In the ongoing tale of the government’s love/hate relationship with contractors (Are we insourcing? Are we outsourcing? Back to insourcing…) the newest Department of Defense rule requiring contractors to identify their contractor status – both over the phone and in meetings – is certainly supporting the “us” versus “them” policy that has been spurned by the government budget crunch.
A DoD rule published May 5 reaffirms an interim policy concerning federal contractors. The policy states:
“Service contracts shall require contractor employees to identify themselves as contractor personnel by introducing themselves or being introduced as contractor personnel and displaying distinguishing badges or other visible identification for meetings with Government personnel. In addition, contracts shall require contractor personnel to appropriately identify themselves as contractor employees in telephone conversations and in formal and informal written correspondence.”
The policy also states that program managers must be vigilant in ensuring that general service contracts are not administered as personal service contracts. Personal service contracts fall under different procedures than general service contracts. The rule puts the burden on program managers to ensure that contract management remain in line with guidelines, as well as administering the implementation of the contractor identification stipulations.
One week after the DoD rule was published, the American Federation of Federal Government Employees issued a letter to congress urging them to cap federal contractor salaries and arguing that the “current political climate for all public employees, including federal employees, is harsh.”
