On September 24, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued guidance for federal contractors based on President Biden’s Executive Order directing adequate COVID-19 safety protocols for federal contractors and subcontractors. Although every agency has adopted the same clause, there are 36 agencies that have issued separate and differing guidance on use of the clause in agency contracts and other agreements with contractors. Meanwhile significant questions have come up about the number of employees bound by the mandates, the application to subcontractors of all tiers, the recovery of costs incurred as a result of the clause, what it means for a clause to be bilateral, the reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and the determination of when an exemption applies, and many other topics.
McCarter & English partner Hugh Murray walks through some of the key class deviations, including DoD, NASA, GSA, updates on the latest advice coming out of the Task Force, OMB, and the individual agencies.