AMENDMENT #2 - MARKET SURVEY-Federal Human Resource (FHR), Retirement Benefits Calculator on-line human resources (HR) processing tool
The purpose of Amendment #2 is to provide the Government response to Public Inquiries. The Government response is provided as a separate attachment with this announcement.
All other terms and conditions are unchanged.
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The purpose of Amendment #1 is to correct the closing time for this announcement from 5:00 pm to 2:00 pm, on February 13, 2018.
All other terms and conditions are unchanged.
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In accordance with FAAbs Acquisition Management System (AMS) Procurement Guidance T3.2.1.2A, b Market Research & Analysisb (rev. Apr. 2013), the purpose of this announcement is to conduct a Market Survey to solicit statements of interest and capabilities from interested vendors, as further described below. This Market Survey seeks to identify potential vendors for this contract, including groups of business teams. FAA is also conducting this Market Survey to obtain the information necessary to aid FAA in determining whether adequate competition exists among Small Business Concerns (please refer to paragraph two below).
The principal North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) description for this requirement is 541611, Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services, Size Standard $15M.
1. Objective
The FAAbs Benefits Operation Center is conducting this Market Survey to:
b"Inform the industry of the potential contract opportunity, and solicit capability statements and other information from interested vendors capable of providing the services to be set forth in a potential Screening Information Request.
b"In particular, solicit statements of interest and capabilities from qualified and capable businesses of the types described in paragraph 2, below.
2. Purpose
This Market Survey is also conducted to obtain the information necessary to determine whether adequate competition exists among small businesses, service-disabled veteran- owned small businesses (SDVOSB), and section 8(a) socially and economically disadvantaged businesses (SEDB). SEDB must be certified by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SDVOSB must be designated as a SDVOSB on the VA website. The acquisition strategy and the nature of this procurement will be a Small Business Set-Aside and the FAA will accept industry comments and capability responses from Small Business Concerns. The FAA may decide to do a competitive set-aside with the business types identified above. The survey is limited to small businesses.
This Market Survey announcement is not a Screening Information Request (SIR) or a Request for Proposals (RFP) of any kind. This Market Survey is for informational and planning purposes only. The FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals. This Market Survey should not be construed as a commitment of any type by the Government to take or not take any action. No evaluation letters or results will be issued to respondents. The Government will not reimburse any costs incurred by respondents in responding to this notice.
3. Background
The requirement of this FAA Program is to provide a Retirement Benefits Calculator, including standardized written estimates, to FAA employees.
4. Description of the Requirement
Respondents must be able to meet all requirements set forth in this Market Survey, including the b draftb Statement of Work requirements.
REQUIREMENTSb Interested Parties must demonstrate how their relevant corporate experience, technical approach, corporate capability, and past performance, in five pages or less, demonstrates their ability to provide the following services:
a.A web-based interactive retirement benefits calculator with both an FAA human resources b benefits specialistb (from here on out refers to Benefits Operations Center [BOC] staff) function and the FAA b employeeb (from here on out refers to non-BOC staff) benefits function that would allow the users to perform multiple retirement estimate calculations.
b.The retirement calculator should include a case assignment and case tracking function that allows BOC human resource benefits supervisors to assign and track cases that they assign to their BOC staff.
c.The retirement calculator should be hosted on the vendorbs servers (the vendor must be FEDRAMP certified) and must be available via the internet 24 hours per day/7 days per week, unless the FAA is otherwise notified for vendor system maintenance. This feature applies to the specialist and employee versions.
d.The FAA benefits specialist performing the calculation must have the option to add data, utilize imported data, or change imported data to obtain standardized retirement calculations, which in turn would be provided to the employee.
e.It is imperative that retirement estimate calculations be accurate, and conform to applicable laws and current policies or guidelines established by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), relating to Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), CSRS Offset, and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirement and benefits. The specialist retirement calculator must include the ability to calculate retirement estimates under CSRS, CSRS Offset, and FERS, as well as any applicable special provisions.
f.The specialist calculator must provide the following calculation capabilities:
b"Optional retirement;
b"Voluntary early retirement authority;
b"Phased retirement;
b"Disability retirement;
b"Discontinued service retirement;
b"Deferred retirement;
b"Death in service;
b"Retirement estimates for special groups (Air Traffic Controller Specialists, Law Enforcement, Fire Fighters)
b"Intermittent time;
b"Part-time service;
b"Leave without pay;
b"Survivor benefits;
b"Health insurance;
b"Life insurance;
b"Civilian and military service deposit and refund decisions;
b"Sick leave projections;
b"Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) benefits;
b"Social Security options and impacts;
b"FERS transfer comparison;
b"Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Correction Act (FERCCA) elections;
b"Retirement Code corrections (non-FERCCA);
b"Alternative form of annuity;
b"Severance pay;
b"Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay calculation;
b"Service computation date calculation;
b"Economic adjustments.
