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Federal Shutdown Information


TO ALL OAI EMPLOYEES AND SUBCONTRACTORS WORKING ON A FEDERAL CONTRACT:

Thursday, 17 October 2013, 9:40 PM EST (Last update)

No new instructions. Everybody not on distant field work seems successfully back to work. The field work preps are underway with coordination by OAI Project Managers and government Program Leaders. Payroll was run today. Pay should arrive Monday. It will be a sparse week for far too many of our people and the shutdown was a major hit for the company as well. We will be repaying the states for all or most of the unemployment they paid and all our overhead continued but also cannot be recovered (such as diverse insurances, payroll fees, accounting, and licenses).

The Government is open and federal employees are to report to work on their regular schedules. We can assume this includes contractors. There are no messages to OAI from Contract Officials. Check here before going to work in the event we get different guidance. This Washington Post article has all that is known. The OPM status for Federal employees at the moment has no instructions for contractors.

Wednesday, 16 October 2013, 10:26 PM EST. With the Senate having passed, and the House with enough votes to pass, and the President saying he will sign and immediately open governemet, it appears work can begin Thursday. It is not clear how this will be communicated, if at all. We will immediately post any government guidance. It is probably safe to do whatever your Program Leader says or what the feds are doing. For most people, the clause in your contract about not working when the facility is closed should not be applicable any more.

Wednesday, 16 October 2013, 6:00 PM EST. If you wondered why we were not given more "Exceptions" allowing people to work during the shutdown, it is because Government Contract Officers must be careful to not violate the Anti Deficiency Act of 1870. To do so could subject them to a $5,000 fine, termination, and up to 2 years in prison - per incident. It is a felony. The Act prohibits the government from incurring any monetary obligation for which Congress has not appropriated funds. Employees cannot check government email or cellphones and even volunteering for government service is expressly prohibited. The only exception for volunteering is where there is an imminent threat to the safety of human life or destruction of property. To work you must have an "Exception" from a warranted Contract Office, AND written approvals from your Program Leader, AND Contract Officer's Representative AND a message from OAI. Any federal employee asking or advising you to work who does not have a Contract Officer warrant is likely in violation and could get in great trouble. Please don't encourage them unless the CO agrees. This is serious business. It is fallout from the Civil war when President Lincoln asked people to do things that were not funded by Congress and the obligations had to be paid later by a reluctant Congress.

Reminder: Your Program Leader is from the government. Your supervisor is from OAI. Please be careful with terminology. It is illegal for feds to supervise contractors and it sure can mess up unemployment claims.

Saturday 9 PM (10/12/13) Details of this message were emailed Saturday. If it went to a government account we can forward it to a personal account upon request.

1) Employees Enrolled in OAI Insurance: A special arrangement will enable all OAI healthcare coverage to continue during the government shutdown even if employees are not "actively working". Note that this arrangement has been extended through 10/31/13.

2) Directions for Indicating Unpaid Leave on Your Timecard: If you plan to take unpaid leave days, you may leave those days completely blank. You also do not need to include a note on your timecard stating that you are taking unpaid leave.

3) Employees Eligible for Holiday Pay will earn pay for Columbus Day per standard policy. Employees must input a minimum of 20 combined work, vacation and sick hours per week during the pay period and must either work or use accrued leave the business day before and after Columbus Day to receive pro-rata holiday pay. Pay will be awarded pro-rata based on the average number of combined work, vacation and sick hours inputted per work day.

4) Employees eligible to accrue leave will earn leave during the shutdown per standard policy when they continue to log hours. Vacation and sick leave hours will be awarded pro-rata, e.g., 20-29 hours per week: earns 50% of full accruals. Note that we allow employees to modestly borrow against future accruals.

5) Teleworking or continued work during the shutdown is not authorized unless yours is an excepted position that has been approved for telework or continued work by your program leader, Contract Officer Representative (COR) and Contract Officer.

 

Clarified Thursday AM (10/10/13): Wednesday's Post has a good article on payment of contractors for lost wages. There is no precedent. Let your Congressional delegation know if you are being harmed. It is the only avenue we see. The shutdown is costing OAI $15,000-$20,000 per day (which is not recoverable), since we are maintaining all insurances and will have to reimburse the states for any money paid for unemployment insurance. We cannot invoice for hours not worked, even though we are essentially paying our average longer term employees about half their wages through the state unemployment programs.

