Revised 1/14/2008 - PA
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR
Department of Labor and Industry
Pennsylvania New Hire Reporting Program
Back Office and Technical Support Operations
ISSUING OFFICE
Office of Administration
Office for Information Technology
Bureau of IT Procurement
613 North Street, 506 Finance Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0400
RFP NUMBER
6100033668
DATE OF ISSUANCE
September14, 2015
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR
Pennsylvania New Hire Reporting Program
Back Office Employer and Technical Support Operations
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CALENDAR OF EVENTS iv
Part I—GENERAL INFORMATION 1
Part II—PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS 17
Part III—CRITERIA FOR SELECTION 24
Part IV—WORK STATEMENT 29
APPENDIX A, IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS
APPENDIX B, QUESTIONNAIRE SUBMITTAL TEMPLATE
APPENDIX C, PROPOSAL COVER SHEET
APPENDIX D, TRADE SECRET CONFIDENTIAL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
APPENDIX E, PROJECT REFERENCES
APPENDIX F, PERSONNEL EXPERIENCE BY KEY POSITION
APPENDIX G, SMALL DIVERSE BUSINESS LETTER OF INTENT
APPENDIX H, COST MATRIX
APPENDIX I, DOMESTIC WORKFORCE UTILIZATION CERTIFICATION
APPENDIX J, LOBBYING CERTIFICATION FORM
APPENDIX K, NEW HIRE REPORTING BACKGROUND INFORMATION
APPENDIX L, EMPLOYER SFTP PROCESS FLOW
APPENDIX M, EMPLOYER DATA FILE UPLOAD PROCESS FLOW
APPENDIX N, EMPLOYER SUBMIT MAGNETIC MEDIA (CD) PROCESS FLOW
APPENDIX O, EMPLOYER JOB REFERRAL UPDATE PROCESS FLOW
APPENDIX P, GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN THE CWDS-NEW HIRE SYSTEM
APPENDIX Q, CWDS-NEW HIRE GENERAL SYSTEM FEATURES
APPENDIX R, SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS
APPENDIX S, SUMMARY OF NEW HIRE DATA INPUT CHANNELS
APPENDIX T, COMPUTER RESOURCE AGREEMENT
APPENDIX U, CWDS USER AGREEMENT
APPENDIX V, SUMMARY OF NEW HIRE BACK OFFICE REPORTS AND BATCH PROCESSES BY TYPE
APPENDIX W, SUMMARY OF NEW HIRE BACK OFFICE REPORTS AND BATCH PROCESSES BY SAMPLE
APPENDIX X, ENTERPRISE IT STANDARDS QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
APPENDIX Y, ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE
APPENDIX Z, TECHNOLOGY LIFE CYCLE CLASSIFICATIONS
APPENDIX AA, IRONPORT EMAIL ENCRYPTION
APPENDIX BB, L& I ENTERPRISE STANDARDS
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
The Commonwealth will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:
|Activity |Responsibility |Date |
|Deadline to submit Questions via email to: |Potential Offerors |Wednesday, September 23, |
|Tami Mellott@ RA-OITPurchases@ | |2015 at 1:00 PM |
|Pre-proposal Conference Location: |Issuing Office/Potential |Wednesday, |
|Office for Information Technology |Offerors |September 30, 2015 at 10:00 |
|Bureau of IT Procurement | |AM |
|Finance Building, Room 503 | | |
|613 North Street | | |
|Harrisburg, PA 17120-0400 | | |
|Answers to Potential Offeror questions posted to the DGS website |Issuing Office |Monday, |
|() no later than this date. | |October 5, 2015 at 3:00 PM |
|Please monitor website for all communications regarding the RFP. |Potential Offerors |On going |
|Sealed proposal must be received by the Issuing Office at: |Offerors |Tuesday, |
|(Tami Mellott) Bureau of IT Procurement | |October 27, 2015 |
|c/o Commonwealth Mail Processing Center | |at 1:00 PM |
|2 Technology Park (rear) | | |
|Attn: IT Procurement, 506 Finance | | |
|Harrisburg, PA 17110 | | |
| | | |
|Proposals must be time and date stamped by the facility receiving the proposal. Proposals | | |
|may only be hand-delivered between 6:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m., Monday through Friday, | | |
|excluding Commonwealth holidays. | | |
PART I
GENERAL INFORMATION
Purpose. This request for proposals (RFP) provides to those interested in submitting proposals for the subject procurement (“Offerors”) sufficient information to enable them to prepare and submit proposals for the Office for Information Technology, Bureau of IT Procurement’s consideration on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (“Commonwealth”) to satisfy a need for New Hire Reporting Program Back Office Employer and Technical Support Operations (“Project”).
Issuing Office. The Office for Information Technology (“Issuing Office”) has issued this RFP on behalf of the Commonwealth. The sole point of contact in the Commonwealth for this RFP shall be Tami Mellott, Office for Information Technology, Bureau of IT Procurement, 613 North Street, Finance Building, Room 506, Harrisburg, PA 17120-0400, RA-OITPurchases@, the Issuing Officer for this RFP. Please refer all inquiries to the Issuing Officer.
Scope. This RFP contains instructions governing the requested proposals, including the requirements for the information and material to be included; a description of the service to be provided; requirements which Offerors must meet to be eligible for consideration; general evaluation criteria; and other requirements specific to this RFP.
Problem Statement. The Department of Labor & Industry’s (DLI) Pennsylvania New Hire Reporting Program data intake system—to include data collection, data validation, and data processing—is fully integrated as a partner and subsystem of the Commonwealth Workforce Development System (CWDS). Use of this back office system, to include suggestions for enhancements, technical support (for employers), employer outreach, and related processes (within this subsystem of the CWDS application), requires the services of an Offeror (hereafter in this section, referred to as “the Contractor” or “the Vendor”) to support new hire reporting. The performance requirements for this work adhere to those standards set forth in Parts IV-1 Objectives through Parts IV-4 Tasks (Deliverables) sections of Part IV of this RFP.
From the effective Start Date of the contract initiated under this RFP, transition time will be allotted to allow for an up to twenty-one (21) business-day transition and training assistance period to occur, during which the incumbent vendor will train the Contractor in Back Office Operations. The quality and completeness of the 21 business-day transition and training period for the Contractor will be the responsibility of the DLI. The incumbent vendor will conduct the training, with the guidance and input of the DLI. At the end of the training period, the Contractor assumes full responsibility for the objectives, requirements and deliverables set forth in this RFP. This responsibility will extend through the proposed End Date of the contract.
This effort covers all aspects of data collection, data validation, and data quality assurance, to include timely data processing within the CWDS system; this includes employer outreach and increasing the overall percentage of electronic records submitted through CWDS. Transmission of new hire and related data between DLI and its customers (to include other agencies within the Commonwealth, and the National Directory of New Hires-Federal Case Registry within the US Department of Health and Human Services), and current service levels in place to administer these inter-departmental data transmissions, will not be part of this contract. Additional detail is provided in Part IV of this RFP.
Type of Contract. It is proposed that if the Issuing Office enters into a contract as a result of this RFP, it will be a firm, fixed price contract containing the Contract Terms and Conditions as shown in Appendix A. The Issuing Office, in its sole discretion, may undertake negotiations with Offerors whose proposals, in the judgment of the Issuing Office, show them to be qualified, responsible and capable of performing the Project.
Rejection of Proposals. The Issuing Office reserves the right, in its sole and complete discretion, to reject any proposal received as a result of this RFP.
Incurring Costs. The Issuing Office is not liable for any costs the Offeror incurs in preparation and submission of its proposal, in participating in the RFP process or in anticipation of award of the contract.
Pre-proposal Conference. The Issuing Office will hold a Pre-proposal conference as specified in the Calendar of Events. The purpose of this conference is to provide opportunity for clarification of the RFP. Offerors should forward all questions to the Issuing Office in accordance with Part I, Section I-9 to ensure adequate time for analysis before the Issuing Office provides an answer. Offerors may also ask questions at the conference. In view of the limited facilities available for the conference, Offerors should limit their representation to two (2) individuals per Offeror. The Pre-proposal conference is for information only. Any answers furnished during the conference will not be official until they have been verified, in writing, by the Issuing Office. All questions and written answers will be posted on the Department of General Services’ (DGS) website as an addendum to, and shall become part of, this RFP. Attendance at the Pre-proposal Conference is not mandatory.
Questions & Answers. If an Offeror has any questions regarding this RFP, the Offeror must submit the questions by email (with the subject line “RFP 6100033668 Question”) to the Issuing Officer named in Part I, Section I-2 of the RFP. Questions must be submitted via email no later than the date indicated on the Calendar of Events. Submit questions on the Questions Submittal Template, Appendix B, to RA-OITPurchases@. The Offeror shall not attempt to contact the Issuing Officer by any other means. The Issuing Officer shall post the answers to the questions on the DGS website by the date stated on the Calendar of Events. An Offeror who submits a question after the deadline date for receipt of questions indicated on the Calendar of Events assumes the risk that its proposal will not be responsive or competitive because the Commonwealth is not able to respond before the proposal receipt date or in sufficient time for the Offeror to prepare a responsive or competitive proposal. When submitted after the deadline date for receipt of questions indicated on the Calendar of Events, the Issuing Officer may respond to questions of an administrative nature by directing the questioning Offeror to specific provisions in the RFP. To the extent that the Issuing Office decides to respond to a non-administrative question after the deadline date for receipt of questions indicated on the Calendar of Events, the answer must be provided to all Offerors through an addendum.