g.The contractor must provide a user guide for the FAA benefits specialist and FAA employee retirement calculator functions in a web-based format. The specialist and employee user guide versions are separate.
h.The contractor must develop and apply modifications to reflect changes in laws and policies. If legal or regulatory requirements change, the contractor will be responsible for implementing those laws or requirements in a reasonable time acceptable to the COR. Changes to the retirement calculator must be timely, so as not to impair the accuracy of results available to FAA employees.
i.The contractor must provide FAA user-roles (Administrator, Supervisor, Benefits Specialist, Assistant, Employee) with associated user functions and role-related access (for FAA benefits specialists and FAA employees) to the retirement calculator. The contractor must provide verification processes for user login and password (this must include PIV Card or CAC login procedures, as well. Functions of roles are:
b"Administrator b BOC staff will have the ability to add, modify, or delete user access.
b"Supervisor b BOC supervisor will have the ability to assign and track cases to/for their employees.
b"Specialist b BOC benefits specialist will have access to all functions listed in paragraph f.
b"Assistant b BOC benefits assistant will have access to all functions listed in paragraph f. except FERCCA.
b"Employee b FAA employees (non-BOC staff) will have access to their own service history only for the purpose of creating individual retirement scenarios.
j.The retirement calculator must have the ability to further define the user roles listed in paragraph i. by assigning the Supervisor, Benefits Specialist, and Assistant; access to FAA regions and Senior Executive Service(SES)/non-SES FAA employees' records.
k.The contractor must provide training and support for using the retirement calculator to FAA benefits specialists and FAA employees, through the helpdesk. There must be no additional charge for this training and support.
l.The contractorbs staff will have access to sensitive records, including personally identifiable information, such as an employeebs name, date of birth, and Social Security number. The contractor must prevent the unauthorized release of information obtained by its employees in performing work required by this contract. The contractor must ensure that its employees are aware of, and receive training, as necessary, on all laws and regulations, such as the Privacy Act, that restrict the release of information. Retirement estimates, service computation date calculations, and other data generated by the retirement calculator is the property of the FAA, and such information is protected under the Privacy Act. All retirement estimates and related data produced by the retirement calculator in electronic format or for copying and/or scanning must be encrypted (if electronic) or maintained in GSA-approved locked container (if printed material) files while under the contractorbs custody and control.
m.The employee calculator function must be available. This function will allow employees to adjust their estimates to reflect different b what-ifb scenarios concerning their retirement plans; permitting employees to obtain retirement estimates under the CSRS, CSRS Offset, and FERS.
n.Once the service history has been verified and b lockedb by the FAA Benefits Specialist or Assistant, the employee calculator will allow employees to calculate an unlimited number of retirement estimates using various scenarios. The FAA employee will have the ability to select different retirement dates, health insurance and life insurance options, survivor benefit options, etc. to calculate their estimates. The FAA employee could then contact the BOC with any questions or concerns.
o.The FAA employee calculator must provide the following calculation capabilities:
b"Optional retirement;
b"Voluntary early retirement authority;
b"Phased retirement;
b"Disability retirement;
b"Discontinued service retirement;
b"Deferred retirement;
b"Retirement estimates for special groups (Air Traffic Control Specialists, Law Enforcement, Fire Fighters);
b"Severance pay;
b"Adjustments to economic assumptions;
b"TSP;
b"Social Security benefits;
b"FERS Transfer comparison.
p.The benefits specialist calculator and the FAA employee calculator must be in a mutually compatible format, so that the results from two products can be meaningfully compared.
q.The contractor must provide planning, analysis, troubleshooting, integration, operations, maintenance, training to FAA benefits specialists and FAA employees (as applicable) on new functions or features developed after implementation, documentation, and administration services for the retirement calculator.
r.The contractor must maintain security measures per the FAAbs Personally Identifiable Information policies and procedures.
s.The contractor must have subject matter experts in the subject matter of federal retirement process, policy, and special provisions (Air Traffic), to develop and maintain the retirement calculator to ensure that the retirement calculator follows the current laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to federal retirements and benefits. Privacy Act requirements stated here will also apply to subcontractors, if any.
