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Acquisitive Mind

By Matthew Weigelt

Blog archive

DHS requires 'Hi, I'm a contractor' introduction

Homeland Security Department officials want to draw a bright and shiny line between the two teams that work inside a federal department: the federal employees and the contractors.

Under DHS’ FirstSource II draft request for proposals, officials are telling contractor employees to announce in all interactions that they are not federal employees but are, instead, contractors.

For example, contractor employees must introduce themselves, in person and in voicemails, as employees of their companies. They cannot try to elide the difference by saying they work for DHS. And if they're employed by a subcontractor, they have to identify the company, not say they are employees of their prime contractor.

And federal Homeland Security Department officials—not to be confused with contractors—are suggestion that these announcements aren’t something for people to laugh about over lunch.

“Failure to adhere to this requirement may constitute grounds for termination for default of the base FirstSource II contract,” the draft states. Serious stuff.

The Defense Department has a similar rule. Contractors must announce, wherever they go, that they are contractor, not a federal employee. Officials instituted the rule in 2010.

The “Hi, I’m a contractor” rule may show who’s who in a conversation or meeting. But it won’t help in blending the workforce, some readers have said.

Contractors fear that the rule could undermine the teamwork that’s essential in that type of workforce.

“How do you maintain unity of community when segregation is forced?” a reader asked.

Posted by Matthew Weigelt on Oct 31, 2011 at 11:50 AM


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Reader comments

Wed, Nov 16, 2011 Does not compute

I have worked as both a servicemember and as as a contractor. Many times, I never saw my "corporate" boss nor any representative from corporate. I interacted and supported the organizations as a trusted partner. As having the same requirements for security clearances, I still have not understood this move to cause such a segregation of workforce that completing the overall mission, the continuing support of our country, seems to be lost. I have seen it as bad as classifications (not security levels) of contractors being seperated by floors of a building. The worst yet that I have seen is a company being brought in to help "modernize" and all solutions being dumped because it did not come from a goverment person (many many FTE hours lost and billable hours). The best part of it was none of the effort was unsolicited, it was at the request of the agency being supported.

Mon, Nov 7, 2011

Considering the size of each group in the workforce and the amount of work that each really produces, wouldn't it be more useful if the Feds were the ones to announce that they are Feds and therefore not doing any real work. That way the vendors can concentrate on those people who really make the government work.

Mon, Nov 7, 2011 kpickens

Best idea I have heard in a while. As a former IRS employee, I saw a few contract employees get away with some disclosure that I would have been fired for, simply because the contractor was not subject to dismissal for committing one of the "10 deadly sins" that I worked under. I think this will help the American public also get a better view of our "shadow" government and how, although the GOP wants to "starve the beast" with budget cuts, the federal work force is just being replaced with ever more expensive and irresponsible (and sometimes "no-bid") contracts. That aside, I enjoyed working with most contract employees, even though they had taken over jobs that should have been filled through normal agency hiring. I also did not appreciate the fact that a lot of the guards around various properties ID'd themselves as "Federal Employees" when in fact, they were not. They could guard the building, but your loyalties always are to your employer, and in this case it was not the American people.

Sun, Nov 6, 2011 Death Dealer VA

Everyone's listed great reasons in their comments, but I bring up something else: Security. Contractors (prime and sub) go through the same briefings and training about security as everyone else. Well, how safe are you when you have to id yourself as a contractor vs a servicemember or GS? Wouldn't this fall into the category of private/personal information? And, isn't such information supposed to be safeguarded at all times??? If I even remotely yapped about this while I served, I'd lose my clearance and my career. But, this is supposedly okay as contractors??? Call me old, crazy, or both, but I don't seem how this unites everyone into a secure team without segregation and tossing away what should be common sense.

Thu, Nov 3, 2011 Paul

The main thing I disapprove of in many of these conversations is the fact that many contractors are as much a part of the organization as the rest of us. I have been military, contractor, and civilian at various times for a number of years and find that unit cohesion is a critical component to mission success. Where I work is a bit different than some because we don't hire contractors for a fixed project. Our contractors will likely work for us for years on a variety of projects and are integral to our mission. Why shouldn't they be able to say they work for us. When I was in their shoes, I barely knew my contractor boss and never once set foot in their offices. All I knew were the military folks for whom I worked and considered my real supervisors. I was part of that team and the contractor was just a means to an end. Some distinctions will always need to be made for reasons like ethics and responsibility but it doesn't need to be a wall. We're all adults here.

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