New Monday PM (10/7/13): There is no change in prognosis for ending the federal shutdown. Our best guess is that the next best hope for resumption of work would come with the increasing shifting of debate to the national debt limit, coming about the date the US becomes unable to pay key bills - projected as October 17. Perhaps if there is an ironclad agreement to negotiate on spending, the shutdown will end at any moment. Many people can't understand the Federal closure dynamics, but most can understand the need to live within our means, so the dynamic is changing as policy makers shift their gaze towards the moment in about 10 days when we spend past our ability to borrow more than the $16.7 Trillion we owe now. BACKPAY. Federal employees are to receive back pay and most DOD contractors can resume work. There is no discussion of back pay for contractor employees, subs or contract companies. To our knowledge contractors have never been paid for work not done. INSURANCE. The costs to OAI are about $120 per day for each non-temporary employee for medical insurance and for unemployment insurance (UI) combined, payable over the next 3 years. Employers pay all costs for UI through an experience-based tax on wages, payable over the following three years. Our tax (UI insurnce premium) will increase until the UI fund in each state is reimbursed. Employees seeking UI should contact their state agency directly to confirm that they are using the correct paperwork and that the paperwork coming from the state arrives at OAI completed properly. We have never received unemployment paperwork from an employee, so please be sure you should be sending anything to OAI. Normally, employees out of work apply to the state where they work and the state verifies with us the earnings data and the reason for unemployment.

Revised Thursday PM (10/3/13): Do not expect backpay if you are affected by the federal shutdown. If there is no work, there can be no invoices to the government and no payments to OAI. There is no ability to pay people who are not working. We have never been through a shutdown where we had federal contracts. Federal employees may get retro pay, but this is uncertain. There has been no known discussion by Congress of retro pay for contractors. The mechanism would be so complex that it is further disadvantaged. There are no known precedents. Most non-OAI federal contractors work off site and are not affected or are working because of legislation or Presidential authorities. Most of our contracts do not allow work when the sponsoring facility is closed and we are paid for hours worked. Some people have been authorized by the government to keep working, often for a set number of hours. If you file for Unemployment Insurance please be sure the case worker knows you have been affected by the Federal shutdown (there may be a special program in your state) and that you have not been terminated and expect to come back to work.

NEW Wednesday (10/2/13): If you normally use a government email address to communicate with OAI, make sure you use a different one during the shutdown. This is particularly true if you can't get onto the ADP Portal and we need to send you a new password. If you are having problems, email or call Juleen. Phone numbers are at the bottom of the payroll reminder emails. There is still no prognosis.

NEW Tuesday (10/1/13): Unemployment Insurance. OAI employees may be eligible for unemployment insurance. You should check the requirements now because they vary greatly. You may be requested to file right away or to wait a week, or so. In general, the law of the state in which you work will be the state law under which eligibility for benefits is determined. To file an unemployment claim or learn more, contact the state where you worked. To find contact information for your state, please visit: http://www.servicelocator.org/ . OAI Sub-Contractors (1099 reporting) will generally not be eligible for Unemployment Insurance unless they were paying for such an insurance plan. Note: if your paycheck comes from ADP, you are an employee. If you get paid by paper check or by Bank of America, you are a sub-contractor. OAI is the Contractor.

No deal. No prognosis.

With the lapse in appropriations, OAI employees have the following options for managing work days:

1) Employees eligible for paid time off may use accrued vacation or sick leave to get paid.

2) Employees may take unpaid leave.

3) Teleworking is not authorized unless yours is an excepted position that has been approved for telework by your program leader, Contract Officer Representative (COR) and Contract Officer. OAI will need to have received written approval from the contract officer for approved telework. Those in excepted positions have been notified directly by OAI that you have been approved to telework. If you have clearance to work but no authorization from Peter, please contact him immediately.

4) For OAI employees and subcontractors who are currently in the field, final guidance is to be issued today, Tuesday, October 1, 2013. However, there is a very strong likelihood that personnel in the field will be required to return home at the earliest possible convenience in the event of a government wide shutdown.

5) All contractors are authorized to work up to four hours on October 1, 2013, starting at their normal start times, in order to perform orderly shutdown activities only. Less than 4 is preferred by NOAA - just use what is necessary. These activities will include:
- Canceling meetings for the coming week.
- Setting up a standardized outgoing out-of office message on voicemail and email (format to be provided by the government).
- Shutting off equipment in workstation (if applicable).
- Taking home personal items such as plants, or other personal perishables.

6) Employees Enrolled in OAI Insurance: A special arrangement will enable all OAI healthcare coverage to continue during the government shutdown even if employees are not "actively working" through 10/15/13. Thus, per this special arrangement, employees will not have to input a minimum of 30 combined vacation, sick, holiday and work hours per week to maintain their coverage during the pay period, 10/1/13-10/15/13. Note that this arrangement was issued solely for the unusual case of the pending government shutdown and through 10/15/13 only. Please note that OAI will continue to pay its share of our employees' contributions towards their insurance through 10/15/13 even if employees are not working. Employees are required to continue to pay their share of contributions. If no paycheck is issued for the pay period ending 10/15/13 (due to a shutdown), OAI will not deduct an employee's contribution towards his/her insurance then, but will plan to double the deduction during the next payroll period ending on 10/31 to cover an entire month's contribution. If the potential shutdown persists after 10/15/13, please check the OAI website for further updates about insurance coverage. We will be working to protect coverage.


John Everett, President

Peter Milone, Director of Operations

Juleen Savarese, Director of HR and General Counsel