What’s exempt from the Services Contract Act

Many of us have heard rumors of certain types of services that are exempt from the SCA. These rumors are absolutely true. There are a small number of services to which the Service Contract Act does not apply. They are: 

1. Construction, alteration and/or repair, including painting and decorating of public building or public works [that is to say, if the Davis-Bacon Act applies];
2. Work required in accordance with the Walsh-Healy Act [certain manufacturing services over $10,000];
3. Carriage of freight or personnel where published tariff rates are in effect or where such carriage is subject to section 10721 of the Interstate Commerce Act;
4. Services furnished by radio, telephone, telegraph or cable companies that are subject to the Communications Act of 1934;
5. Public utility services including electric light and power, water, steam, and gas;
6. Employment contracts providing for direct services to a Federal agency by an individual or individuals;
7. Operation of Postal Contract Stations;
8. Most carriage of mail with common carriers over regularly established routes;
9. Individual owner-operators for mail service where the only “employees” hired to perform those services are for short periods like vacations, emergencies, accidents, etc.;
10. Maintenance, calibration, and/or repair of automated data processing equipment and office information/word processing systems;
11. Maintenance, calibration, and/or repair of certain medical apparatus or equipment;
12. Maintenance, calibration, and/or repair of office/business machines where such services are performed by the manufacturer or supplier of the equipment.

Numbers 10-12 apply only under a strictly interpreted set of conditions - all of which must be met. Those circumstances are: 

A. The things serviced are commercial items used a lot by private industry, and sold or traded to the general public in substantial quantities in their normal course of business;
B. The services are furnished at prices which are, or are based on established and published catalog, list, schedule, or market prices for such services; and
C. The contractor compensates all employees the same, whether for government or commercial work.
D. The contractor must certify A-C. 

Exemptions 1-12 were either written right into the law as “Part 7″ exemptions (41 U.S.C.§ 356) or under the Secretary of Labor’s authority to allow exemptions, which have been codified in 29 C.F.R. § 4. Of course, depending on exactly what you do for a living, the only ones likely to come up in your daily duties are 1, 5, 6, 10, and 12. 

While that may be more than you wanted to learn about the Service Contract Act, you now know the whole story - and knowing is half the battle.