All questions and responses as posted on the DGS website are considered as an addendum to, and part of, this RFP in accordance with RFP Part I, Section I-10. Each Offeror shall be responsible to monitor the DGS website for new or revised RFP information. The Issuing Office shall not be bound by any verbal information nor shall it be bound by any written information that is not either contained within the RFP or formally issued as an addendum by the Issuing Office. The Issuing Office does not consider questions to be a protest of the specifications or of the solicitation.
Addenda to the RFP. If the Issuing Office deems it necessary to revise any part of this RFP before the proposal response date, the Issuing Office will post an addendum to the DGS website at . It is the Offeror’s responsibility to periodically check the website for any new information or addenda to the RFP. Answers to the questions asked during the Questions & Answers period also will be posted to the website as an addendum to the RFP.
Response Date. To be considered for selection, hard copies of proposals must arrive at the Issuing Office on or before the time and date specified in the RFP Calendar of Events. The Issuing Office will not accept proposals via email or facsimile transmission. Offerors who send proposals by mail or other delivery service should allow sufficient delivery time to ensure timely receipt of their proposals. If, due to inclement weather, natural disaster, or any other cause, the Commonwealth office location to which proposals are to be returned is closed on the proposal response date, the deadline for submission will be automatically extended until the next Commonwealth business day on which the office is open, unless the Issuing Office otherwise notifies Offerors by posting an Addendum to the RFP. The hour for submission of proposals shall remain the same. The Issuing Office will reject unopened, any late proposals.
Proposals. To be considered, Offerors should submit a complete response to this RFP to the Issuing Office, using the format provided in Part II, providing eight (8) paper copies of the Technical Submittal (one should be marked original) and two (2) paper copy of the Cost Submittal and two (2) paper copies of the Small Diverse Business (SDB) participation submittal. In addition to the paper copies of the proposal, Offerors shall submit two complete and exact copies of the entire proposal (Technical, Cost and SDB submittals, along with all requested documents) on CD-ROM or Flash drive in Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office-compatible format. The electronic copy must be a mirror image of the paper copy and any spreadsheets must be in Microsoft Excel. The Offerors may not lock or protect any cells or tabs. Offerors should ensure that there is no costing information in the technical submittal. Offerors should not reiterate technical information in the cost submittal. The CD or Flash drive should clearly identify the Offeror and include the name and version number of the virus scanning software that was used to scan the CD or Flash drive before it was submitted. The Offeror shall make no other distribution of its proposal to any other Offeror or Commonwealth official or Commonwealth consultant. Each proposal page should be numbered for ease of reference. An official authorized to bind the Offeror to its provisions must sign the proposal. If the official signs the Proposal Cover Sheet (Appendix C to this RFP) and the Proposal Cover Sheet is attached to the Offeror’s proposal, the requirement will be met. For this RFP, the proposal must remain valid until a contract is fully executed. If the Issuing Office selects the Offeror’s proposal for award, the contents of the selected Offeror’s proposal will become, except to the extent the contents are changed through Best and Final Offers or negotiations, contractual obligations.
Each Offeror submitting a proposal specifically waives any right to withdraw or modify it, except that the Offeror may withdraw its proposal by written notice received at the Issuing Office’s address for proposal delivery prior to the exact hour and date specified for proposal receipt. An Offeror or its authorized representative may withdraw its proposal in person prior to the exact hour and date set for proposal receipt, provided the withdrawing person provides appropriate identification and signs a receipt for the proposal. An Offeror may modify its submitted proposal prior to the exact hour and date set for proposal receipt only by submitting a new sealed proposal or sealed modification which complies with the RFP requirements.
Small Diverse Business Information. The Issuing Office encourages participation by small diverse businesses as prime contractors, and encourages all prime contractors to make a significant commitment to use small diverse businesses as subcontractors and suppliers.
A Small Diverse Business is a DGS-verified minority-owned business, woman-owned business, veteran-owned business or service-disabled veteran-owned business.
A small business is a business in the United States which is independently owned, not dominant in its field of operation, employs no more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees, and earns less than $7 million in gross annual revenues for building design, $20 million in gross annual revenues for sales and services and $25 million in gross annual revenues for those businesses in the information technology sales or service business.
Questions regarding this Program can be directed to:
Department of General Services
Bureau of Small Business Opportunities
Room 611, North Office Building
Harrisburg, PA 17125
Phone: (717) 783-3119
Fax: (717) 787-7052
Email: gs-bsbo@
Website: dgs.state.pa.us
The Department’s directory of BSBO-verified minority, women, veteran and service disabled veteran-owned businesses can be accessed from: Searching for Small Diverse Businesses.
Economy of Preparation. Offerors should prepare proposals simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of the Offeror’s ability to meet the requirements of the RFP. Offerors should submit proposals on 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch paper formatted with 1 inch margins. Proposals should be double-spaced with 12-point font size, and with consecutive page numbers at the bottom. Duplex printing is acceptable and suggested. Please keep marketing materials to a minimum.
Alternate Proposals. The Issuing Office will not accept alternate proposals.
Discussions for Clarification. Offerors may be required to make an oral or written clarification of their proposals to the Issuing Office to ensure thorough mutual understanding and Offeror responsiveness to the solicitation requirements. The Issuing Office will initiate requests for clarification. Clarifications may occur at any stage of the evaluation and selection process prior to contract execution.
Prime Contractor Responsibilities. The contract will require the selected Offeror to assume responsibility for all services offered in its proposal whether it produces them itself or by subcontract. The Issuing Office will consider the selected Offeror to be the sole point of contact with regard to contractual matters.
Proposal Contents.
A. Confidential Information. The Commonwealth is not requesting, and does not require, confidential proprietary information or trade secrets to be included as part of Offerors’ submissions in order to evaluate proposals submitted in response to this RFP. Accordingly, except as provided herein, Offerors should not label proposal submissions as confidential or proprietary or trade secret protected. Any Offeror who determines that it must divulge such information as part of its proposal must submit the signed written statement described in subsection c. below and must additionally provide a redacted version of its proposal, which removes only the confidential proprietary information and trade secrets, for required public disclosure purposes.
B. Commonwealth Use. All material submitted with the proposal shall be considered the property of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and may be returned only at the Issuing Office’s option. The Commonwealth has the right to use any or all ideas not protected by intellectual property rights that are presented in any proposal regardless of whether the proposal becomes part of a contract. Notwithstanding any Offeror copyright and/or trademark designations contained on proposals, the Commonwealth shall have the right to make copies and distribute proposals internally and to comply with public record or other disclosure requirements under the provisions of any Commonwealth or United States statute or regulation, or rule or order of any court of competent jurisdiction.
C. Public Disclosure. After the award of a contract pursuant to this RFP, all proposal submissions are subject to disclosure in response to a request for public records made under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know-Law, 65 P.S. § 67.101, et seq. If a proposal submission contains confidential proprietary information or trade secrets, a signed written statement to this effect must be provided with the submission in accordance with 65 P.S. § 67.707(b) for the information to be considered exempt under 65 P.S. § 67.708(b)(11) from public records requests. (See Trade Secret Proprietary Information Notice, Appendix D) If financial capability information is submitted in response to Part II of this RFP such financial capability information is exempt from public records disclosure under 65 P.S. § 67.708(b) (26).
Best and Final Offers.
A. While not required, the Issuing Office reserves the right to conduct discussions with Offerors for the purpose of obtaining “best and final offers.” To obtain best and final offers from Offerors, the Issuing Office may do one or more of the following, in any combination and order:
1. Schedule oral presentations;
2. Request revised proposals;
3. Conduct a reverse online auction; and
4. Enter into pre-selection negotiations.
B. The following Offerors will not be invited by the Issuing Office to submit a Best and Final Offer:
1. Those Offerors, which the Issuing Office has determined to be not responsible or whose proposals the Issuing Office has determined to be not responsive.
2. Those Offerors, which the Issuing Office has determined in accordance with Part III, Section III-5, from the submitted and gathered financial and other information, do not possess the financial capability, experience or qualifications to assure good faith performance of the contract.
3. Those Offerors whose score for their technical submittal of the proposal is less than 70% of the total amount of technical points allotted to the technical criterion.
The issuing office may further limit participation in the best and final offers process to those remaining responsible offerors which the Issuing Office has, within its discretion, determined to be within the top competitive range of responsive proposals.
C. The Evaluation Criteria found in Part III, Section III-4, shall also be used to evaluate the Best and Final offers.
D. Price reductions offered through any reverse online auction shall have no effect upon the Offeror’s Technical Submittal. Dollar commitments to Small Diverse Businesses can be reduced only in the same percentage as the percent reduction in the total price offered through any reverse online auction or negotiations.
News Releases. Offerors shall not issue news releases, Internet postings, advertisements or any other public communications pertaining to this Project without prior written approval of the Issuing Office, and then only in coordination with the Issuing Office.
Restriction of Contact. From the issue date of this RFP until the Issuing Office selects a proposal for award, the Issuing Officer is the sole point of contact concerning this RFP. Any violation of this condition may be cause for the Issuing Office to reject the offending Offeror’s proposal. If the Issuing Office later discovers that the Offeror has engaged in any violations of this condition, the Issuing Office may reject the offending Offeror’s proposal or rescind its contract award. Offerors must agree not to distribute any part of their proposals beyond the Issuing Office. An Offeror who shares information contained in its proposal with other Commonwealth personnel and/or competing Offeror personnel may be disqualified.
