Rule allows agency officials, not employees, to protest A-76 decisions

[The Straight Story]

Rule allows agency officials, not employees, to protest A-76 decisions

By Kimberly Palmer
[e-mail]

The Government Accountability Office, the agency in charge of resolving disputes over public-private job competitions, proposed a rule Monday that would allow an official acting on behalf of federal workers to protest decisions in such competitions.

The proposed rule implements changes outlined in the fiscal 2005 Defense authorization act, signed by President Bush in late October.

The rule specifies that for competitions conducted under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 that involve more than 65 employees, an "agency tender official" can file a protest challenging the results of the competition at GAO.

Under the proposed rule, only the agency tender official, who is the official representative of the agency team competing against a private contractor in an A-76 competition, can file such protests. A majority of employees can join forces to ask the official to protest if they feel a wrong has been committed, but the official can turn down their request.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1204/122104k1.htm