Compensation for Personal Services

Allowable or Unallowable: Allowable

Source: "Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)" is not in the list of possible values (Other, FAR, DFAR) for this property.

Compensation for Personal Services

"Compensation for Personal Services" means all remuneration paid currently or accrued, in whatever form and whether paid immediately or deferred, for services rendered by employees to the contractor.

(a) General

Compensation for personal services is allowable subject to the following general criteria and additional requirements contained in other parts of this cost principle:

(1) Compensation for personal services must be for work performed by the employee in the current year and must not represent a retroactive adjustment of prior years’ salaries or wages (but see paragraphs (g), (h), (j), (k), (m), and (o) of this subsection).

(2) The total compensation for individual employees or job classes of employees must be reasonable for the work performed; however, specific restrictions on individual compensation elements apply when prescribed. Reasonableness of compensation with a job class or grade of labor is done through Compensation Benchmarking. For more on this subject, See Compensation Benchmarking.

(3) The compensation must be based upon and conform to the terms and conditions of the contractor’s established compensation plan or practice followed so consistently as to imply, in effect, an agreement to make the payment.

(4) No presumption of allowability will exist where the contractor introduces major revisions of existing compensation plans or new plans and the contractor has not provided the cognizant ACO, either before implementation or within a reasonable period after it, an opportunity to review the allowability of the changes.

(5) Costs that are unallowable under other paragraphs of this Subpart 31.2 are not allowable under this subsection 31.205-6 solely on the basis that they constitute compensation for personal services.

(6)

(i) Compensation costs for certain individuals give rise to the need for special consideration. Such individuals include:

• (A) Owners of closely held corporations, members of limited liability companies, partners, sole proprietors, or members of their immediate families; and

• (B) Persons who are contractually committed to acquire a substantial financial interest in the contractor’s enterprise.

(ii) For these individuals, compensation must— (A) Be reasonable for the personal services rendered; and (B) Not be a distribution of profits (which is not an allowable contract cost).

(iii) For owners of closely held companies, compensation in excess of the costs that are deductible as compensation under the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.) and regulations under it is unallowable.

(b) Reasonableness

• (1) Compensation pursuant to labor-management agreements. If costs of compensation established under "arm’s length" labor-management agreements negotiated under the terms of the Federal Labor Relations Act or similar state statutes are otherwise allowable, the costs are reasonable unless, as applied to work in performing Government contracts, the costs are unwarranted by the character and circumstances of the work or discriminatory against the Government. The application of the provisions of a labor-management agreement designed to apply to a given set of circumstances and conditions of employment (e.g., work involving extremely hazardous activities or work not requiring recurrent use of overtime) is unwarranted when applied to a Government contract involving significantly different circumstances and conditions of employment (e.g., work involving less hazardous activities or work continually requiring use of overtime). It is discriminatory against the Government if it results in employee compensation (in whatever form or name) in excess of that being paid for similar non-Government work under comparable circumstances.

• (2) Compensation not covered by labor-management agreements. Compensation for each employee or job class of employees must be reasonable for the work performed. Compensation is reasonable if the aggregate of each measurable and allowable element sums to a reasonable total. In determining the reasonableness of total compensation, consider only allowable individual elements of compensation. In addition to the provisions of 31.201-3, in testing the reasonableness of compensation for particular employees or job classes of employees, consider factors determined to be relevant by the contracting officer. Factors that may be relevant include, but are not limited to, conformity with compensation practices of other firms—
  • (i) Of the same size;
  • (ii) In the same industry;
  • (iii) In the same geographic area; and
  • (iv) Engaged in similar non-Government work under comparable circumstances.

(d) Form of payment

• (1) Compensation for personal services includes compensation paid or to be paid in the future to employees in the form of— (i) Cash; (ii) Corporate securities, such as stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments (see paragraph (d)(2) of this subsection regarding valuation); or (iii) Other assets, products, or services.

• (2) When compensation is paid with securities of the contractor or of an affiliate, the following additional restrictions apply:
  • (i) Valuation placed on the securities is the fair market value on the first date the number of shares awarded is known, determined upon the most objective basis available.
  • (ii) Accruals for the cost of securities before issuing the securities to the employees are subject to adjustment according to the possibilities that the employees will not receive the securities and that their interest in the accruals will be forfeited.

(e) Income Tax Differential Pay

• (1) Differential allowances for additional income taxes resulting from foreign assignments are allowable.

• (2) Differential allowances for additional income taxes resulting from domestic assignments are unallowable. (However, payments for increased employee income or Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes incident to allowable reimbursed relocation costs are allowable under 31.205-35(a)(10).)