# 52.222-17 Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers.

As prescribed in 22.1207 , insert the following clause:

Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers (May 2014)

(a) “Service employee”, as used in this clause, means any person engaged in the performance of a service contract other than any person employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, as those terms are defined in 29 CFR part 541. The term “service employee” includes all such persons regardless of any contractual relationship that may be alleged to exist between a contractor or subcontractor and such persons.

(b) The Contractor and its subcontractors shall, except as otherwise provided herein, in good faith offer those service employees employed under the predecessor contract whose employment will be terminated as a result of award of this contract or the expiration of the contract under which the service employees were hired, a right of first refusal of employment under this contract in positions for which the service employees are qualified.

(1) The Contractor and its subcontractors shall determine the number of service employees necessary for efficient performance of this contract and may elect to employ fewer employees than the predecessor Contractor employed in connection with performance of the work.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this clause, there shall be no employment opening under this contract, and the Contractor and any subcontractors shall not offer employment under this contract, to any person prior to having complied fully with this obligation.

(i) The successor Contractor and its subcontractors shall make a bona fide express offer of employment to each service employee as provided herein and shall state the time within which the service employee must accept such offer, but in no case shall the period within which the service employee must accept the offer of employment be less than 10 days.

(ii) The successor Contractor and its subcontractors shall decide any question concerning a service employee’s qualifications based upon the individual’s education and employment history, with particular emphasis on the employee's experience on the predecessor contract, and the Contractor may utilize employment screening processes only when such processes are provided for by the contracting agency, are conditions of the service contract, and are consistent with Executive Order 13495.

(iii) Where the successor Contractor does not initially offer employment to all the predecessor contract service employees, the obligation to offer employment shall continue for 90 days after the successor contractor’s first date of performance on the contract.

(iv) An offer of employment will be presumed to be bona fide even if it is not for a position similar to the one the employee previously held, but is one for which the employee is qualified, and even if it is subject to different employment terms and conditions, including changes to pay or benefits. (See 29 CFR 9.12 for a detailed description of a bonafide offer of employment).

(c)

(1) Notwithstanding the obligation under paragraph (b) of this clause, the successor Contractor and any subcontractors (i) may employ under this contract any service employee who has worked for the contractor or subcontractor for at least three months immediately preceding the commencement of this contract and who would otherwise face lay-off or discharge, (ii) are not required to offer a right of first refusal to any service employee(s) of the predecessor contractor who are not service employees within the meaning of the Service Contract Labor Standards statute, 41 U.S.C. 6701(3), and (iii) are not required to offer a right of first refusal to any service employee(s) of the predecessor contractor whom the Contractor or any of its subcontractors reasonably believes, based on the particular service employee’s past performance, has failed to perform suitably on the job (see 29 CFR 9.12 (c)(4) for additional information). The successor Contractor bears the responsibility of demonstrating the appropriateness of claiming any of these exceptions.

(2) In addition, any Contractor or subcontractor that has been certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a HUBZone small business concern must ensure that it complies with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the HUBZone Program (e.g., it must ensure that at least 35 percent of all of its employees reside within a HUBZone). The HUBZone small business Contractor or subcontractor must consider whether it can meet the requirements of this clause and Executive Order 13495 while also ensuring it meets the HUBZone Program’s requirements.

(3) Nothing in this clause shall be construed to permit a Contractor or subcontractor to fail to comply with any provision of any other Executive order or law. For example, the requirements of the HUBZone Program (see FAR subpart 19.13), Executive Order 11246 (Equal Employment Opportunity), and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 may conflict, in certain circumstances, with the requirements of Executive Order 13495. All applicable laws and Executive orders must be satisfied in tandem with, and if necessary prior to, the requirements of Executive Order 13495, 29 CFR part 9, and this clause.

(d)

(1) The Contractor shall, not less than 30 days before completion of the Contractor’s performance of services on the contract, furnish the Contracting Officer with a certified list of the names of all service employees working under this contract and its subcontracts at the time the list is submitted. The list shall also contain anniversary dates of employment of each service employee under this contract and its predecessor contracts with either the current or predecessor contractors or their subcontractors. Where changes to the workforce are made after the submission of the certified list described in this paragraph, the Contractor shall, in accordance with paragraph (e) of this clause, not less than 10 days before completion of the services on this contract, furnish the Contracting Officer with an updated certified list of the names of all service employees employed within the last month of contract performance. The updated list shall also contain anniversary dates of employment, and, where applicable, dates of separation of each service employee under the contract and its predecessor contracts with either the current or predecessor Contractors or their subcontractors.

(2) Immediately upon receipt of the certified service employee list but not before contract award, the contracting officer shall provide the certified service employee list to the successor contractor, and, if requested, to employees of the predecessor contractor or subcontractors or their authorized representatives.

(3) The Contracting Officer will direct the predecessor Contractor to provide written notice (Appendix B to 29 CFR chapter 9) to service employees of their possible right to an offer of employment with the successor contractor. Where a significant portion of the predecessor Contractor’s workforce is not fluent in English, the notice shall be provided in English and the language(s) with which service employees are more familiar. The written notice shall be-

(i) Posted in a conspicuous place at the worksite; or

(ii) Delivered to the service employees individually. If such delivery is via e-mail, the notification must result in an electronic delivery receipt or some other reliable confirmation that the intended recipient received the notice.

