Many businesses shy away from doing business with the federal
government and some of the most cited reasons are: "too much
paperwork"; "all the red tape"; "too many rules and regulations";
and, "to may intrusive compliance issues." While many of these
concerns are reasonable I believe that it is worth the "pain" to
"play" in the federal marketplace.
When you think about it, it is a responsible action for the
government to be concerned how tax payer dollars are spent. But can
this due diligence oversight become invasive and too burdensome? In
the beginning most compliance requirements dealt with the
contractor's behavior, ethics or how they paid their employees. We
all want contractors who are honest and give value for the tax
dollars they earn. The government also has a legitimate concern
that certain classifications of employees (service employees) are
paid in accordance with federal guidelines.
Now, however, these basic areas of compliance have grown to
include requiring the contractor to report on themselves in a "true
confessions" manner, report on personal compensation of owners and
officers, and potentially even report how they voted in national
elections. It can easily be argued that this type of compliance is
too invasive and has little or nothing to do with effective
policing of tax dollars spent
The bottom line is that you will have to decide whether or not
to participate in the federal marketplace but if you do you will
have no choice other than to be "compliant." One of the proactive
things you can do for your business is to have a good working
relationship with a law firm that has a seasoned and experienced
government contracts practice. Use them as a sounding board to
discuss your plan of action of how to minimize your risk
Listed below are just a few compliance related websites to give
you an idea of what you might be facing; there are many more!
The Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System
(FAPIIS)
http://www.ppirs.gov/fapiis.html
E-Verify
http://www.uscis.gov
Davis-Bacon Wage Determinations
http://www.gpo.gov/davisbacon