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Onsi University
Redefining Fringe Benefit Tracking
Onsi Group’s fringe benefit tracking system provides our clients with a detailed compliance analysis of all bona
fide fringe benefits offered to employees such as insurance, retirement plans, health savings accounts, sick leave,
holiday, vacation, and more. We also offer Trust Administration turn-key services to ensure that fringe benefit
regulations are followed for all covered employees. We help your company manage fringe benefits so that you
can offer the best value and coverage options without getting lost in the compliance requirements or deflated by
the cost.
Fringe Benefits.
Simplified.
Onsi helps you manage Fringe Benefits
Our team of subject matter experts provide contractors a full 360-degree view of what we believe to be the three (3) major areas of contract administration and prevailing wage compliance: SCA and DBA Requirements, Contract Profitability, and Department of Labor Investigation Defense.
SCA and DBA Requirements
Onsi Team Members specialize in the practical application of all SCA & DBA labor requirements. It is one thing to know the law, the real challenge lies in understanding how to apply it to your company’s processes and procedures in a way that works for you.
Contract Profitability
The importance of compliance cannot be understated. However, if you want to stay in business, you must maintain contract profitability as well.
Should you pay the fringe benefit requirements in cash or in benefits?
• Well, that depends, does your pricing model anticipate the additional costs for paying “cash in-lieu of” benefits?
Was a new wage determination incorporated into your contract, requiring an increase in employees’ Health & Welfare / Fringe Benefit and/or hourly wage rates?
• If so, you may be eligible to submit a Price Adjustment request.
Did you provide benefits above and beyond what was required in your contract and wage determination?
• Some of these costs may be recoverable.
These are just a few scenarios The Onsi Group assists with on a daily basis – while assuring your company remains compliant. Our team is always looking out for your company’s bottom line.
Department of Labor Defense
Are you facing a DOL investigation? Don’t be discouraged! Our Onsi Team has been successful in assisting contractors in navigating through many DOL investigations and has helped them achieve successful outcomes. We are intimately familiar with the intricacies of the Department of Labor’s investigation processes and procedures, as well as negotiation strategies. We have assisted many contractors in negotiating reduced liability settlements, and in some cases eliminating liability completely.
We help employers clearly communicate with DOL Investigators in their own language, as well as present data and supporting documentation in a format that helps expedite the investigation process—we can reduce investigation times by as much as 50%. We help you emerge from a DOL investigation more confident, experienced, and above all, with limited financial impact often associated with having been subjected to a DOL investigation.
What are Fringe Benefits?
Fringe Benefits are a non-monetary component of an employee’s overall compensation package. In Government Contracting, Fringe Benefits are a requirement in addition to wages for all contracts subject to SCA and DBA/DBRA. Some of the most common examples of fringe benefits are:
• Medical Insurance
• Dental
• Vision
• Life Insurance
• Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Accidental Cancer/Critical Care/Hospitalization
• Health Savings Accounts
• Retirement Plans
• And more...
Any benefit required by law such as Social Security, Medicare, and Workers Compensation are not considered bona fide fringe benefits under the SCA and/or DBA/DBRA.
We value Onsi's knowledge, timeliness, and guidance in assisting with most aspects of our small business. If there's an issue that we have, aside from their services, they listen and try to point us in the right direction.
Trust Administration Services
When it comes to Federal Contracting, Onsi’s Team of subject matter experts specialize in navigating and interpreting the complex provisions of the Service Contract Act (SCA), Davis-Bacon Act (DBA), Davis-Bacon Related Acts (DBRA), and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Compliance violations can derail your business and/or limit your eligibility to compete for new contract opportunities.
Some of the Trust Administration Services we offer*:
Annual Fringe Benefit Analysis
Employee Onboarding and/or Open Enrollment Webinars
Employee Prevailing Wage Management Support
Monthly Fringe Benefit Reporting
Quarterly Fringe Benefit Reporting
Fringe Benefit Hour Bank Reserve
Corporate Prevailing Wage Compliance Support
Fringe Benefit Price Adjustment Reports
Department of Labor Investigation Support
And more...
**based on various offerings
Fringe Benefits FAQs
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What is the Service Contract Act (SCA)?
The Service Contract Act of 1965 is a federal statute which controls the wages and fringe benefit aspect of service contracts entered into between companies and the federal government.
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What is the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA)?
The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 also regulates prevailing wages and fringe benefits for employees engaged in the performance of federal contracts which includes “construction, alteration or repair of public buildings and public works.” The DBA generally applies to contracts in excess of $2,000.
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What are the Davis-Bacon Related Acts (DBRA)?
Congress has added prevailing wage provisions to approximately 60 statutes which assist construction projects through grants, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance. These “related Acts” involve construction in such areas as transportation, housing, air and water pollution reduction, and health.
*Only if an applicable wage determination itself, requires that the hourly wage rate be increased during the period of the contract, will a rate increase be required. -
Does the Service Contract Act (SCA) or Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) apply to all government contract services work?
No. The Service Contract Act (SCA) applies only to service workers on federal “service” contracts, while the Davis-Bacon Act applies to workers on federally supported construction contracts. Although there are professional exemptions for both, they must be evaluated on a case by case basis.
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What is Prevailing Wage?
Both SCA and DBA laws ensure that workers on government-funded projects are paid the going market rate, i.e. the prevailing wage. The prevailing wage is based on surveys of wages and benefits for occupations in each local market. This helps standardize wages across an industry and ensures that government spending does not drive down market wages.
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What is Health and Welfare (H&W)?
On SCA covered contracts that are subject to a Wage Determination, there is a minimum prevailing wage requirement which is accompanied by a type of “stipend” to help cover employee benefit costs – Health and Welfare (H&W).
The H&W hourly amount is provided to the employer to use on behalf of the service employee to offset the cost of benefits. These benefits can include medical, dental, vision insurances, life and disability insurances, cancer, critical care, hospitalization, short and long term disability, retirement plans, etc. -
Why does the employer get to choose the benefits?
The government structured the law to have the employer make the determination that fits their employee population. There are many factors that play into the Company’s decision regarding which benefits to provide or whether they will elect to dispose of their responsibility to provide benefits by paying cash instead (i.e. “cash in-lieu-of”); but at the end of the day, the ultimate decision rests with the employer.