(e)

(1) If required in accordance with 52.222-41(n), the predecessor Contractor shall, not less than 10 days before completion of this contract, furnish the Contracting Officer a certified list of the names of all service employees working under this contract and its subcontracts during the last month of contract performance. The list shall also contain anniversary dates of employment of each service employee under this contract and its predecessor contracts either with the current or predecessor Contractors or their subcontractors. If there are no changes to the workforce before the predecessor contract is completed, then the predecessor Contractor is not required to submit a revised list 10 days prior to completion of performance and the requirements of 52.222-41(n) are met. When there are changes to the workforce after submission of the 30-day list, the predecessor Contractor shall submit a revised certified list not less than 10 days prior to performance completion.

(2) Immediately upon receipt of the certified service employee list but not before contract award, the contracting officer shall provide the certified service employee list to the successor contractor, and, if requested, to employees of the predecessor contractor or subcontractors or their authorized representatives.

(f) The Contractor and subcontractor shall maintain the following records (regardless of format, e.g., paper or electronic) of its compliance with this clause for not less than a period of three years from the date the records were created.

(1) Copies of any written offers of employment or a contemporaneous written record of any oral offers of employment, including the date, location, and attendance roster of any service employee meeting(s) at which the offers were extended, a summary of each meeting, a copy of any written notice that may have been distributed, and the names of the service employees from the predecessor contract to whom an offer was made.

(2) A copy of any record that forms the basis for any exemption claimed under this part.

(3) A copy of the service employee list provided to or received from the contracting agency.

(4) An entry on the pay records of the amount of any retroactive payment of wages or compensation under the supervision of the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division to each service employee, the period covered by such payment, and the date of payment, and a copy of any receipt form provided by or authorized by the Wage and Hour Division. The Contractor shall also deliver a copy of the receipt to the service employee and file the original, as evidence of payment by the Contractor and receipt by the service employee, with the Administrator or an authorized representative within 10 days after payment is made.

(g) Disputes concerning the requirements of this clause shall not be subject to the general disputes clause (52.223-1) of this contract. Such disputes shall be resolved in accordance with the procedures of the Department of Labor set forth in 29 CFR part 9. Disputes within the meaning of this clause include disputes between or among any of the following: The Contractor, the contracting agency, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the service employees under the contract or its predecessor contract. The Contracting Officer will refer any service employee who wishes to file a complaint, or ask questions concerning this contract clause, to the: Branch of Government Contracts Enforcement, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210. Contact e-mail: displaced@dol.gov.

(h) The Contractor shall cooperate in any review or investigation by the Department of Labor into possible violations of the provisions of this clause and shall make such records requested by such official(s) available for inspection, copying, or transcription upon request.

(i) If it is determined, pursuant to regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor (Secretary), that the Contractor or its subcontractors are not in compliance with the requirements of this clause or any regulation or order of the Secretary, appropriate sanctions may be imposed and remedies invoked against the Contractor or its subcontractors, as provided in Executive Order 13495, the regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary, or as otherwise provided by law.

(j) The Contractor shall take such action with respect to any such subcontract as may be directed by the Secretary of Labor as a means of enforcing such provisions, including the imposition of sanctions for noncompliance. However, if the Contractor, as a result of such direction, becomes involved in litigation with a subcontractor, or is threatened with such involvement, the Contractor may request that the United States, through the Secretary, enter into such litigation to protect the interests of the United States.

(k) The Contracting Officer will withhold, or cause to be withheld, from the prime Contractor under this or any other Government contract with the same prime Contractor, such sums as an authorized official of the Department of Labor requests, upon a determination by the Administrator, the Administrative Law Judge, or the Administrative Review Board, that there has been a failure to comply with the terms of this clause and that wages lost as a result of the violations are due to service employees or that other monetary relief is appropriate. If the Contracting Officer or the Administrator, upon final order of the Secretary, finds that the Contractor has failed to provide a list of the names of service employees working under the contract, the Contracting Officer may, in his or her discretion, or upon request by the Administrator, take such action as may be necessary to cause the suspension of the payment of contract funds until such time as the list is provided to the Contracting Officer.

(l) Subcontracts. In every subcontract over the simplified acquisition threshold entered into in order to perform services under this contract, the Contractor shall include a provision that ensures-

(1) That each subcontractor will honor the requirements of paragraphs (b) through (c) of this clause with respect to the service employees of a predecessor subcontractor or subcontractors working under this contract, as well as of a predecessor Contractor and its subcontractors;

(2) That the subcontractor will provide the Contractor with the information about the service employees of the subcontractor needed by the Contractor to comply with paragraphs (d) and (e) of this clause; and

(3) The recordkeeping requirements of paragraph (f) of this clause.

(End of clause)

    [77 FR 75778, Dec. 21, 2012, as amended at 79 FR 24218, Apr. 29, 2014]