SCA Compliance FAQ's Much like the word “union”, the term “SCA” can make almost any HR professional shudder from compliance fear. Over the years in my experience in HR consulting, this fear is typically derived from a lack of understanding the regulations contained within the Service Contract Act also known as the Service Contract Labor Standards. Below we will break down the basics of the regulations so you can then begin to formulate a plan on how you will apply this information to your SCA contracts.

When we talk with rapidly growing government contractor executives, recruiting is almost always a top concern. Many have done recruiting in an ad-hoc manner, with individuals doing recruiting while wearing other hats.

The Cultural Problems of Reclassifying Exempt Employees to Non-Exempt under FLSA In June 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a key change to the provisions for determining exemption from overtime by raising the minimum standard level for salaried workers from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $970 per week ($50,440 annually). While the rule is not yet final and is not expected to be in place until 2016, organizations all over the US are preparing for the impact, both financially and culturally. Many times the latter is overlooked.

HR compliance is an enormous topic and there is much to be considered when discussing it. There are employment law compliance responsibilities around benefits, 401k plans, federal contracting, record retention, state, and federal regulations…the list is endless. While the risk of not being in compliance can cost an organization hundreds of thousands of dollars, in some ways, I personally think this is one of the simplest disciplines of Human Resources. As an HR consultant who conducts many Human Resource audits for our clients, my advice to you is to get a process in place and stick with it. Once you have identified and corrected any gaps that exist, it's important that you maintain compliance throughout the year and the following audit checklist can help you do just that.

In the DC Metro area, it's no secret that we have a multitude of Government Contracting firms. Over the past few years in particular, we have all felt the industry contract from $550 billion to $450 billion. While some may argue this contraction is temporary, we may still have a few more years of industry tightening.