Issuing Office Participation. Offerors shall provide all services, supplies, facilities, and other support necessary to complete the identified work, except as otherwise provided in this Part I, Section I-22; Offerors will not be required to provide any systems, facilities, or materials to conduct Back Office Operations. DLI will provide office space, supplies and equipment for the secure and efficient operation of the Contractor’s New Hire Program Back Office Operations team. This currently includes:
A. Office space for no more than ten (10) Contractor staff, including Management. These staffing levels are based on recent workload history, to optimize Back Office Operations and increase efficiency. The work location will be:
The Capital Associates Building (CAB)
901 North Seventh Street
Third Floor Suite (Center-New Hire Section)
Harrisburg, PA 17102
The CAB building is open from 7:00a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (EST) Monday - Friday except for officially designated State and Federal Holidays. Business hours will be 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (EST), each business day. In the event of an officially-announced office delay or closing (for Commonwealth staff under the Governor’s Jurisdiction within the Commonwealth Complex in Harrisburg) due to inclement weather or other circumstances, the Contractor worksite will also adhere to the policy followed by the DLI (in either being delayed, or closed, for Commonwealth business).
No work involving New Hire Back Office Operations by the awarded Contractor will be permitted to occur offsite of this work location, nor will be allowed outside of the hours the Commonwealth is officially open for business.
The sole exception to this prohibition, unless otherwise indicated, will be for the specific purpose of conducting employer outreach and education about the New Hire Reporting Program, under the guidance of DLI-CWIA staff.
Access to the Back Office worksite is through a secure locked door; Contractor badge and security key fob access is required for all Contractor staff, to gain access to the worksite. Security key fobs will be provided by DLI. Parking will not be provided.
B. An area with high walls or cubicles to host Back Office Operations, to include data entry and customer service (via computer or telephone) of a confidential nature.
C. Two (2) manager offices.
D. Cubicle areas for data entry and customer service employees.
E. Secure storage area for hard copy reports. Currently, this information is stored in up to eight (8) 4-drawer cabinets. The storage requirements for this information will be assessed and compared by the Contractor and the DLI project team following commencement of the contract.
F. Access to Commonwealth-approved basic office equipment, i.e., fax, copier, telephones, computers with monitors, and related supplies (toner, ink cartridges, printer paper, etc.). Potential Offerors will not have to provide telephone facilities, and are not responsible for the monthly cost of work-related use of voice and fax lines. DLI will provide the necessary telephone facilities and materials for execution of the contract signed with the awarded Contractor from the RFP. This currently includes:
1. For all staff : Dell OptiPlex 745, Intel 2140 processor@ 1.6GHz, 1.59 Ghz, 1.99GB RAM with 23 inch monitors for duel data entry, fax image processing and customer service work.
2. One RICOH Printer, Model MP4054.
3. Standard office equipment.
G. Use of up to six (6) Commonwealth-approved headsets for Contractor staff (Customer Service/Data Entry staff) to use, to ensure confidentiality and efficient operations of the Back Office system.
1. For customer service and operations supervisory staff: Customer service/data entry headsets and Web Center Automated Call Distribution (ACD) with Plantronics H171N headsets and Mx10 amplifier boxes.
H. Access to Commonwealth-approved basic office supplies, i.e., workstation desks, furniture, paper, pens, staplers, etc.
I. Access to common area shared facilities at the worksite (conference room, break room, restrooms, etc.).
J. Daily United States Postal Service (USPS) and United States Parcel Service (UPS) delivery capability to the worksite will be provided by DLI.
K. The Offeror (awarded Contractor) will be notified of any intended changes to the worksite location, equipment, or office materials and supplies— as outlined in this Part I, Section I-22— by the Commonwealth, as soon as these changes are known by the staff of DLI-CWIA.
Term of Contract. The term of the contract will commence on the Effective Date and will end in three (3) years with two (2), one-year renewal options available. The Issuing Office will fix the Effective Date after the contract has been fully executed by the selected Offeror and by the Commonwealth and all approvals required by Commonwealth contracting procedures have been obtained. The selected Offeror shall not begin to perform or incur any expenses under the contract until (1) the contract Effective Date has arrived; (2) it has received a copy of the fully executed contract; and (3) it has received a purchase order issued from the resulting contract.
Offeror’s Representations and Authorizations. By submitting its proposal, each Offeror understands, represents, and acknowledges that:
A. All of the Offeror’s information and representations in the proposal are true, correct, material and important, and the Issuing Office may rely upon the contents of the proposal in awarding the contract(s). The Commonwealth shall treat any misstatement, omission or misrepresentation as fraudulent concealment of the true facts relating to the Proposal submission, punishable pursuant to 18 Pa. C.S. § 4904.
B. The Offeror has arrived at the price(s) and amounts in its proposal independently and without consultation, communication, or agreement with any other Offeror or potential offeror.
C. The Offeror has not disclosed the price(s), the amount of the proposal, nor the approximate price(s) or amount(s) of its proposal to any other firm or person who is an Offeror or potential offeror for this RFP, and the Offeror shall not disclose any of these items on or before the proposal submission deadline specified in the Calendar of Events of this RFP.
D. The Offeror has not attempted, nor will it attempt, to induce any firm or person to refrain from submitting a proposal on this contract, or to submit a proposal higher than this proposal, or to submit any intentionally high or noncompetitive proposal or other form of complementary proposal.
E. The Offeror makes its proposal in good faith and not pursuant to any agreement or discussion with, or inducement from, any firm or person to submit a complementary or other noncompetitive proposal.
F. To the best knowledge of the person signing the proposal for the Offeror, the Offeror, its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, and employees are not currently under investigation by any Local, State or Federal governmental agency and have not in the last four years been convicted or found liable for any act prohibited by Local, State or Federal law in any jurisdiction, involving conspiracy or collusion with respect to bidding or proposing on any public contract, except as the Offeror has disclosed in its proposal.
G. To the best of the knowledge of the person signing the proposal for the Offeror and except as the Offeror has otherwise disclosed in its proposal, the Offeror has no outstanding, delinquent obligations to the Commonwealth including, but not limited to, any state tax liability not being contested on appeal or other obligation of the Offeror that is owed to the Commonwealth.
H. The Offeror is not currently under suspension or debarment by the Commonwealth, any other state or the federal government, and if the Offeror cannot so certify, then it shall submit along with its proposal a written explanation of why it cannot make such certification.
I. The Offeror has not made, under separate contract with the Issuing Office, any recommendations to the Issuing Office concerning the need for the services described in its proposal or the specifications for the services described in the proposal. (See Pennsylvania State Adverse Interest Act)
J. Each Offeror, by submitting its proposal, authorizes Commonwealth agencies to release to the Commonwealth information concerning the Offeror's Pennsylvania taxes, unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation liabilities.
K. Until the selected Offeror receives a fully executed and approved written contract from the Issuing Office, there is no legal and valid contract, in law or in equity The selected Offeror shall not begin to perform or incur any expenses under the contract until (1) the contract Effective Date has arrived; (2) it has received a copy of the fully executed contract; and 3) it has received a purchase order or other written notice to proceed signed by the Contracting Officer.
Notification of Selection.
A. Contract Negotiations. The Issuing Office will notify all Offerors in writing of the Offeror selected for contract negotiations after the Issuing Office has determined, taking into consideration all of the evaluation factors, the proposal that is the most advantageous to the Issuing Office.
B. Award. Offerors whose proposals are not selected will be notified when contract negotiations have been successfully completed and the Issuing Office has received the final negotiated contract signed by the selected Offeror.
Debriefing Conferences. Upon notification of award, Offerors whose proposals were not selected will be given the opportunity to be debriefed. The Issuing Office will schedule the debriefing at a mutually agreeable time. The debriefing will not compare the Offeror with other Offerors, other than the position of the Offeror’s proposal in relation to all other Offeror proposals. An Offeror’s exercise of the opportunity to be debriefed does not constitute nor toll the time for filing a protest (See Section I-27 of this RFP).
RFP Protest Procedure.
A. Who May File a Protest. An Offeror or Prospective Offeror which is aggrieved in connection with the RFP or award of the contract may file a protest. An Offeror is an entity which submits a proposal in response to an RFP. A Prospective Offeror is an entity which has not submitted a proposal in response to the RFP. No protest may be filed if the RFP is cancelled or if all proposals received in response to the RFP are rejected.
B. Place for Filing. A protest must be filed with the Agency Head Designee by either email or hardcopy.
1. A protest filed by email should be submitted to RA-oitprotests@, with a subject line including the solicitation number 6100033668 for which the action is being filed.
2. A protest filed by hardcopy should be submitted to the attention of the Agency Head Designee at the following address:
V. Reid Walsh
Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Administration
613 North Street
Room 207
Harrisburg, PA 17120
C. Time for Filing.
1. A Prospective Offeror which is considering filing a proposal must file the
protest within seven (7) days after the Prospective Offeror knew or should have known of the facts giving rise to the protest, but in no event later than the proposal submission deadline specified in the RFP.
2. A protest filed by an Offeror which submits a proposal must be filed
within seven (7) days after the protesting Offeror knew or should have known of the facts giving rise to the protest, but in no event may an Offeror file a protest later than seven (7) days after the date the notice of award of the contract is posted on the DGS website.
3. The date of filing the protest is the date the Agency Head Designee
receives the protest.
4. For purposes of this RFP, to be timely, a protest must be received by 4:00
p.m. of the seventh day.
5. Commonwealth agencies are required by law to disregard any
protest received beyond the deadlines established in this Section I-28.
D. Contents of Protest.
1. A protest must be in writing. Hard copy in paper and electronic copy via
email are acceptable.
2. A protest shall state all grounds upon which the protesting party asserts
that the RFP or contract award was improper.
3. The protesting party may submit with the protest any documents or
information it deems relevant.
