM), Resolution Management (ORM), Management Planning and Analysis (MP&A), Office of Employment Discrimination and Complaint Adjudication (OEDCA), and Corporate Senior Executive Management Office (CSEMO) to use CyberFEDS to provide its personnel with up-to-date, comprehensive information and analysis of recent changes to law and regulations, and critical administrative and judicial decisions impacting key areas of federal human resource disciplines to include employee relations, labor relations, workers’ compensation, personnel law, employee discipline, resolution management, federal hiring regulations, and legislative case research. HR&A also has a requirement for online reference materials which are only available through CyberFEDS.

The up-to-date information and analysis provided by CyberFEDS are required to provide the HR practitioners within HR&A with the subject matter knowledge needed to provide accurate and sound advice on thousands of active cases involving federal human resource disciplines to include employee relations, labor relations, workers’ compensation, personnel law, employee discipline, resolution management, federal hiring regulations, and legislative case research. These are cases the HR&A practitioners handle throughout the VA enterprise every year.

3. Description of Supplies or Services:

The CyberFEDS licenses (98 with 12 optional) will provide HR&A with access to federal human resources and legal research materials written by experts.

CyberFEDS offers much needed information on federal employment law such as labor relations, employee relations, equal employment opportunity, pay and benefits, SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION merit system protections, employee discipline, and performance and awards. HR&A practitioners advise their clients on these areas of federal human resources daily.

CyberFEDS provides website access to Dewey Publication library, including the latest editions of Peter Broida’s Guide to Merit Systems Protection Board Law and Practice and Earnest Hadley’s Guide to Federal Labor Relations Authority Law and Practice, and Federal Sector Equal Employment Law and Practice. These guides include discussions on cases, laws, and litigation practices before the various board and reviewing courts. Though these guides are available in print form, LRP Publications, Inc., the company which produces CyberFEDS, is the only source which provides up-to-date versions of these guides online.

The estimated value of the modification is $43,230.00 (110 online subscriptions at $393.00/user; prorated for a nine month period).

4. Statutory Authority:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 USC § 3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above:

Federal human resources and employment law is a highly specialized area of practice with a significant amount of complexity and nuance. CyberFEDS is a database dedicated solely to federal human resources and the practice of federal employment law and it is an essential for federal HR practitioners. It is an invaluable resource for VA HR practitioners. The lack of access to CyberFEDS severely impedes the ability of VA HR practitioners to provide accurate, thorough, and legally sufficient research and guidance to their customers. In turn, this directly negatively affects the agency’s ability to successfully defend itself in litigation before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), arbitrators, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).

CyberFEDS is the only legal and federal human resources research website that offers Dewey Publications. The following practice guides and reference manuals listed below, which are updated annually, are essential resources for federal human resources practitioners and can only be found online with CyberFEDS:

• Dewey Publications Library, including books and articles that address MSPB, Federal Sector EEO, Compensatory Damages, etc.

o “MSPB Charging and Penalties – A Charging Manual” by Renn Fowler and Samuel Vitaro 3 (*see note below)

• The Hadley Handbook, a guide to Federal Sector Equal Employment Law and

Practice - This resource is the leading guide for EEOC practice and covers every topic relevant to the EEOC and discrimination law. It is over 1700 pages in print form, and it includes vast amounts of case law. It is updated annually.

• The Broida Report, which includes access to:

o “A Guide to Merit Systems Protection Board Law and Practice” - This resource is the seminal guide for MSPB practice. There is nothing comparable on the market that is web-accessible. It is a two-volume, 5000-page (in print form) omnibus that covers every topic relevant to the MSPB. It includes vast amounts of case law, even on obscure topics. The guide is updated annually to stay current with the law.

o “MSPB Case Summaries” o “A Guide to Federal Labor Relations Authority Law and Practice” - This resource is the leading guide for FLRA practice and covers every topic relevant to the FLRA and labor law. Is it over 2000 pages in print form, and it includes vast amounts of case law. It is updated annually.

o “Principles of Federal Sector Arbitration Law” o “The Dewey Publications Podcast” o “Gilbert & Broida on EEO Advocacy” o “Settlement Forms” o “Broida on Negotiability” o “Broida on MSPB Practice” o “Broida on Federal Sector Arbitration” o “Broida on Federal Sector Administrative Advocacy” o “Broida on Federal Sector Mediation” o “Broida on Federal Sector Settlement” o “Senior Executive Service Legal Guide” o “Beast of the Board” o “MSPB Basics: The Agency Edition” o “Winning at Arbitration” o “MSPB Discovery Forms for Agency Representatives” o “MSPB Basics” o “EEOC and MSPB” o “Witness Preparation” o “MSPB: Litigation Techniques”

*A charge is made up of specific elements, and when an employee appeals a disciplinary action to the MSPB or an arbitrator, the HR practitioners must present researched information on each element of each charge to successfully defend the agency. This manual identifies a significant number of charges, identifies the elements for each charge, provides guidance on what to charge, provides sample specifications, and identifies the relevant case law for each type of charge. This manual is utilized by VA HR practitioners to quickly and accurately identify the elements necessary case research. Without being able to consult this guide, HR practitioners must research case law to determine the elements of a particular charge. Unfortunately, many decisions do not clearly articulate the elements of a charge, so VA HR practitioners often need to hunt and peck through cases until they are eventually able to find one that they can rely upon. The sample specification language is extremely useful, and when followed, generally ensures a successful outcome for the agency at a hearing.

