Users Guide 12-30-2022.docx

Temporary Professional Services Contract #505ENT-O20-SERVICEPROF-00 User Guide January 13, 2020 User Guide Table of Contents

· Overview of Contract and how to use it

· Overview

· Mandatory use requirement

· Temporary Professional Services

· Attachments to this contract

· Authorized users

· Use by municipalities

· Requisition process for hiring managers

· Procurement Authority

· Abstract and Rejection reasons

· Background Check process

· Minority Business Enterprise Preference

· Agency Business Rules

· Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Continued Appropriateness (CA) forms.

· Use of rate card and restriction of hourly rate process

· Use of training rates

· Process Business Rules

· Supplier & contracted personnel requirements

· When contracted personnel can start

· Items in contract with suppliers

· Travel expense policy for contracted personnel

· Contractor & contracted personnel Business Rules

· Frequently Asked Questions

Overview of Contract and how to use it:

This contract is for the purchase of Temporary Professional Services in the following categories:

1. Accounting

2. Independent CPA Auditing

3. Business Change Agents

4. Change Management

5. Facilitation

6. Independent Program Implementation and Evaluation

7. Paralegal

8. Data Analytics

9. Occupational Safety

10. Industrial Hygiene

11. Ergonomics

12. Safety Training

The Contract has an initial two (2) year term. DOA and the Contractors, upon written mutual agreement may renew the Contract for up to three (3) additional one-year (1) periods. The Contract shall be effective on the date it is executed by DOA.

This Contract includes rate cards which provide a maximum hourly rate the State will pay for each of the job titles and levels listed for each of the vendors.

State agencies and campuses interested in requesting services will need to complete one of the Request for Services (RFS) documents attached to this contract (RFS for Hourly Engagements or, RFS for Project Work). The RFS will allow you to describe your needs and requirements and your target billing rate or project cost. Once completed, you will email the RFS to all contractors approved on this contract for the appropriate Job Category. The firms will have 5 business days to respond to you by email with qualified candidates (their resumes and provide a competitive rate).

You may contact the State’s Contract Manager for questions and help concerning the use of this contract and contents of this User Guide:

Kristina Harris - Contract Manager Email: Kristina.Harris@wisconsin.gov Phone: 608-266-2313

Please familiarize yourself with the contents of this user guide before requesting services. It is recommended that you check back frequently for changes and additions to the User Guide.

This statewide Contract is optional and may be used at the Agencies and University of Wisconsin System and Municipalities’ discretion.

Duration of Engagement

The duration of each engagement may vary from several days up to one year. This contract shall have a term limit for each contracted personnel limiting his or her work at an agency to 12 months or less (e.g. The engagement may be renewed beyond the 12-month limit with a Continued Appropriateness form, but new contracted personnel must be utilized).

Temporary Professional Services: There are currently 10 approved vendors who have signed all documents on this contract. There are 24 job titles with descriptions that agencies can choose from.

Attachments to this contract:

· Job Titles and Descriptions for the Temporary Professional Services

· Rate Card (Price Sheet) with Maximum Rates, which can be used for each job title for each contractor.

· List of Approved Contractors (organized by job category).

· New contract signed by all suppliers providing services on this contract.

· Statement to Comply with IRS Publication 1075 Exhibit 7

· Reports required of contractors

· Abstracts to be prepared by agency

· Contractor contact information

· RFS for Hourly Engagements

· RFS for Project Engagements

· Regional Map (shows regions where contractors can provide services)

Authorized users: “Authorized User” means any State Agency, University of Wisconsin campus, or other state or local public body authorized to use Contracts, as established in §16.70 (1b), (1e), (2), (4) and (8), §16.73 and §66.0301 of the Wisconsin Statutes and PRO-502 of the State Procurement Manual.

Use by municipalities: Note to Municipalities who would like to use information from this contract. The list of contractors, rates and job titles with descriptions is available for your use. All contractors have signed the contract with the State and agreed to honor the same terms for Wisconsin’s municipalities. Please contact the Contract Manager if you have any questions.

Requisition process for Agencies

The RFS is sent out by agencies to all approved contractors within the Job Category at the same time. Contractors are usually given 5 business days to respond with candidate resumes and competitive rates. A copy of the RFS and CBA/CA, if required, must be sent to the Contract Manager and DOAcba@wisconsin.gov .

There are 2 RFS documents that you can use. The RFS for Hourly Engagements is for use when you are looking for one or more individuals and will be paying them based on the number of hours they work each week.

The RFS for Project Engagements is for use when you are looking to pay the contractor based on completed deliverables or at the end of the project. These terms are agreed to between the agency and the contractor.