E. Notice of Protest.
1. The Agency Head Designee will notify the successful Offeror of the
protest if contractor selection has already been made.
2. If the Agency Head Designee receives the protest before selection, and he
or she determines that substantial issues are raised by the protest, the Agency Head Designee will, in the sole discretion of the Agency Head Designee, notify all Offerors which appear to have a substantial and reasonable prospect of selection, as determined by the Agency Head, that a protest has been filed.
F. Stay of Procurement.
1. The Agency Head designee will promptly decide upon receipt of a timely
protest whether or not the award of a contract shall be delayed, or if the protest is timely received after the award, whether the performance of the contract should be suspended.
2. The Issuing Office shall not proceed further with the RFP unless the
Agency Head Designee makes a written determination that the protest is clearly without merit or that award of the contract without delay is necessary to protect the substantial interests of the Commonwealth.
G. Response and Reply.
1. Within 15 days of receipt of the protest, a response to the protest may be
submitted to the Agency Head Designee. The protesting party must be copied on the response.
2. The protesting party may file a reply to the response within ten days of the
date of the response.
H. Procedures.
1. The Agency Head Designee shall review the protest and any response and reply.
2. The Agency Head Designee may request and review such additional
documents or information he deems necessary to render a decision and may, at his sole discretion, conduct a hearing.
3. The Agency Head Designee shall provide to the protesting party and the
contracting officer a reasonable opportunity to review and address any additional documents or information deemed necessary by the Agency Head Designee to render a decision.
I. Determination.
The Agency Head Designee shall promptly, but in no event later than 60 days from the filing of the protest unless both parties agree to an extension, issue a written determination. The determination shall:
1. State the reason for the decision, and
2. If the determination is a denial of the protest, inform the protesting party
of its right to file an action in the Commonwealth Court within fifteen (15) days of the determination mailing date.
3. The Agency Head Designee shall send a copy of the determination to the
protesting party and any other person determined by the Agency Head Designee in his sole discretion to be affected by the determination.
Use of Electronic Versions of this RFP. This RFP is being made available by electronic means. If an Offeror electronically accepts the RFP, the Offeror acknowledges and accepts full responsibility to insure that no changes are made to the RFP. In the event of a conflict between a version of the RFP in the Offeror’s possession and the Issuing Office’s version of the RFP, the Issuing Office’s version shall govern.
Information Technology Policies.
This RFP is subject to the Information Technology Policies (ITP’s) {formerly known as Information technology Bulletins} issued by the Office of Administration, Office for Information Technology (OA-OIT). ITP’s may be found at
All proposals must be submitted on the basis that all ITP’s are applicable to this procurement. It is the responsibility of the Offeror to read and be familiar with the ITP’s. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Offeror believes that any ITP is not applicable to this procurement, it must list all such ITP’s in its technical response, and explain why it believes the ITP is not applicable. The Issuing Office may, in its sole discretion, accept or reject any request that an ITP not be considered to be applicable to the procurement. The Offeror’s failure to list an ITP will result in its waiving its right to do so later, unless the Issuing Office, in its sole discretion, determines that it would be in the best interest of the Commonwealth to waive the pertinent ITP’s.
Participating Addendum with an External Procurement Activity. Section 1902 of the Commonwealth Procurement Code, 62 Pa.C.S. § 1902, permits external procurement activities to participate in cooperative purchasing agreements for the procurement of services, supplies or construction.
A. Definitions. The following words and phrases have the meanings set forth in this provision:
1. External procurement activity: The term, as defined in 62 Pa. C. S. § 1901, means a “buying organization not located in the Commonwealth [of Pennsylvania] which if located in this Commonwealth would qualify as a public procurement unit [under 62 Pa. C.S. §1901]. An agency of the United States is an external procurement activity.”
2. Participating addendum: A bilateral agreement executed by the Contractor and an external procurement activity that clarifies the operation of the Contract for the external procurement activity concerned. The terms and conditions in any participating addendum shall affect only the procurements of the purchasing entities under the jurisdiction of the external procurement activity signing the participating addendum.
3. Public procurement unit: The term, as defined in 62 Pa. C. S. § 1901, means a “local public procurement unit or purchasing agency.”
4. Purchasing agency: The term, as defined in 62 Pa. C. S. § 103, means a “Commonwealth agency authorized by this part or any other law to enter into contracts for itself or as the agent of another Commonwealth agency.”
B. General. A participating addendum shall incorporate the terms and conditions of the Contract resulting from this RFP. The Contractor shall not be required to enter into any participating addendum.
C. Additional Terms.
1. A participating addendum may include additional terms that are required by the law governing the external procurement activity.
2. A participating addendum may include new, mutually agreed upon terms that clarify ordering procedures specific to a participating external procurement activity.
3. The construction and effect of any participating addendum shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws governing the external procurement activity.
4. If an additional term requested by the external procurement activity will result in an increased cost to the Contractor, the Contractor shall adjust its pricing up or down accordingly.
D. Prices.
1. Price adjustment. For any costs affecting the percent markup that the Contractor will or will not incur or that differ from costs incurred or not incurred in the fulfillment of this Contract, the Contractor shall adjust its pricing up or down accordingly. These costs may include, but not be limited to:
a) State and local taxes;
b) Unemployment and workers compensation fees;
c) E-commerce transaction fees; and
d) Costs associated with additional terms, established pursuant to this Part I, Section I-30.
2. The Contractor’s pricing for an external procurement activity shall be firm and fixed for the duration of the initial term of the Contract. After the initial term of the Contract, if the Contract is renewed, the Contractor’s pricing may be adjusted up or down based on market conditions only with the mutual agreement of both the Contractor and any external procurement activity.
E. Usage Reports on External Procurement Activities. The Contractor shall furnish to the Contracting Officer an electronic quarterly usage report, preferably in spreadsheet format no later than the fifteenth calendar day of the succeeding calendar quarter. Reports shall be e-mailed to the Contracting Officer for the Contract. Each report shall indicate the name and address of the Contractor, contract number, period covered by the report, the name of the external procurement activity that has used the Contract and the total volume of sales to the external procurement activity for the reporting period.
F. Electronic Copy of Participating Addendum. The Contractor, upon request of the Contracting Officer, shall submit one electronic copy of the participating addendum to the Contracting Officer within ten days after request.
PART II
PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
Offerors must submit their proposals in the format, including heading descriptions, outlined below. To be considered, the proposal must respond to all requirements in this part of the RFP. Offerors should provide any other information thought to be relevant, but not applicable to the enumerated categories, as an appendix to the Proposal. All cost data relating to this proposal and all Small Diverse Business cost data should be kept separate from and not included in the Technical Submittal. Each Proposal shall consist of the following three separately sealed submittals:
A. Technical Submittal, which shall be a response to RFP Part II, Sections II-1 through
II-8;
B. Small Diverse Business participation submittal, in response to RFP Part II, Section II-9; and
C. Cost Submittal, in response to RFP Part II, Section II-10.
The Issuing Office reserves the right to request additional information which, in the Issuing Office’s opinion, is necessary to assure that the Offeror’s competence, number of qualified employees, business organization, and financial resources are adequate to perform according to the RFP.
The Issuing Office may make investigations as deemed necessary to determine the ability of the Offeror to perform the Project, and the Offeror shall furnish to the Issuing Office all requested information and data. The Issuing Office reserves the right to reject any proposal if the evidence submitted by, or investigation of, such Offeror fails to satisfy the Issuing Office that such Offeror is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the RFP and to complete the Project as specified.
Statement of the Problem. State in succinct terms your understanding of the problem presented or the service required by this RFP.
Management Summary. Include a narrative description of the proposed effort and a list of the items to be delivered or services to be provided.
Work Plan. Describe in narrative form your technical plan for accomplishing the work. The work plan shall detail how the back office operations will be conducted daily including; how data collection and data entry will be conducted, how customer service and employer technical support will be conducted, how employer outreach and education will be conducted, and how Offeror staff will oversee the entire operation. This work plan will include the following, but not be limited to; how many Offeror staff will be full-time, part-time, or temporary employees and their roles, and how the Offeror will handle the seasonal fluctuation of employer activity in reporting their new hire data to the program.
Use the task descriptions in Part IV of this RFP as your reference point. Modifications of the task descriptions are permitted; however, reasons for changes should be fully explained. Indicate the number of person hours allocated to each task. Include a Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) or similar type display, time related, showing each event. If more than one approach is apparent, comment on why you chose this approach.
Prior Experience. Include experience in back office operations, including: customer service, outreach and education of external customers; timely and efficient handling of sensitive data; and flexibility in approaches to workload, subject to the constraints of being an integrated subsystem within a larger application. Experience shown should be work done by individuals who will be assigned to this project as well as that of your company. Studies or projects referred to must be identified and the name of the customer shown, including the name, address, and telephone number of the responsible official of the customer, company, or agency who may be contacted. The Contractor must also provide references from at least three (3) current or recently-completed projects of similar size and scope to that of this RFP. Include the following information for each reference:
A. Project Name.
B. Customer’s name and address.
C. Contact person’s name, title, email and phone number.
D. Contractor’s role in supporting this customer.
E. Implementation date.
F. Number of years supporting this customer.
This detailed information above must be provided by the potential Offeror for each past project that the potential Offeror has completed and will use as a reference in their proposal. Note that of all the references supplied, at least three (3) must be from current or recently-completed projects.
Reference Appendix E, Project References.