NOTE: The contractorbs experts must have high-level experience in the areas of consultation on specialized strategic HR and general management issues, leading and/or working on highly complex, difficult and sensitive projects; conceptualizes project goals and management plans; produces or reviews substantive and complex documents reflecting detailed knowledge of topic area. Relevant experience includes, but is not limited to, experience in supporting and/or leading large projects related to federal retirement and benefits. These senior personnel must be recognized experts in the area of federal retirement and benefits. These senior personnel must have at least 5 years of professional experience in the area of federal retirement and benefits calculations; at least a bachelorbs degree or equivalent experience; preferably a Masterbs degree and Professional in Human Resources (PHR) or Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification.
t.Contractor must develop a database for downloading historical and current personnel and payroll data for all FAA employees, based on personnel and payroll transactions which affect employeebs retirement calculations. Transaction downloads are not limited to processing SF-50bs, health, life insurance, or other data changes that occur on a bi-weekly basis. The database will be used to populate the complete service history information for approximately 45,000 employees.
u.The retirement calculator must include a benefit forms library with self-populating forms necessary for the FAA benefits specialists to process a myriad of retirement and benefit functions (ex. retirement applications, military and civilian deposit/redeposit applications, death in service applications, etc.).
v.The FAA is required to provide a certification Form FAA 3300-30 (Creditable Service Computation) and an OPM Form RI 20-124 (Certification of Service Performed as a Law Enforcement Officer, Firefighter, Nuclear Materials Courier, Customs and Border Protection Officer [535 Service], or Air Traffic Controller [ATC]) for all retirement applications for employees who performed in an ATC covered position under specialized retirement coverage. An integrated FAA Form 3300-30 and Form RI 20-124 must be available, which will automatically generate and populate with an FAA employeebs service history, based on ATC specialized retirement coverage codes (known as the b FAA Stat Specb ) under job series 2152.
5. Point of Contact (POC):
Natalie Burgess
Contracting Officer (AAQ-420)
Federal Office Building 10A, Room 406 W.
800 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20591
Phone: (202) 267-4039
E-mail address: natalie.burgess@faa.gov
E-mail subject: Federal Human Resource (FHR), Retirement Benefits Calculator on-line human resources (HR) processing tool
6. Delivery Instructions (see also paragraph 7, below):
Respond to this Market Survey as follows:
(a)via e-mail to Natalie Burgess at Natalie.burgess@faa.gov;
(b)FAA prefers that all questions and submittals, including attachments, be submitted electronically to the e-mail address stated above. Please submit as a Microsoft Word file. If you cannot submit electronically, please send at least two hard copies by the indicated deadline to the POC mail address identified above.
(c)vendorbs submission must include the following completed items:
b"Cover letter
b"Completed Business Declaration Form
b"Small Business Administration 8(a) Certification, if applicable
b"Veterans Administration SDVOSB Certification, if applicable
b"Capability Statement (not exceeding five (5) pages, at 12 font size)
7. Market Survey Response Requirements
The responses to this request must contain a cover letter on company letterhead. The Capability Statement is limited to five (5) pages at 12 point font. The cover letter is not included in this count. All responses must be received via email or U.S. mail no later than 2:00 p.m. EST on February 13, 2018. Late responses may not be accepted. Incomplete responses may not be considered.
Questions related to this Market Survey:
The Government will accept questions related to this Market Survey. The deadline for submitting questions is 2:00 PM EST, on January 23, 2018. The Government will not respond to inquiries received after this date and time. The Government will publish a single public response to all questions that are received by the deadline.
Please include the following email subject line in all email inquiries: Market Survey- Federal Human Resource (FHR), Retirement Benefits Calculator On-line Human Resources (HR) Processing Tool.
E-mails must include company point(s) of contact, telephone number(s), FAX number(s), E-mail address or addresses (if available), and mailing address.
The Contracting Officer will not accept telephone calls related to this Market Survey.
8. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
(a) Responses will not be returned. Since this is a sources-sought announcement, no evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to respondents. No solicitation exists at this time. If a solicitation is issued, it will be synopsized on the FAAbs Contract Opportunities web page. It is respondentbs responsibility to monitor that site for the solicitationbs release.
(b) Please note the following:
Attention: Minority, Women-Owned and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises:
The DOT Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization has a program to assist small businesses, small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and women-owned concerns, to acquire short-term working capital assistance for transportation-related contracts. Loans are available under the DOT Short Term Lending Program (STLP). For further information and applicable forms concerning STLP, call the OSDBU at (800) 532-1169.
If you're viewing this announcement from a source other than Federal Aviation Administration Contract Opportunities (FAACO), visit https://faaco.faa.gov/index.cfm/announcement/view/29221 to view the original announcement.
Natalie Burgess, natalie.burgess@faa.gov, Phone: 202-267-4039
Click here to email Natalie Burgess