Abstract and Rejection reasons: After reviewing the candidate resumes submitted by the contractors and conducting interviews, the agencies must select one of the following rejection reasons when rejecting a candidate, and it must be recorded on the abstract. This information will be used during the DOA audit process of agencies’ procurement procedures. Agencies are required to retain the abstract for their records.

Rejection Reasons

· Candidate accepted another offer

· Candidate accepted another offer after our initial interview

· Candidate not available at requested start/end date

· Candidate withdrawn by contractor

· Did not pass background check

· Does not meet mandatory requirements

· Duplicate Submittal

· Hourly rate above best qualified candidate

· Incomplete or inaccurate information provided by contractor

· Not available for interview

· More qualified candidate selected

· Position cancelled

Minority Business Enterprise Preference: Authorized Users should also review the State’s Minority Business Policy (PRO-606) as some contractors on this contract are MBEs. Wisconsin Certified Minority Business Enterprises may receive a 5% preference. Agencies should include this calculation when completing their analysis and the abstract.

Agency & Process Business Rules Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Continued Appropriateness (CA) forms: Use of this contract requires that a Cost Benefit Analysis be prepared for engagements in excess of $50,000 and submitted with the Request for Service (See PRO-205) to DOA DOAcba@wisconsin.gov. If there is a need to renew the engagement, agencies must send the completed and approved CA Form to DOA at the time of renewal.

Use of training rates: Agencies may now use a training rate if they feel it will assist them in acquiring the best talent at the lowest cost but feel the candidate may need time to become familiar with agency operations. In this situation the agency can indicate in the RFS that a training rate may be used initially (for 3-6 months as an example) and then the candidate’s hourly rate could be increased up to the hourly rate bid by the contractor.

Process Business Rules:

· For any Agency that is required by the IRS to have the contracted personnel sign a statement concerning the confidentiality of any tax returns, or tax return information, a Statement to Comply with IRS Publication 1075 Exhibit 7 has been posted on VendorNet. This is the wording approved by the IRS. Agencies can have contracted personal sign and return the form for agencies’ files.

· Agencies should not include contracted personnel in training programs or orientations offered to state employees. Have any training that is required for the engagement specified in the RFS with contractor.

· Agencies should not issue name plates, business cards, or credit cards to contracted personnel. If name plates and or business cards are required, they must be supplied by the contractor and must clearly identify that the contracted personnel is an employee of contractor, not the State of Wisconsin.

· Agencies should not communicate or participate in unplanned exit of contracted personnel. Contact the contractor to inform them.

· Agencies should not communicate with contracted personnel regarding performance issues.

· Agencies should not include contracted personnel when celebrating milestones or team recognition events.

· Agencies should not give any rewards or recognitions to contracted personnel. Contact the contractor who may provide awards according to their policies.

· Agencies should not invite contracted personnel to staff meetings or any meetings that involve subjects intended for State of Wisconsin employees only. Set up dedicated time to provide updates on content that is directly related to their work responsibilities as defined in the RFS.

· Agencies should not invite contracted personnel to any State of Wisconsin functions for employees (e.g. team building events, holiday parties or golf outings).

· If possible, contracted personnel emails should not display an agency logo. Any signature block information set up in the email system(s) should identify the contracted personnel as someone working for the contractor.

· Agencies should not give performance appraisals for contracted personnel or provide letters of recommendation.

· Agencies should not discuss time off or vacation days. Direct contracted personnel to communicate any requests for time to the contractor.

· Agencies should not discuss full-time opportunities or provide coaching on recruiting process. Direct contracted personnel to review/apply for positions on WISCJOBS.

· Agencies should not allow contracted personnel to be involved in mentoring or training new employees on general departmental procedures. Training on a new system or process the contracted personnel was engaged to build or modify should be a requirement in the RFS and is specifically part of and spelled out in the RFS.

· Agencies should not allow contracted personnel to originate or approve any purchase orders, timecards, or payments to vendors.

· Agencies should not discuss pay rate increases or contract extensions with contracted personnel.

· Contracted personnel should not be requested to “perform other duties as assigned” once their tasks for the engagement are completed. If they have completed their assignment they should be removed. If they are waiting on something to complete their assignment, they should be sent home until the deliverables they need are ready. They should not be used to fill in on work not indicated on the RFS.

· Contracted personnel should not be invited to departmental/staff meetings except to talk about specific tasks they are working on.

· Contracted personnel will not be allowed to have access to any State P-Card and will not be allowed to use them for any transactions.

· Contracted personnel should not be allowed to register and participate in training programs designed for employees and not offered to the public.