Personnel. Include the number of executive and professional personnel, analysts, auditors, researchers, programmers, consultants, etc., who will be engaged in the work. Show where these personnel will be physically located during the time they are engaged in the Project. For key personnel (Program Manager(s), Operations Manager(s), Customer Service Supervisor(s), Customer Service Staff and Technical Support Staff), include the employee’s name and, through a resume or similar document, the Project personnel’s education and experience in back office system operations, including: customer service, outreach and education of external customers; timely and efficient handling of sensitive data; and flexibility in approaches to workload, subject to the constraints of being an integrated subsystem within a larger application. Key personnel include the potential Offeror’s Back Office Operations staff listed above, and engaged in the work. Provide a detailed organizational chart of staff to be assigned to the Program Back Office system during the terms of the contract (from the effective Start Date to the Contract Expiration Date); staff assigned to Back Office Operations according to this organizational chart will have clearly delineated areas of responsibility by Personnel Titles, etc.
Also identify and include the same information for a senior Project Manager, who will function as a contact person for issues involving the Contractor’s performance during the contract period. Appendix F, Personnel Experience by Key Position, must be completed for each of the identified key personnel.
Indicate the responsibilities each individual will have in this Project and how long each has been with your company. Identify by name any subcontractors you intend to use and the services they will perform. Resumes are not to include personal information that will, or will likely to, require redaction prior to release of the proposal under the Right to Know Law. This includes home addresses, phone numbers, Social Security Numbers, Driver’s License numbers or numbers from state ID cards issued in lieu of a Driver’s License, financial account numbers, etc. If the Commonwealth requires any of this information for security verification or other purposes, the information will be requested separately and as necessary.
The Commonwealth may designate staff to interview key personnel from the selected Contractor, including those of any subcontractors. For this RFP, the Contractor’s proposed staff must be available for this purpose during the 120 days from the date of award, or until a purchase order has been issued with the successful Contractor, whichever occurs later.
After key personnel are assigned and approved by the Commonwealth, the Contractor may not divert or replace personnel without written approval of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth will approve or disprove all proposed staffing substitutions and changes. In the event of a staffing change, the Commonwealth must be provided with staff that has the same or greater level of experience as the previous staff. Assuming that the bid staff is still working for the Contractor, the Commonwealth must have the final decision regarding bid-staffing changes.
Upon commencement of the project, any key or lead staffing substitutions must be submitted to the DLI-CWIA New Hire Administrative Manager (“New Hire Manager”) twenty (20) business days prior to the substituted or replaced staff starting work. Substitutions for all other Contractor personnel must be submitted to the New Hire Manager at least ten (10) business days prior to the substituted or replaced staff starting work.
Note: The Contractor must not incur and project delays due to knowledge transfer to new Contractor or subcontractor personnel resulting from staffing substitutions or replacements.
Any staffing replacements must be submitted to the New Hire Manager as soon as they are known. A “substitution” is defined as an individual temporality filling in for a permanent resource; a “replacement” is defined as an individual permanently replacing an already assigned resource. The replacement may be done for various reasons including but not limited to: death; loss of employment; long-term sickness; subcontract default; or retirement. If either a substitution or replacement occurs, the Contractor must provide resumes for alternate resources within two (2) weeks of the notification. All emergency replacements must be made with the approval of the New Hire Manager.
The DLI-CWIA project team requires at least five (5) business days to evaluate a proposed candidate’s resume, skills, and references. This five-day period may be concurrent with the required background checks. The New Hire Manager reserves the right to interview any proposed candidates and reject any proposed candidate who does not meet the L&I requirements. In such a case, the Contractor must provide alternate candidates for interview until a suitable candidate is selected.
Note: the DLI-CWIA project team has the right to require replacement of Contractor personnel if dissatisfied with their performance, of if the Contractor personnel fail to meet the security and confidentiality requirement specified in this RFP.
Training. If appropriate, indicate recommended training of agency personnel. Include the agency personnel to be trained, the number to be trained, duration of the program, place of training, curricula, training materials to be used, number and frequency of sessions, and number and level of instructors.
Financial Capability. Describe your company’s financial stability and economic capability to perform the contract requirements. Provide your company’s financial statements (audited, if available) for the past three (3) fiscal years. Financial statements must include the company’s Balance Sheet and Income Statement or Profit/Loss Statements. Also include a Dun & Bradstreet comprehensive report, if available. If your company is a publicly traded company, please provide a link to your financial records on your company website in lieu of providing hardcopies. The Commonwealth reserves the right to request additional information it deems necessary to evaluate an Offeror’s financial capability.
Objections and Additions to IT Contract Terms and Conditions. The Offeror will identify which, if any, of the terms and conditions (contained in Appendix A, IT Contract Terms and Conditions) it would like to negotiate and what additional terms and conditions the Offeror would like to add to the contract terms and conditions. The Offeror’s failure to make a submission under this paragraph will result in its waiving its right to do so later, but the Issuing Office may consider late objections and requests for additions if to do so, in the Issuing Office’s sole discretion, would be in the best interest of the Commonwealth. The Issuing Office may, in its sole discretion, accept or reject any requested changes to the contract terms and conditions. The Offeror shall not request changes to the other provisions of the RFP, nor shall the Offeror request to completely substitute its own terms and conditions for Appendix A. All terms and conditions must appear in one integrated contract. The Issuing Office will not accept references to the Offeror’s, or any other, online guides or online terms and conditions contained in any proposal.
Regardless of any objections set out in its proposal, the Offeror must submit its proposal, including the cost proposal, on the basis of the terms and conditions set out in Appendix A. The Issuing Office will reject any proposal that is conditioned on the negotiation of the terms and conditions set out in Appendix A or to other provisions of the RFP as specifically identified above.
Small Diverse Business Participation Submittal.
A. To receive credit for being a Small Diverse Business or for subcontracting with a Small Diverse Business (including purchasing supplies and/or services through a purchase agreement), an Offeror must include proof of Small Diverse Business qualification in the Small Diverse Business participation submittal of the proposal, as indicated below:
A Small Diverse Business verified by BSBO as a Small Diverse Business must provide a photocopy of its DGS issued certificate entitled “Notice of Small Business Self-Certification and Small Diverse Business Verification” indicating its diverse status.
B. In addition to the above certificate, the Offeror must include in the Small Diverse Business participation submittal of the proposal the following information:
1. All Offerors must include a numerical percentage which represents the total percentage of the work (as a percentage of the total cost in the Cost Submittal) to be performed by the Offeror and not by subcontractors and suppliers.
2. All Offerors must include a numerical percentage which represents the total percentage of the total cost in the Cost Submittal that the Offeror commits to paying to Small Diverse Businesses (SDBs) as subcontractors. To support its total percentage SDB subcontractor commitment, Offeror must also include:
a) The percentage and dollar amount of each subcontract commitment to a Small Diverse Business;
b) The name of each Small Diverse Business. The Offeror will not receive credit for stating that after the contract is awarded it will find a Small Diverse Business.
c) The services or supplies each Small Diverse Business will provide, including the timeframe for providing the services or supplies.
d) The location where each Small Diverse Business will perform services.
e) The timeframe for each Small Diverse Business to provide or deliver the goods or services.
f) A subcontract or letter of intent signed by the Offeror and the Small Diverse Business (SDB) for each SDB identified in the SDB Submittal. The subcontract or letter of intent must identify the specific work, goods or services the SDB will perform, how the work, goods or services relates to the project, and the specific timeframe during the term of the contract and any option/renewal periods when the work, goods or services will be performed or provided. In addition, the subcontract or letter of intent must identify the fixed percentage commitment and associated estimated dollar value that each SDB will receive based on the total value of the initial term of the contract as provided in the Offeror's Cost Submittal. Attached is a letter of intent template which may be used to satisfy these requirements. Reference Appendix G, Small Diverse Business Letter of Intent.
g) The name, address and telephone number of the primary contact person for each Small Diverse Business.
3. The total percentages and each SDB subcontractor commitment will become contractual obligations once the contract is fully executed.
4. The name and telephone number of the Offeror’s project (contact) person for the Small Diverse Business information.
A. The Offeror is required to submit two (2) copies of its Small Diverse Business participation submittal. The submittal shall be clearly identified as Small Diverse Business information and sealed in its own envelope, separate from the remainder of the proposal.
B. A Small Diverse Business can be included as a subcontractor with as many prime contractors as it chooses in separate proposals.
C. An Offeror that qualifies as a Small Diverse Business and submits a proposal as a prime contractor is not prohibited from being included as a subcontractor in separate proposals submitted by other Offerors.
Cost Submittal. The information requested in this Part II, Section II-10 shall constitute the Cost Submittal. The Cost Submittal shall be placed in a separate sealed envelope within the sealed proposal, separated from the technical submittal. The total proposed cost shall be broken down into the following components: the New Hire Back Office System cost structure will, in general, consist of two parts: costs associated with transactional record processing, including data collection, validation and processing in CWDS; and all other base work (other than record processing). Refer to Appendix H, Cost Matrix, for more information.
Offerors should not include any assumptions in their cost submittals. If the Offeror includes assumptions in its cost submittal, the Issuing Office may reject the proposal. Offerors should direct in writing to the Issuing Office pursuant to Part I, Section I-9, of this RFP any questions about whether a cost or other component is included or applies. All Offerors will then have the benefit of the Issuing Office’s written answer so that all proposals are submitted on the same basis.
The Issuing Office will reimburse the selected Offeror for work satisfactorily performed after execution of a written contract and the start of the contract term, in accordance with contract requirements, and only after the Issuing Office has issued a notice to proceed.
Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification. Complete and sign the Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification contained in Appendix I of this RFP. Offerors who seek consideration for this criterion must submit in hardcopy the signed Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification Form in the same sealed envelope with the Technical Submittal.
