Connolly, Kenneth

The proposed rule should not be implemented, because it provides no value added cost to the services; adds to the administrative burden of contractors and the government. It could lead to the appearance of a personal services contract, plus expose the procurement process to increased number of interested parties, who can protest, appeal, and sue the actions taken or not taken by the government, the predecessor contractor and the successor contractor in complying or not complying w/ the terms of the proposed rule. Finally, there is an added expense to the service being acquired in both to the contractor and the operating costs to the government compared w/ the benefits, especially during the time of increasing government debt. The rule will also limit a prospective contractor's ability to begin the hiring process, e.g., prescreening of potential employees, prior to contract award, because it has to wait 10 days for the predecessor contractor to provide a list of employees, before it can begin the hiring process or fill positions from within its organization. This time period will have to be built into every service contract award. It also will preclude the successor contractor from placing its current, perhaps better qualified, employees, into positions that need to be filled first from employees of the predecessor contractor. Finally, because the requirement for the predecessor contractor to provide the list of must hires 10 days after the completion of the predecessor contract will make orderly transition of complex services impossible: The reason is that most of the complex service contracts overlap for some period of time to allow for the orderly transfer of products, property, facilities, and personnel. The contracts and Performance Work Statements I work on, already provide for the incumbent contractor to provide a list of its employees 60 days prior the start of the transition period, which normally runs 30 to 180 days before the completion of the contract. This allows enough time for the successor contractor to review the list of the predecessor contractor and begin to consider them for employment on the new contract, if the individual fits the needs of the successor contractor. Whether to hire or not hire has to remain as the prerogative of the gaining contractor. Not directing the contractor to hire individuals and leaving this decision to the contractor precludes the appearance of a personal services contract.