RFI_140D0425R0027_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Online Resource of Federal Employment Law

140D0425R0027

January 14, 2025

I. INTRODUCTION:

The U.S. Department of Interior, Interior Business Center (IBC) is seeking information regarding an objective online resource that provides information, tools, and authoritative references for every aspect of federal employment law. The ideal online resource has information on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Reasonable Accommodation, Labor Relations, Employee Relations, Discipline, and Performance Management. IBC is a certified shared services provider for human resources, payroll systems and services, financial management and acquisition services. The Employee Relations & Labor Management Branch (ERLM) of the Human Resources Operations Division (HROD) provides consultation services and direct support to all management officials on all Federal employment law related matters. To carry out this function effectively, staff members need immediate access to current, up-to-date resources and a research database.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) to determine available sources and their capabilities to provide the product or service described below and for such other purpose as described below.

This RFI does not constitute a solicitation and is not an indication that the Government will contract for any of the items and services discussed in this notice. Submission of a response to this RFI is entirely voluntary. The voluntary submissions of answers to this RFI shall not obligate the Interior Business Center (IBC) to pay or entitle the submitter of information to claim any direct or indirect costs, charges, or other compensation whatsoever.

For clarification, respondents are advised the Government will not pay for any information provided, the use of such information, the preparation of such information, travel expenses, nor any administrative costs incurred in response to this market research. All costs associated with responding to this market research will be solely at the interested parties’ expense.

Any information considered proprietary should be noted via appropriate markings. The Government will use such information only to inform and support any potential solicitation and contract or for such other purposes as described herein.

Not responding to this market research does not preclude participation in any future request for proposal (RFP) or request for quotation (RFQ), if any is issued. Were the Government to issue an RFP or RFQ for the acquisition of an online employment law resource, any such solicitation may include but not be limited to additional requirements for procurement of the online employment law resource. Respondents need not address any of these elements in their RFI submission.

This is market research, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. The Government does not intend to award a contract/order based on responses received from this market research effort. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to provide feedback with respect to any information submitted.

II. REQUIREMENTS:

IBC is seeking information from the vendor community regarding a proposed solution that should contain at a minimum, the following requirements. Recommendations may be added by vendors:

• Immediate access to current and up-to-date resources and research database which include:

o Statutes o Regulations o Policy/Manuals/Guides o Bulletins o Newsgroups o QuickStart Guides o Established checklists o Forms Library o Broida Guide to MSPB Law o Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) Charges and Penalty Guide o A Guide to Federal Sector Equal Employment Law and Practice by Ernest Hadley o A Guide to Merit Systems Protection Board Law and Practice by Peter Broida o A Guide to Federal Labor Relations Authority Law and Practice by Peter Broida o Wiley’s Employee Relations Desk Reference o Best federal practices o Access to EEOC, MSPB, FLRA, and Arbitration cases and decisions o Robust search engine for case research to quickly and effectively identify relevant cases o Ability to download content and email content to co-workers and customers o Customer support available Monday through Friday

III. CURRENT ENVIRONMENT AND NEEDS

Currently ERLM has 8 full licenses for CyberFeds, which is available 24/7. ERLM will need 9 licenses. ERLM needs to be able to access the online resource between 6 am to 8pm EST, 7 days per week.

Within the first 3 days after contract award the government requires a complete migration plan that includes but not limited to:

• Training on how to use the online resource

• Job aids, FAQs

Within 5 days after contract award the vendor should be completely engaged in or have completed the necessary training.

If the above timeline does not work for your business, please submit an alternative schedule timeline.

IV. VENDOR ONE-ON-ONE SESSIONS

Depending on the responses received to this RFI, IBC may conduct vendor one-on-one sessions, not to exceed two hours, with each interested vendor separately through a Microsoft Teams meeting. This will provide an opportunity to further discuss the vendor’s response, capabilities, and lessons learned for these types of services outlined in the RFI. Vendor one-on-one sessions, if held, are anticipated to be held in February 2025.

