Next week, I’ll be speaking on small business federal contracting issues at for the AFCEA South Florida chapter. But if you can’t catch that talk, there’s a lot of federal contracting news to catch up on this week. Read on below.

Stories from the past week include the White House release of an executive order that may have some effect on federal contractors. The executive order requires a clause in federal contracts prohibiting federal contractors from using “workplace training that inculcates in its employees any form of race or sex stereotyping or any form of race or sex scapegoating.”

‘[R]ace or sex stereotyping’ means ascribing character traits, values, moral and ethical codes, privileges, status, or beliefs to a race or sex, or to an individual because of his or her race or sex, and the term ‘race or sex scapegoating’ means assigning fault, blame, or bias to a race or sex, or to members of a race or sex because of their race or sex.” Contractors should be aware of this new requirement, but we’ll have to see how it plays out in practice.

Read on for other interesting stories.

• Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping [White House].
• Proposed rule clarifying the definition of employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as it relates to independent contractors [Department of Labor].
• AI Commission Wants to Know How Government Can Help Industry Boost Commercial Innovation [Nextgov].
• IGs on pandemic oversight board warn job well done still means billions in fraud [Federal News Network].
• House Passes Stopgap Spending Bill Seeking to Avoid Shutdown Through Dec. 11 [GovExec].
• Government Contracts Fraud – Brodie Thomson Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison Following Guilty Plea [MeriTalk].

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