FCC Ethics, Risk Management & Reporting 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Anti-Kickback Act (41 U.S.C. § 8701), what is a 'kickback' in the federal contracting context?
- A penalty assessed for late contract performance
- Any money, fee, commission, or gift provided to obtain or reward favorable treatment in a subcontract (Correct answer)
- A refund issued when a contractor overbills the government
- A bonus paid to government employees for early contract approval
Correct answer: Any money, fee, commission, or gift provided to obtain or reward favorable treatment in a subcontract
Under the Anti-Kickback Act, a kickback is any money, fee, credit, gift, or thing of value given to obtain or reward favorable treatment in connection with a subcontract.
Question 2: What is 'debarment' in federal contracting, and who has the authority to impose it?
- A temporary suspension of contract payments, imposed by the contracting officer
- A permanent ban on doing business with the government, imposed by Congress
- An exclusion from participation in federal procurement for a specified period, imposed by a debarring official (Correct answer)
- A financial penalty for ethics violations, imposed by the Inspector General
Correct answer: An exclusion from participation in federal procurement for a specified period, imposed by a debarring official
Debarment is an exclusion from federal procurement participation for a specified period (generally not exceeding 3 years), imposed by the agency debarring official under FAR Subpart 9.4.
Question 3: A contractor employee discovers their supervisor has been inflating labor hours on government invoices. The employee is afraid of retaliation. Which law specifically protects federal contractor employees who report such fraud?
- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act
- The National Labor Relations Act
- 41 U.S.C. § 4712 (the contractor whistleblower protection statute) (Correct answer)
- The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act
Correct answer: 41 U.S.C. § 4712 (the contractor whistleblower protection statute)
41 U.S.C. § 4712 prohibits retaliation against contractor employees who disclose fraud, waste, or abuse related to federal contracts.
Question 4: In a risk register, what information is typically captured to describe a risk's potential impact?
- The name of the employee responsible for monitoring the risk
- The probability of the risk occurring multiplied by its consequence (risk score) (Correct answer)
- The contract line item number most affected by the risk
- The date the risk was first identified by the project team
Correct answer: The probability of the risk occurring multiplied by its consequence (risk score)
A risk score in a risk register is typically calculated as Probability × Impact, allowing risks to be prioritized by their expected consequence.
Question 5: Which of the following constitutes an Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) under FAR Subpart 9.5?
- A contractor employs workers who previously served in the military
- A contractor that helped write the specifications for a solicitation then bids on that same solicitation (Correct answer)
- Two subsidiaries of the same parent company bid on separate government contracts
- A contractor hires a subcontractor that previously lost a bid on the same project
Correct answer: A contractor that helped write the specifications for a solicitation then bids on that same solicitation
An OCI occurs when a contractor's participation in writing specifications for a requirement gives them an unfair competitive advantage when bidding on that same work.
Question 6: The 'tone at the top' concept in contractor ethics programs refers to:
- Placing ethics posters in visible locations throughout the workplace
- Senior leadership visibly modeling and actively supporting ethical behavior (Correct answer)
- Ensuring the ethics hotline number appears at the top of all employee communications
- Requiring the CEO to personally sign all ethics training certifications
Correct answer: Senior leadership visibly modeling and actively supporting ethical behavior
'Tone at the top' means that senior leadership actively demonstrates commitment to ethical conduct, which sets the behavioral standard for the entire organization.
Question 7: Under FAR 3.1003, which of the following actions is a contractor required to take regarding employment discussions with current federal employees involved in their procurement?
- Report all employment discussions with government employees to the SBA
- Certify that it has no knowledge of any improper employment contacts
- Prohibit such employment discussions unless the government employee has received written authorization (Correct answer)
- Submit a post-award conflict disclosure within 60 days of contract execution
Correct answer: Prohibit such employment discussions unless the government employee has received written authorization
FAR 3.1003 requires contractors to prohibit employment discussions with federal employees involved in the contractor's procurement unless the employee has received agency authorization.
FCC Ethics, Risk Management & Reporting 3
Under the Anti-Kickback Act (41 U.S.C. § 8701), what is a 'kickback' in the federal contracting context?