Employees of defense contractors, including those working on construction projects, will still be able to receive their paychecks despite work stoppages due to temporary shutdown of military facilities prompted by Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Defense announced.
"The Defense Pricing and Contracting office has issued a class deviation to the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement entitled, 'CARES Act Section 3610 Implementation,'" said Lt. Col. Mike Andrews, spokesman for the Department of Defense.
"This deviation addresses section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act which allows agencies to reimburse contractors for payment to workers who are prevented from working due to Covid-19 facility closures or other restrictions," he added.
Andrews explained that the deviation provides a framework for contracting officers to assess any claimed allowable costs associated with the declared public health emergency, recognizing the importance of supporting affected contractors to ensure that, together, we remain a healthy, resilient, and responsive total force. In short order, a forthcoming implementation guidance memo.
This class deviation is the 17th new Covid-19 guidance the Department of Defense's Pricing and Contracting office has provided to help relieve Covid-19 impacts for the Contracting Community.
Jennifer Santos, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, and Kim Herrington, acting principal director of Defense Pricing and Contracting, have worked extensively with the defense industrial associations, including the small business community, to identify cost, schedule and performance impacts beyond the control of the contractor, and to provide badly needed relief to help defense industry get through this national emergency, Andrews said.
"We remain committed to daily engagements with the defense industry, and will continue to leverage defense trade association calls to partner with them throughout the duration of this national emergency to ensure the safety of the workforce and accomplishment of the national security mission," Andrews sad.
Website Resources:
DOD: https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/Coronavirus/
Joint Acquisition Task Force: https://www.acq.osd.mil/jatf.html
Defense Contracting Management Agency: https://www.dcma.mil/ Industrial Policy: https://www.businessdefense.gov/coronavirus/
Defense Pricing and Contracting: https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/pacc/cc/COVID-19.html