Last week, a divided Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) agreed to reconsider its ruling that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) did not have jurisdiction over a federal contractor based solely on its participation in TRICARE, the Department of Defense’s managed health care program for active duty and retired military members and their families.
Expanded Whistleblower Provisions Applicable To Federal Contractors And Subcontractors Take Effect
By Daniel Davis on
Yesterday a significant expansion of whistleblower protections for employees of federal contractors and subcontractors took effect. The National Defense Authorization Act for 2013 (“NDAA”) extended whistleblower protections to an employee of a “contractor, subcontractor, or grantee” who makes a claim of gross mismanagement, gross waste, abuse of authority, a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, or a violation of a law, rule, or regulation related to a federal contract. These protections do not apply to a disclosure related to an “element of the intelligence community” under the National Security Act of 1984.