Small business contractors worry about new cybersecurity rules

Small business advocates at the Defense Department report that small vendors are concerned about a recent requirement for multifactor authentication for vendor-owned systems handling unclassified but controlled DOD information, according to a report by FedNewsRadio.

The Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) office issued the class deviation, which also requires that the vendor notify DOD when any of those systems have been breached.

“We’re hearing from a lot of our people out in the field saying, ‘Hey, this is going to be a huge impact to our small contractors,’” Carol White, the Air Force’s deputy director for small business programs, said during a panel at AFCEA NoVA’s annual Air Force IT day, the news service said. “It’s mostly anecdotal at this point, and we need to hear more from our small business contractors, but this is potentially going to drive up their costs.”

More information: http://goo.gl/PA0FTg

Minimum wage rose on Jan. 1

On Jan. 1, the minimum wage for workers under covered federal contracts increased to $10.15 an hour, from $10.10 an hour, under Executive Order 13658.

In addition, workers who receive tips must be paid a minimum cash wage of $5.85 an hour, up from $4.90, starting Jan. 1.

More information: Nexsen Pruet PLLC analysis http://goo.gl/z9bSta

Pay transparency order

President Obama’s executive order on pay transparency goes into effect on Jan. 11.

It prohibits covered federal contractors from disciplining employees who disclose their pay or another employee’s pay. Personnel employees are an exception. It applies to contracts or subcontracts of $10,000 or more.

More information:Nexsen Pruet PLLC analysis http://goo.gl/z9bSta

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GAO: bid protests are up by 3%

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