Government contracts is a highly regulated business, with a range of laws, regulations, contract provisions, and written and unwritten policies and directives. These laws are also specific regarding ethics and contractor standards of conduct. Government contractors must not only navigate traditional ethics issues but also face unique legal ethics issues arising from these various statutory, regulatory and contractual provisions. And the stakes are high: both a company and its individual owners and employees face potential liability for ethics violations.
And, with the COVID-19 crisis threatening to pave new and uncertain roads from the standpoint of ethics compliance and potential procurement fraud investigations from what may prove to be a flood of COVID-related requests for equitable adjustment and other contract modifications, the importance of this topic increases dramatically.
The fact-filled program will focus on understanding the ethics compliance program requirements of the U.S. Government, to include understanding the basics of ethics in Government contracting, designing and implementing an ethics compliance program, conducting proper internal ethics investigations, addressing potential mandatory disclosure requirements, and managing audits and Government investigations regarding ethics-related issues. Finally, we will examine how these programs work in practice by discussing a few hot button and real-life ethics and compliance examples.
Topics Covered:
- Understanding the legal framework of Government contract ethics and compliance
- FAR/DFARS requirements for establishing, implementing and maintaining ethics compliance programs
- Designing an “effective” Ethics Compliance Program
- The FAR mandatory disclosure rules
- The importance of proper and consistent employee disciplinary policies
- Key statutory mandates such as the False Claims Act, the False Statements Act and Procurement Integrity Act
- Penalties for non-compliance including suspension and debarment issues, and other civil and criminal penalties
- Real life examples of ethics-related issues and cases
- Potential COVID-related ethics issues
Learning Objectives:
This seminar will assist attendees in learning to:
- Recognize and understand ethics compliance risk areas in Government contracts.
- Analyze general and contact-specific risks in relation to your company, contracts, and program goals.
- Design, draft, implement and maintain an effective Ethics Compliance Program
- Conduct proper and effective internal audits to ensure your new or existing program meets all current requirements
- Deal with specific compliance challenges, including dealing with Government contracting and enforcement personnel
Who Should Attend:
- Contract managers and administrators
- Compliance managers
- Mid-to-senior executives
- C-level executives
- In-house counsel
- Internal audit and finance personnel
- Government acquisition personnel (COs, CORs, COTRs, program managers)
Book now!
Course Number: WE03