Lobbying Certification and Disclosure of Lobbying Activities. This Project will be funded, in whole or in part, with federal monies. Public Law 101-121, Section 319, prohibits federal funds from being expended by the recipient or by any lower tier sub-recipients of a federal contract, grant, loan, or a cooperative agreement to pay any person for influencing, or attempting to influence a federal agency or Congress in connection with the awarding of any federal contract, the making of any federal grant or loan, or entering into any cooperative agreement. All parties who submit proposals in response to this RFP must sign the “Lobbying Certification Form,” attached as Appendix J and, if applicable, complete the “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities” form also attached in Appendix J as per MD 305.16 (Amended) Lobbying Certification and Disclosure Management Directive 305.16 Amended and available at: .
PART III
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Mandatory Responsiveness Requirements. To be eligible for selection, a proposal must be:
A. Timely received from an Offeror;
B. Properly signed by the Offeror.
Technical Nonconforming Proposals. The two (2) Mandatory Responsiveness Requirements set forth in Section III-1 above (A-B) are the only RFP requirements that the Commonwealth will consider to be non-waivable. The Issuing Office reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (1) waive any other technical or immaterial nonconformities in an Offeror’s proposal, (2) allow the Offeror to cure the nonconformity, or (3) consider the nonconformity in the scoring of the Offeror’s proposal.
Evaluation. The Issuing Office has selected a committee of qualified personnel to review and evaluate timely submitted proposals. Independent of the committee, BSBO will evaluate the Small Diverse Business participation submittal and provide the Issuing Office with a rating for this component of each proposal. The Issuing Office will notify in writing of its selection for negotiation the responsible Offeror whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the Commonwealth as determined by the Issuing Office after taking into consideration all of the evaluation factors.
Evaluation Criteria. The following criteria will be used in evaluating each proposal:
A. Technical: The Issuing Office has established the weight for the Technical criterion for this RFP as 50% of the total points. Evaluation will be based upon the following:
• Soundness of Approach
• Personnel Qualifications
• Contractor Qualifications
• Understanding the Problem
The final Technical scores are determined by giving the maximum number of technical points available to the proposal with the highest raw technical score. The remaining proposals are rated by applying the Technical Scoring Formula set forth at the following webpage:
B. Cost: The Issuing Office has established the weight for the Cost criterion for this RFP as 30% of the total points. The cost criterion is rated by giving the proposal with the lowest total cost the maximum number of Cost points available. The remaining proposals are rated by applying the Cost Formula set forth at the following webpage:
C. Small Diverse Business Participation:
BSBO has established the weight for the Small Diverse Business (SDB) participation criterion for this RFP as 20% of the total points. Each SDB participation submittal will be rated for its approach to enhancing the utilization of SDBs in accordance with the below-listed priority ranking and subject to the following requirements:
1. A business submitting a proposal as a prime contractor must perform 60% of the total contract value to receive points for this criterion under any priority ranking.
2. To receive credit for an SDB subcontracting commitment, the SDB subcontractor must perform at least fifty percent (50%) of the work subcontracted to it.
3. A significant subcontracting commitment is a minimum of five percent (5%) of the total contract value.
4. A subcontracting commitment less than five percent (5%) of the total contract value is considered nominal and will receive reduced or no additional SDB points depending on the priority ranking.
Priority Rank 1: Proposals submitted by SDBs as prime offerors will receive 150 points. In addition, SDB prime offerors that have significant subcontracting commitments to additional SDBs may receive up to an additional 50 points (200 points total available).
Subcontracting commitments to additional SDBs are evaluated based on the proposal offering the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment. All other Offerors will be scored in proportion to the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment within this ranking. See formula below.
Priority Rank 2: Proposals submitted by SDBs as prime contractors, with no or nominal subcontracting commitments to additional SDBs, will receive 150 points.
Priority Rank 3: Proposals submitted by non-small diverse businesses as prime contractors, with significant subcontracting commitments to SDBs, will receive up to 100 points. Proposals submitted with nominal subcontracting commitments to SDBs will receive points equal to the percentage level of their total SDB subcontracting commitment.
SDB subcontracting commitments are evaluated based on the proposal offering the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment. All other Offerors will be scored in proportion to the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment within this ranking. See formula below.
Priority Rank 4: Proposals by non-small diverse businesses as prime contractors with no SDB subcontracting commitments shall receive no points under this criterion.
To the extent that there are multiple SDB Participation submittals in Priority Rank 1 and/or Priority Rank 3 that offer significant subcontracting commitments to SDBs, the proposal offering the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment shall receive the highest score (or additional points) available in that Priority Rank category and the other proposal(s) in that category shall be scored in proportion to the highest total percentage SDB subcontracting commitment. Proportional scoring is determined by applying the following formula:
SDB % Being Scored x Points/Additional = Awarded/Additional
Highest % SDB Commitment Points Available* SDB Points
Priority Rank 1 = 50 Additional Points Available
Priority Rank 3 = 100 Total Points Available
Please refer to the following webpage for an illustrative chart which shows SDB scoring based on a hypothetical situation in which the Commonwealth receives proposals for each Priority Rank:
D. Domestic Workforce Utilization: Any points received for the Domestic Workforce Utilization criterion are bonus points in addition to the total points for this RFP. The maximum amount of bonus points available for this criterion is 3% of the total points for this RFP.
To the extent permitted by the laws and treaties of the United States, each proposal will be scored for its commitment to use domestic workforce in the fulfillment of the contract. Maximum consideration will be given to those Offerors who will perform the contracted direct labor exclusively within the geographical boundaries of the United States or within the geographical boundaries of a country that is a party to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement. Those who propose to perform a portion of the direct labor outside of the United States and not within the geographical boundaries of a party to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement will receive a correspondingly smaller score for this criterion. See the following webpage for the Domestic Workforce Utilization Formula:
.
Offerors who seek consideration for this criterion must submit in hardcopy the signed Domestic Workforce Utilization Certification Form in the same sealed envelope with the Technical Submittal. The certification will be included as a contractual obligation when the contract is executed.
Offeror Responsibility. To be responsible, an Offeror must submit a responsive proposal and possess the capability to fully perform the contract requirements in all respects and the integrity and reliability to assure good faith performance of the contract.
In order for an Offeror to be considered responsible for this RFP and therefore eligible for selection for best and final offers or selection for contract negotiations:
A. The total score for the technical submittal of the Offeror’s proposal must be greater than or equal to 70% of the available technical points; and
B. The Offeror’s financial information must demonstrate that the Offeror possesses the financial capability to assure good faith performance of the contract. The Issuing Office will review the Offeror’s previous three financial statements, any additional information received from the Offeror, and any other publicly-available financial information concerning the Offeror, and assess each Offeror’s financial capacity based on calculating and analyzing various financial ratios, and comparison with industry standards and trends.
An Offeror which fails to demonstrate sufficient financial capability to assure good faith performance of the contract as specified herein may be considered by the Issuing Office, in its sole discretion, for Best and Final Offers or contract negotiation contingent upon such Offeror providing contract performance security, in a form acceptable to the Issuing Office, for twenty percent (20%) of the proposed value of the base term of the contract. Based on the financial condition of the Offeror, the Issuing Office may require a certified or bank (cashier’s) check, letter of credit, or a performance bond conditioned upon the faithful performance of the contract by the Offeror. The required performance security must be issued or executed by a bank or surety company authorized to do business in the Commonwealth. The cost of the required performance security will be the sole responsibility of the Offeror and cannot increase the Offeror’s cost proposal or the contract cost to the Commonwealth.
Further, the Issuing Office will award a contract only to an Offeror determined to be responsible in accordance with the most current version of Commonwealth Management Directive 215.9, Contractor Responsibility Program.
Final Ranking and Award.
A. After any best and final offer process conducted, the Issuing Office will combine the evaluation committee’s final technical scores, BSBO’s final small diverse business participation scores, the final cost scores, and (when applicable) the domestic workforce utilization scores, in accordance with the relative weights assigned to these areas as set forth in this Part.
B. The Issuing Office will rank responsible offerors according to the total overall score assigned to each, in descending order.
C. The Issuing Office must select for contract negotiations the offeror with the highest overall score; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT AN AWARD WILL NOT BE MADE TO AN OFFEROR WHOSE PROPOSAL RECEIVED THE LOWEST TECHNICAL SCORE AND HAD THE LOWEST COST SCORE OF THE RESPONSIVE PROPOSALS RECEIVED FROM RESPONSIBLE OFFERORS. IN THE EVENT SUCH A PROPOSAL ACHIEVES THE HIGHEST OVERALL SCORE, IT SHALL BE ELIMINATED FROM CONSIDERATION AND AWARD SHALL BE MADE TO THE OFFEROR WITH THE NEXT HIGHEST OVERALL SCORE.
D. The Issuing Office has the discretion to reject all proposals or cancel the request for proposals, at any time prior to the time a contract is fully executed, when it is in the best interests of the Commonwealth. The reasons for the rejection or cancellation shall be made part of the contract file.
PART IV
WORK STATEMENT
Objectives.
A. General.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Commonwealth) Department of Labor and Industry’s (DLI) current new hire data collection, validation, and processing contract is scheduled to expire in September 2016. The purpose of this RFP is to secure the services of an Offeror to conduct the back office operations supporting new hire reporting within the Commonwealth Workforce Development System (CWDS) administered by the Center for Workforce Information& Analysis (CWIA).