Supplier (contractor) & contracted personnel requirements

When contracted personnel can start: Before contracted personnel can report to begin working:

· The Agency must document interviews and select rejection reasons for other candidates not chosen and complete the Abstract.

Travel expense policy for contracted personnel - The contractor shall not be paid for contracted personnel’s travel time to and from the Request for Service work site. The contractor shall not be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by contracted personnel for travel to and from the Request for Service work site.

The contractor or the contracted personnel shall be responsible for all parking fees, permits, etc. when visiting the Request for Service work site or State of Wisconsin offices.

Contractor & Contracted Personnel Business Rules

Business Rules administered by the State of Wisconsin

1. Contractors, and contracted personnel are independent contractors with respect to the performance of all work to be performed hereunder and neither contractor, nor contracted personnel shall be deemed for any purpose to be an employee, agent, servant or representative of the State or any Agency.

1. Neither contractors nor contracted personnel shall participate in any of the State’s IRS qualified benefit plans nor shall they be entitled to receive any benefits under any employee benefit plan or program of any kind maintained by State.

1. Contractors shall make timely payment to contracted personnel.

1. The contractor agrees that the contracted personnel provided hereunder are W2 employees of the contractor (unless otherwise specified by Purchase Order) and are in no event employees of the State.

1. Contracted personnel are not entitled to any rights, benefits or privileges provided by the State to their own employees.

1. The contractor warrants that it bears the sole responsibility for the payment of compensation to contracted personnel, including, but not limited to, salary, taxes, contributions and benefits, to the extent applicable. The State has no obligation to provide Worker’s Compensation coverage or to pay premium “overtime” payments, at any rate other than the bill rate agreed to in the purchase order. The State shall not be liable to the contractor or to the contracted personnel for the contractor’s failure to fulfill its compensation, benefit or tax obligations.

1. The contractor and all contracted personnel shall comply with all applicable laws, regulations, orders, ordinances, codes and standards, including identification and procurement of required permits, certificates, approvals and inspections, insurance coverage (including workers’ compensation), proper withholding and submission of social security and income taxes, and any other laws which subsequently become applicable to the contractor or to the performance by the contractor or agents of services under this contract.

1. In the event that contractor is in material breach of any of the terms and conditions of this contract or in the event that contractor has materially breached its obligations to its contracted personnel and, in either case, if such breach(es) are likely (in the State’s opinion) to result in contractor’s contracted personnel prematurely leaving their assignments at an Authorized User, then, at the direction of the State, the Agency shall have the right to offer employment to or contract with, and to hire or contract with, directly or through another vendor, such contracted personnel. The contractor agrees to release such contracted personnel and shall cause its approved subcontractor to release such contracted personnel from the terms of any restrictive covenant or other agreement which may inhibit or restrict the ability of such contracted personnel from accepting an offer of employment or contract, in accordance with this provision. This release shall include, but not be limited to, any agreement obliging such contracted personnel to pay sums of money (including placement fees) to the contractor.

1. Unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties, any and all access by contracted personnel to the facilities of the State shall be during normal State office hours and all contractor contracted personnel shall be subject to the State site's security procedures.

1. Contracted personnel shall not commit any act which shall interfere with the performance of services by any other contractor or by the State. Contracted personnel shall cooperate with State personnel, hardware manufacture representatives, system software suppliers, and communications systems suppliers in designing, programming, and testing any software being developed.

1. The contractor shall furnish each contracted personnel with a means of identifying themselves as employees of the contractor assigned to perform services under the contract and furnish the State with security credentials on these contracted personnel, if requested.

1. The contractor shall not be paid for contracted personnel’s travel time to and from the Request for Service work site. Neither shall the contractor be paid for any parking fees or provide parking for the contracted personnel. Additionally, the contractor shall not be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by contracted personnel for travel to and from the Request for Service work site.

Frequently Asked Questions Question: The contracted personnel is doing a great job and I would like to increase her/his billing rate. How can I do this?

Answer: Billing rates will not be increased during the engagement period, including renewals. The billing rate was agreed to by the contractor and contracted personnel for this period. Agencies shall not have communications with contracted personnel about rates and increases. This is prohibited in the business rules and the contract signed by the contractor. If approached by contracted personnel, agencies should direct them to the contractor. That is a matter that should be discussed and resolved between them.

Question: I have contracted personnel, who is not working out on the engagement, what should I do?

Answer: If a situation arises that you want to terminate an engagement for any reason, at any time, you should contact the contractor and explain the situation. Do not discuss your plans with the contracted personnel. It will be the contractor’s responsibility to make arrangements to contact the contracted personnel to meet at their local office and release the worker. This keeps you safe.