This manual is an incredible time-saver for VA’s HR practitioners when conducting research in federal human resources cases and legal reviews of proposed disciplinary actions and when preparing for hearings.

The VA used to purchase hard copies of these guides for each end user office, but that practice stopped because the guides are available on CyberFEDS. Without CyberFEDS access, VA HR practitioners have no way to access or obtain these guides. Without the ability to consult these up-to-date guides, VA HR practitioner’s work product and efficiency greatly suffer, and VA HR practitioners must waste valuable time researching other sources for the information they formerly were able to find in one location.

VA HR practitioners provide guidance and recommendations on thousands of personnel matters each year to employees throughout all departments of VA. The advice and recommendations provided by VA HR practitioners to their customers must be based on the most up-to-date laws and federal human resources developments available to offer sound and trustworthy advice. CyberFEDS is the only online research provider of its kind which offers up-to-date online versions of Broida and Hadley guides as discussed above, which include discussions on cases, laws and litigation practices before the various board and reviewing courts. Other companies within the industry do not offer these guides.

CyberFEDS also include quick start guides (QSG). QSGs are one of the most useful features offered by CyberFEDS. CyberFEDS has developed a QSG for almost every topic in federal human resources and employment law, and the QSGs are regularly updated to stay current with the law. Each QSG contains an overview/summary of the law (approximately four to ten pages) for the topic it addresses. It provides key points, the status of the law, case citations, jurisdictional requirements, proof requirements, and a variety of other types of information. It is a priceless research tool utilized by VA HR practitioners to familiarize themselves with an area of law and federal human resources, and to quickly find statute and case citations. When a VA HR practitioner is assigned a new case, a QSG is typically where he/she starts his/her research. The QSGs are an incredible time saver for VA HR practitioners and allows them to find the relevant information within minutes. QSGs are particularly useful when dealing with a complex area of federal human resources (e.g., labor relations, employee discipline, personnel law, and reasonable accommodations).

They are also extremely useful when dealing with an obscure area of the law (e.g., Part 300 employment practice appeals). CyberFEDS even offers QSGs on topics that are only applicable to the VA (e.g., Title 38 matters and 38 U.S.C. § 714).

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

Market research was conducted in an effort to obtain competition, as detailed in Section 8 below. However, the publications and tools required are proprietary and the online versions of the publications are only available from LRP Publications via CyberFEDS. As such, there is no potential to increase competition for this requirement.

7. Determination of Price Reasonableness:

The proposed contract action represents the best value to the Government at a reasonable price. The price of the licenses were determined fair and reasonable at time of contract award, and the price for these additional licenses will be prorated based on the remaining nine months on the contract period of performance.

8. Market Research:

Market Research was conducted in October 2018. In accordance with VA requirements, the Veterans Information Pages (VIP) database was searched for potentially capable SDVOSBs or VOSBs using the most appropriate NAICS code 519130 – Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals and keywords “subscription” and “federal employement law”. However, after further research of their websites, none of the 13 vendors proved the capability to satisfy the requirement. Market research was also conducted using the Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) system and GSA e-library Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) 76 Publication Media, News, Electronic & Print Information, but neither of these resulted in companies that provided the exact subscription services required.

A review of the commercially available products revealed no other sources have the same salient characteristics as CyberFEDS. This review included internet research and telephonic research of the following companies:Bloomberg, LexisNexis, Gartner, the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) and Westlaw to identify whether access was available through these other sources. LRP Publications is the sole source of the unique combination of case decisions, statutes, regulations, manuals and guides, pay tables, bulletins and newsgroups. These research and analytical tools comprise cyberFEDS on the Web and the only exclusive web source for instant searchable access to the latest editions of Broida's and Hadley's which are proprietary to LRP Publications. No other sources were found that could meet this effort.

9. Other Facts: N/A

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition:

See Section 8 Market Research above.

11. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition: N/A

12. Technical and Requirements Certification:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Jason Hill Date Office of Human Resources & Adminstration, COR

13. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed $700,000, the certification below required by FAR 6.303-2(b)(12) serves as approval.

Lindi Sylvester Date Contracting Officer