B. Specific.
The selected Offeror shall support the New Hire Program Back Office Operations (Program), through appropriate staffing, to include all aspects of collection, validation, and record-keeping of new hire data within the CWDS application. Included within the scope of this RFP is outreach to employers, to include education of employers, and responding to both their general programmatic question and detailed technical questions regarding the submission, validation, and correction of the new hire data. Outreach to employers also includes educating employers on both state and federal legislative mandates regarding new hire data reporting, and increasing employer compliance with the program requirements to report new hire data. Information on the Program’s state and federal legislative mandates will be provided to the selected Offeror’s staff by the new hire program supervisor within DLI-CWIA.
The selected Offeror shall provide managerial, data entry, customer service, and technical support staff who are dedicated to the Program and who have the experience and skills necessary to support the Offeror’s proposed solution. Offeror staff must be able to work in a cooperative fashion with various DLI staff, including the CWIA and DLI Office of Information Technology (OIT), and other designated contractors, during the life of the contract.
Nature and Scope of the Project.
A. Business Overview.
An overview of the New Hire reporting process is available in Appendix K, New Hire Reporting Program Background Information.
Detailed information regarding new hire data collection, validation, correction, and processing within CWDS is done, by file type and submission method, may be found in in the following appendices:
• Appendix L, Employer SFTP Process Flow.
• Appendix M, Employer Data File Upload Process Flow.
• Appendix N, Employer Submit Magnetic Media Process Flow.
• Appendix O, Employer Job Referral Update Process Flow.
B. Glossary.
Please refer to Appendix P, Glossary of Terms Used in the CWDS New Hire System, for a listing of terms and their definitions with which Offeror staff should be familiar.
C. System Features.
In addition, please refer to Appendix Q, CWDS-New Hire General System Features, for a list of system features available to both Offeror staff as they conduct program back office operations (i.e., data entry, reports, batch process work, etc.) and to employers (i.e., data entry, file upload, view program information, etc.) as they interact with the CWDS application.
Requirements.
The following requirements and standards must be met. The Offeror shall acknowledge understanding in their response. Offeror shall describe how it will meet the requirements as described in this section.
A. Incoming Transition.
The current contractor will provide transition assistance and training to the selected Offeror for a period of 21 business days. The transition assistance and training will aid the selected Offeror staff in assuming their duties and responsibilities outlined in this RFP, without an interruption of service to the Commonwealth, DLI, or its customers.
The current contractor will conduct the actual training with the guidance and input of DLI-CWIA staff. During the transition assistance and training period, the selected Offeror will not be responsible for the operational production of deliverables.
1. The selected Offeror shall be responsible for the following activities related to the transition and training:
a) Ensure proposed staff attends all training sessions offered by the incumbent data collection contractor during the transition assistance and training period at the back office worksite, on all days the Commonwealth is open for business.
b) Ensure proposed staff learns the methods of new hire data collection, validation, and processing in the CWDS application, as undertaken and completed each business day by the back office staff.
c) Ensure proposed staff actively participates in the learning process through questions and answers, clarification of information, etc. as needed, with the help of the incumbent contractor staff.
2. The transition assistance and training will consist of training selected Offeror staff on Program aspects including, but not limited to:
a) Updates to the Program back office operations system, created through the transition process, from the incumbent data collection contractor to the selected Offeror.
b) Conducting an initial review of existing Program back office operations systems and materials with the selected Offeror.
c) Providing “two-in-the-box” training with the selected Offeror (and/or Commonwealth staff, as needed) for ten (10) business days over the course of the transition assistance and training period. This training will consist of the selected Offeror staff shadowing the incumbent data collection contractor staff as new hire program back office operations are undertaken daily.
B. Background Checks.
The Offeror shall, at its own expense, arrange for a background check for all staff and its subcontractors, who will have access to Commonwealth IT facilities, either through on-site access or through remote access. This includes the use of leased facilities, including the Program worksite. To obtain a security fob and card-key access to the worksite, the background check described above must be conducted. Background checks shall be completed annually for all Offeror staff and subcontractors.
C. Employer Support.
Employer inquiries to Offeror staff may be through phone contact, by email, or by Live Chat (instant messaging functionality directly through the CWDS application) during regular business hours, Monday through Friday 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time (EDT or EST as applicable).
1. Background.
The current contractor’s staff handles approximately 25-50 live chats, 300-400 incoming phone calls, and 20-40 emails from employers each month regarding new hire data reporting (both general and specific technical questions). Approximately 400 outgoing phone calls are made each month to employers for record corrections. Inquiries are received via email by both customer service-dedicated staff, and supervisory and management staff. Employers that choose to subscribe to a program-specific email subscription list may also occasionally receive information and updates on new hire-related program activity via email.
Short informational videos on new hire reporting are available to employers through links to the program pages within the CWDS application. The videos cover general information about the program and specific information on data reporting through file upload, web-based data entry, or by SFTP. Employers may access these videos at any time to learn about the program and new hire reporting. Through early 2015, total views of these videos averaged approximately 600 per month, for all of the posted videos.
2. The selected Offeror staff shall accept inbound telephone calls from employers with general questions about the program, reporting requirements, reporting methods, etc.
3. The selected Offeror staff shall be available to reply to live chat requests during regular business hours.
4. The selected Offeror staff shall respond to all questions and inquiries from employers about the program in a timely, professional and courteous manner. All communications will emphasize the ease, security, and timeliness of electronic reporting methods; especially data file upload, and SFTP.
5. The selected Offeror staff shall reply to customer requests for information within one (1) business day of receipt, unless otherwise noted for workload purposes; e.g., Live chat requires real-time assistance be given by Offeror staff to employers, for it to be an effective mode of communication.
6. The selected Offeror should be prepared to handle the current workload outlined above and plan for increases in telephone and Live Chat activity of approximately 10% per year, for each year of the awarded contract, through the end date.
7. The selected Offeror shall not be responsible for the functionality within CWDS related to employer and jobseeker services, to include: employer registration; employer job posting; screening of participants for job openings; or responding directly to individual job seekers seeking employment. The selected Offeror shall be required to be familiar with these functions within CWDS, however; in particular, in aiding employers in understanding the CWDS employer-registration process. This familiarity is required because employers may choose to report their new hire data to the Program through various electronic means, but full system access is only available to those employers who choose to register. For those employers who do not wish tom register, anonymous new hire reporting is still available through the CWDS data entry screens.
D. Employer Outreach.
The selected Offeror shall provide education and outreach to employers or their third-party representatives with the goals of increasing employer correcting data submission errors, increasing the rate of data reporting by electronic means, resolving problems in collecting required new hire data elements, improving employer compliance with all State and Federally-mandated legislative requirements for employers to report their new hire data to the program, and improving the electronic reporting submission rate of new hire data.
1. Offeror’s shall provide a detailed example of a proposed outreach as part of the response to this RFP with the goal of emphasizing and encouraging an increase in electronic reporting submission rate and deemphasize the submission of data by manual means (fax, paper) or magnetic media (CD). The accepted electronic submission methods are data file upload or web data entry via the CWDS application, and SFTP.
The proposed outreach plan shall include, but not be limited to:
a) A method of conducting outreach, including the materials needed for outreach.
b) Offeror staff assigned to the outreach effort, their roles in the effort, and the ability of the assigned staff to successfully achive the goal of the outreach.
c) A method of analyzing the results of the outreach effort to gauge its effectiveness, correct noted deficiencies, and provide feedback on the outreach results to DLI-CWIA new hire program staff.
2. Background.
Routine outreach is conducted through activities such as bulk mailings of letters and informational postcards and face-to-face meetings, with input and advice from the current contractor. Since 2011, over 94,300 letters have been mailed to select employer groups and nearly sixty (60) outreach and education meetings have been conducted across Pennsylvania through early 2015. Other outreach activities have included: articles in employer-related newsletters, links to frequently-visited employer websites, and initial and follow-up mailings of program materials to targeted industries and employers, including educational institutions, construction, retail, health-care, hospitality, and other employers, and to temporary employment agencies and payroll service providers.
It is expected that these levels of customer service-related outreach activity, and employer engagement, will continue at their current pace, or even increase, through routine and proactive outreach conducted over the life of the contract.
3. Outreach efforts will be conducted periodically during the life of the contract with guidance, instruction, and input from DLI-CWIA Program staff. DLI-CWIA will establish the goals of the outreach. All existing outreach materials and methods may be utilized by selected Offeror staff, or new methods may be devised and implemented (subject to DLI and Commonwealth approval). DLI is responsible for the material costs for conducting Program outreach (including all costs associated with the publication and mailing of outreach materials). Effort shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
a) Contact and educate employers on required data elements, correct file types and correct file formats to be used in submitting new hire data.
b) Contact and educate employers on the timeliness of submitting new hire data to the Program, according to legislative mandate, within twenty (20) days of the employee’s date of hire.
c) Improve employer compliance with the Program, from approximately 80% on an employer-by-employer basis at the start of the contract, through employer outreach. Compliance is measured by comparing new hire data reported by employers to the Program quarterly wage record data submitted by employers to the Commonwealth.
d) Conduct employer outreach, with the goals of increasing employer compliance and increasing electronic reporting submission rates.
e) Conduct employers outreach to those submitting multiple new hire records via fax (25 to 50 or more records per fax transmission), encouraging them to switch to a more cost effective and secure electronic means.
f) Confirm that employers submitting via fax are receiving a fax confirmation receipt from the Program with each transmission; the purpose of this fax receipt is to confirm the data was received, and that switching to a more secure electronic means of data reporting is both cost effective and more secure than using fax.
g) Target outreach efforts to specific employer groups, including employers by industry, region of the Commonwealth, time of year, size of employer, and current method of data reporting.
i. Targeted outreach may include new employers, seasonal employers, employers who report currently by manual means, large employers, consistently non-compliant employers, etc.
h) Work with program administrative staff within DLI-CWIA to establish outreach goals, conduct outreach, and evaluate the results and outcomes of outreach efforts.
i) Utilize all DLI-provided resources and equipment to plan and conduct outreach to employers, to include informational brochures, pamphlets, letters, videos, webinars, etc.
