EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION SERVICES

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION SERVICES OFFICE OF WORKERS COMPENSATION PROGRAMS RFI Number: DOL111RI21249 Notice Type: Request for Information SYNOPSIS The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is conducting market research for an upcoming procurement requirement. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to provide the United States Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) requirement for Employment Verification services. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this request is 541612, Human Resources Consulting Services. The Small Business Size is $7 Million. SMALL BUSINESSES ARE ENCOURAGED TO RESPOND. Include whether or not you are a small business; HUBZone small business; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small business; women-owned small business; or small disadvantaged business in order to assist the government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. INTRODUCTION The DOL, OWCP, Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) requires services that researches and provides employment information for construction workers or other trades in which the DOL is unable to verify employment by other means. BACKGROUND Public Law 106-398, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) of 2000, as amended (the Act), established a program to compensate nuclear weapons program workers who suffered adverse health effects from exposure to beryllium, ionizing radiation, and other hazards in the course of their nuclear weapons program-related work. The President, in an Executive Order dated December 7, 2000, assigned program implementation responsibilities to various executive departments. The Fiscal Year 2005 National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Bush on October 28, 2004, abolished Part D of the EEOICPA administered by the Department of Energy (DOE) and replaced it with a new system of federal payments called Part E to be administered by the Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL's Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP), Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) is responsible for adjudicating claims associated with Part B and Part E of the Act. According to 20 CFR - 30.105 under the DOL EEOICPA Regulations, the DOE has the responsibility for verifying employment at a covered DOE facility per EEOICPA. The DOL verification process includes: (1) establishing that a contractual relationship existed between the covered facility and the identified employer (contractor); (2) verifying that the claimant was an employee of a covered employer during a specific time period; and (3) placing the claimant on site at the covered facility. Occasionally, DOE or the corporate verifier does not have records sufficient to verify employment. Therefore, it becomes necessary for DOL to search other resources for verification. Alternative methods for employment verification include: the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) electronic database, the claimant's personal records, the Social Security Administration, affidavits from former co-workers of the claimant and union records. The DOL receives claims from many employees who worked in jobs related to construction or trades (e.g. construction workers, electricians, plumbers, etc.). Due to these types of jobs usually being associated with a subcontract, employment is extremely difficult to verify using the DOL current resources. Hence, DOL has found the use of union records to be a tremendous assistance in the verification process. Some contractors have access to relevant union, pension, or other records that could assist the DOL in the verification of employment. INFORMATION BEING REQUESTED / QUESTIONS Interested contractors responding to this Request for Information (RFI) will be required to indicate their ability to fulfill all the requirements that are stipulated below: 1. Demonstrate your extensive institutional knowledge of the current and historical operations performed by the Department of Energy (DOE) worksites - the work performed, the occupations related to construction or trade and the time period the contractors/subcontractors were on site. Please provide a summary of your knowledge. 2. Are you familiar with the DOE medical screening programs, and the records they may have? If yes, please describe your knowledge of the screening programs and their records. 3. Do you have access to union records such as pension funds, health and welfare funds, and dispatch records? If yes, please explain. 4. What would be your approach for identifying new and untapped information sources for relevant union pension, health and welfare funds, or dispatch records? 5. Demonstrate your ability to develop and maintain an electronic process for tracking data as it pertains to contractor/subcontractor relationships with DOE. 6. Demonstrate your knowledge of the contractual relationships between the DOE and contractor/subcontractors. Please provide examples. 7. Describe your familiarity with the organizations that represent workers linked to the atomic weapons design, production, or testing. 8. Explain how you would foster a working relationships with local union officials or other worker representatives that may be privy to documentation or other records used to verify a worker's presence at a job site where atomic weapons design, production or testing occurred. 9. What steps would be taken to ensure that records or other information obtained from union organizations or other worker representatives is an accurate and unaltered report of information? Instructions and Response Guidelines The response must be specific to the questions above to demonstrate that the respondent has the requisite skills and experience. Experience and past performance is requested of qualified, prime respondents. Partner or team member capabilities should be addressed separately. Responses to this RFI shall not exceed 10 pages, must be viewable with Microsoft Word 2003, and printable on "8.5 x 11" paper. Responses must use 12 point font, Times New Roman, the margins of each page should be at least - inch, and each page should contain a page number. This Sources Sought is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Government to issue a Request for Proposal or award a contract. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted, for the vendor-sponsored demonstration or the Government's use of such information. Sources responding to this Sources Sought should submit the minimum information necessary for the government to make a determination that the source is capable of satisfying the requirements. Proprietary Information Respondents are not to provide any information that is considered proprietary, trade secrets, privileged, or confidential as part of the RFI responses. Acknowledgment of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the Government's evaluation of the information received. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Request For Information or the Government's use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement. Responses should be identified with DOL, and are due no later than 12:00 P.M. (EST) on May 11, 2010. All interested parties must submit their responses via email fowler.christian@dol.gov and bailey.gladys@dol.gov. Questions regarding this RFI will NOT be entertained at this time. Telephone calls regarding this RFI will not be accepted. The government reserves the right to compete any acquisition resulting from this survey among small businesses or to make an award to an 8(a) firm, based on the responses received. This sources sought notice is for planning purposes only and does not commit the government to pay for the information requested, issue a solicitation, or award a contract. No solicitation document exists at this time. Contracting Office Address: U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) OASAM Office of Procurement Services 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room S4307 Washington, District of Columbia 20210 Primary Point of Contact: Christian Fowler Contract Specialist fowler.christian@dol.gov Secondary Point of Contact: Gladys M. Bailey Contracting Officer bailey.gladys@dol.gov