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NEWS | Oct. 19, 2011

Contractors integral to government success

By 633rd Contracting Squadron

Do you know that contractors have become an integral part of government activities? It is often difficult, however, to distinguish between contractors and civil service employees.

Government employees work side by side with many of the contractor employees, often times who were once government employees themselves, such as retirees, former military members or civil servants. It is important that government employees recognize that these individuals' employment status has changed, and therefore, so have the rules applied to that employee.

Similarly, it is important the contractor personnel understand their status is different, and should always wear distinctive nametags, company shirts or company badges for identification purposes.

This is important because unidentified contractors in the workplace can be a source of concerns including advance release of procurement information (giving unfair advantage to one or more contractors); disclosure of source selection information; conversion to improper personal services; the risk of unauthorized work direction; and performance of inherently governmental functions.

If you are working with contracted employees and are unsure of the duties they should be performing, contact the contracting officer's representative responsible for monitoring their performance, or contact 633rd CONS for assistance.

As a reminder, only a warranted contracting officer is authorized to direct changes in contact performance.