§3703 Assignment of employees to private sector organizations

Summary

An employee sent to work at a private company is treated as still on duty for their regular agency job while on that assignment. The employee keeps their federal workers’ compensation coverage, rights, and benefits, and the time counts as U.S. employment. If the private company or its insurance pays the employee or dependents for the same injury or death, that payment is subtracted from what the federal compensation would pay. Travel, moving, and pay costs for the assignment can be paid by the private company or not, under the same rules that apply for federal, state, or local government details (see section 3375). Any money paid back to the agency must go to the same fund that paid those costs. The Federal Tort Claims Act and other federal liability laws apply, and the agency and the private company can make an agreement about who supervises the employee. Agencies must make at least 20 percent of their assignments each year to small businesses. The law defines three terms: “small business concern” means a business that meets the Small Business Administration rules in section 3(a)(2) of the Small Business Act; “year” means each 12‑month period starting on the law’s enactment date; and assignments “made” in a year are those that start in that year. If an agency misses the 20 percent goal, it must report within 90 days after the year ends to certain House and Senate committees showing total assignments, how many and what percent went to small businesses, and why it missed the goal. The 20 percent rule does not apply to an agency that made fewer than 5 assignments that year.