V. VENDOR INPUT REQUESTED

All interested firms are invited to submit the following information in response to this RFI.

Please note that a small business firm may submit a capability statement that includes the expertise of large business partner companies under a teaming arrangement.

The Government requests that companies interested in responding to this notice provide the following general information:

1. What Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) or General Services

Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule(s) (FSS) do you currently hold that would support this requirement? Provide each overarching GWAC/GSA FSS contract number and corresponding NAICS Code(s).

2. What is your Unique Entity ID (UEI) number?

3. Which business size categories do you fall under? Please select all that apply or list on the cover page of your RFI response.

Category Applicable?

Large Business Small Business (SB) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Section 8(a) Business Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB)

Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Small Business

Veteran-Owned Small Business Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

(SDVOSB)

Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise (ISBEE)

4. Contractor Point of Contact:

i. Business Name

ii. Point of Contact Name

iii. Title

iv. Phone Number

v. Email Address

5. Size of business pursuant to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes:

NAICS Code NAICS Code Description Size standard 518210 Data Processing, Hosting and Related services $40 million

541511 Custom Computer Programming services

$34 million

6. Capability Statement

7. Questions:

The following questions are provided for vendors to provide responses to, the Government requests that vendors organize their responses to align with the following topics to aid in the review of the submission:

1. Please describe your organization’s ability to provide an online resource based on some or all the requirements described in Section 2 Requirements.

2. Please provide at least three federal Agencies who have a subscription to your online resource tool.

3. Please detail any existing contracts (including the contract and/or order number) in which your company is currently a prime vendor that you believe would be relevant to this requirement.

4. Do you charge per search, page used, or to download or print?

VI. FORMAT AND LIMITATION

In response to this Sources Sought Notice, please use the following guidelines in preparing your capabilities statement:

• Please use 8½ x 11-inch paper only.

• A page is defined as one side of an 8½ by 11-inch paper. Therefore, a piece of paper with printing on both sides is considered two pages.

• Arial size 12 font or similar.

• The recommended page limit for the capability statement is no more than four (4) pages for items 1-6 of Section 5 and no more than eight (8) pages for item 7 of Section 5.

• Please submit your response as Adobe (.pdf) files.

• Pricing materials may be provided in Microsoft Excel Format.

• The subject line of your email and all correspondence must include the sources sought title found on the cover page above.

VII. DISCLAIMER

This notice does not constitute a solicitation and is not a commitment by the Government.

Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government will not provide a response to the feedback or questions directly but may consider industry feedback/questions in possible revisions to the RFI. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests.

The Government reserves the right to use any and all information submitted by, or obtained from, a responding firm in any manner the Government determines is appropriate, including, but not limited to, the creation of a competitive solicitation.

Notices to Offerors of Non-Governmental Support You are hereby notified that the Department of Interior intends to use outside Contractors to provide support with this RFI. DOI Contractors will have access to any and all information contained in the capability statement and will be subject to appropriate conflict of interest, standards of conduct, and confidentiality restrictions. The current DOI prime support Contractors assisting with the evaluation of capability statements for this requirement are:

IM SOLUTIONS INC.

VIII. RESPONSE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Companies interested in responding to this notice may reply on or before 12:00 pm (noon) Eastern Time, January 31, 2025. All aforementioned items included in this notice shall be addressed.

Please provide your response via email to the following:

Contracting Officer, Christina Lene, christina_lene@ibc.doi.gov Contract Specialist, Andrea Corum, andrea_corum@ibc.doi.gov

Interested parties should avoid including any classified, business confidential, and/or proprietary information in its response. However, if an interested firm must submit such information, that information must be clearly marked. The Government will review the information and safeguard it appropriately.

Submission transmitted via facsimile (fax) will not be accepted.

Should any submissions be received after the date and time stated above, the Government reserves the right not to review the response.

Notices to Offerors of Non-Governmental Support