4. The selected Offeror shall plan for workload growth of approximately 10% per contract year, and staff accordingly to handle this increased volume of activity, through effective staff management and cross training, as needed.
E. Validation
The selected Offeror shall collect and validate data submitted by employers in support of the Program. New hire data that is incomplete or invalid must be corrected and/or resolved by selected Offeror staff through additional work.
Typical file errors that need corrected by Offeror staff may include incorrect file type, incorrect formatting within the file (wrong column formatting, etc.), or the size of the file is out of bounds (too large to process due to system-designed constraints on the maximum file size to be accepted via file upload).
Typical data errors that may need to be corrected within a file include missing a critical data element, invalid critical data elements (e.g., missing employer FEIN, employee SSN, employee Date of Hire, etc.), missing a data element not considered critical but still needed for state-level compliance purposes (e.g., missing employer point of contact, or state of hire information).
In meeting these requirements, the Offeror shall:
1. Data Validation.
a) Work with employers to address and resolve issues involving error(s), invalid, or incomplete data when submitting their new hire data.
b) In all communications with employers regarding data submission to the program, selected Offeror staff shall promote the use of electronic means, as described in Appendix K, New Hire Reporting Program Background Information, rather than manual means of reporting data, and to advise employers to switch from less secure manual methods to more secure electronic methods.
c) The selected Offeror staff shall ensure employers submit unique (non-duplicated), complete, and valid new hire data, where a complete record may contain up to sixteen (16) data elements (grouped by data type), and complete new hire records form a data file. The sixteen data elements are further subdivided by degree of criticality of each data element, according to state and federal legislation establishing new hire reporting.[1]
d) Ensure that all new hire records received from employers, validated and found to be incomplete, in error, or missing any of the additional or optional data elements are not processed directly into the CWDS application for submittal to the State Directory of New Hires SDNH, but are instead flagged as an exception record (or records, for multiple instances found in a data file), and are sent to the Offeror’s back office operation staff for follow-up corrective action.
e) Using the appropriate screens within the CWDS application, log and document all Offeror staff technical support phone calls made to employers (outbound) for exception processing and data handling. Contact employers to resolve incomplete, invalid, or inaccurate data fields, with up to five (5) attempts to make contact through phone, email, or fax.
2. Critical Data Fields.
Critical data fields are those where the data element is both Federally-mandated and State-mandated, while non-critical (optional and additional) data fields are those where the data element is State-mandated, but is not Federally-mandated.
In meeting these requirements, the Offeror shall:
a) Ensure the following thirteen (13) critical mandatory data elements are collected, validated, and processed for each new hire record submitted by the employer; any records submitted where any of these elements are incomplete, erroneous, or invalid (even after corrective action is undertaken to correct and complete the data element by back office operations staff) will not be processed in the CWDS application, will not be submitted to the SDNH, and will not be considered a valid transactional record subject to invoicing by the Offeror for the purposes of payment by the Commonwealth:
i. Employer Federal Identification Number (FEIN).
Through employer outreach, Offeror staff will request, as needed, that employers submit the identical FEIN on the new hire report as was submitted on the employer’s most recent Quarterly Wage (QW) report to the Commonwealth.
ii. Employer Company Name.
Through employer outreach, Offeror staff will request, as needed, that employers submit the identical employer company name on the new hire report as was submitted on the employer’s most recent QW report to the Commonwealth.
iii. Employer Street Address.
Through employer outreach, Offeror staff will request, as needed, that employers submit the street address used for the employer’s payroll processing location, and not submit a post office box number in lieu of a valid address.
iv. Employer City.
v. Employer State.
vi. Employer ZIP Code.
vii. New Hire Employee Social Security Number (SSN).
Through employer outreach, Offeror staff will request, as needed, that employers submit only new hire employees with valid SSNs as listed on their Social Security Card, and will not submit blank, invalid, or erroneous information. For new hire employees not yet in possession of a valid SSN, Offeror staff will request, as needed, that employers not submit the new hire report for that employee until the SSN has been issued to the employee.
viii. New Hire Employee Full Legal Name.
Through employer outreach, Offeror staff will request, as needed, that employers submit only new hire employees full legal name as listed on their social security card, and will not submit blank, invalid, or erroneous information, including nicknames.
ix. New Hire Employee Street Address.
Through employer outreach, Offeror staff will request, as needed, that employers submit a valid Street address, and not submit a Post Office Box Number in lieu of a valid address.
x. New Hire Employee City.
xi. New Hire Employee State of Hire.
xii. New Hire Employee Zip Code.
xiii. New Hire Employee Date of Hire.
Date of hire submitted to the program is defined as the first day the employee performs services for wages or any other form of compensation.
A date of hire older than three (3) years from the date of the report submission cannot be processed within the CWDS application, nor used for the purpose of Income Withholding Order (IWO) generation, according to DHS guidelines.
xiv. Optional Information.
Ensure the following optional and/or additional data elements, if reported by the employer, are collected, validated, and processed as part of the complete new hire record; Employer Point of Contact Person Name, Employer Point of Contact Person Information (official title, email address, or phone number), New Hire Employee Date of Birth.
3. Maintain processed new hire records, for compliance reporting, auditing review, and accountability purposes, within the CWDS application.
a) Maintain hardcopy records that require exceptions handling and contact with the employer to complete for one (1) year from the date of receipt of the record, before purging from the CWDS application.
b) Maintain hardcopy records that require exceptions handling and contact with the employer to complete, yet cannot be completed and remain in “pending” status for one (1) year from the date of receipt of the record, before purging from the CWDS application.
c) Maintain all hardcopy records that are received in the CWDS application, until processed through CWDS as the official electronic data of record.
d) In conducting back office operations to collect the new hire data, validate it, and ensure its final processing state is New Hire Processed NHPR, the Offeror shall be aware of and comply with the following state and federal mandated timeline, listed in the table “New Hire Reporting Timeframe, in Business Days” and the applicable service levels as defined in Appendix R, Service Level Agreements:
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F. Data Collection.
1. The selected Offeror shall collect data submitted by employers through the methods defined below in order of preference.
a) Data File Upload.
Acceptable file formats for data file upload include: Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx); tab-delimited text or fixed-width text (.txt); comma separated values (.csv); or Extensible Markup Language (.xml). The data file upload process is described in Appendix M, Employer Data File Upload Process Flow.
b) Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).
Accept employers’ data by Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) from employers registered with DLI-OIT to use FTP through a master account. Offeror staff will use the existing PGP Desktop Encryption software to decrypt employer-encrypted files received via SFTP to validate and process the data through the batch process within the CWDS software. If the file will not decrypt using the PGP software, the Offeror staff will contact the employer to resolve the issue. The SFTP process is described in Appendix L, Employer SFTP Process Flow.
c) CareerLink® Link Job Referral Update.
Registering with the Pennsylvania CareerLink® (if not already registered) through the CWDS application, and reporting their new hire data automatically through the Job Referral Update Process within the Pennsylvania JobGateway® subsystem of the CWDS application.
Using this method, participants within CWDS are matched against registered employers’ available job openings within CWDS; when a hiring activity occurs, the employer completes the applicable Job Referral Update process to have the hire reporting by the system to the Pennsylvania New Hire Reporting Program. The job link referral update process is described in Appendix O, Employer Job Referral Update Process Flow.
i. If the employer elects to use this method of new hire reporting through the system, the Program receives the new hire report, but Offeror staff are not involved in the collection and validation process.
ii. If the employer elects to not use this method, they are reminded to report the new hire through one of the other preferred methods of data submission; when they do this, the Program receives the report and Offeror staff is involved in the collection and validation process.
d) Employer Data Entry.
Pennsylvania CareerLink® registered employers may data enter their new hire information through the links provided from their Employer Homepage within CWDS. Non-registered employers may report their new hire data anonymously by direct data entry through the links provided within the New Hire Program Information Page in CWDS. The data entry process flow is described in Appendix S, Summary of New Hire Data Input Channels.
e) Secure Fax.
i. Accept employers’ data submitted by secure fax, using the Easylink fax image processing to a .tif image, and Offeror staff data entering the new hire report through the staff interface within CWDS.
ii. Offeror staff shall contact employers requesting data be resubmitted within seventy-two (72) hours when illegible or incomplete fax transmission are received.
f) Magnetic Media using PGP encryption.
Accept employers’ data submitted via magnetic media using PGP encryption software to secure their data for transport to the back office operations facility via mailer, through standard postal mail as described in Appendix N, Employer Submit Magnetic Media Process Flow.
i. Ensure that data downloaded from magnetic media is validated and processed each business day into the CWDS application, and is not stored on Offeror staff desktops.
ii. Upon collection of the data from the magnetic media and successful submission into the CWDS application, destroy the magnetic media, and not return it to the employer. Offeror staff may return the magnetic media to DLI-CWIA staff, for destruction.
iii. If less than 200 records are present on the magnetic media (CD), the data will be uploaded to CWDS for validation. If 200 or more records are to be reported on the CD, the data will be submitted to the SFTP queue for batch system processing. Offeror staff will use the existing PGP Desktop Encryption software to decrypt employer-encrypted files received via SFTP to validate and process the data through the current staff upload or batch process features within CWDS.
g) Submissions by Mail.
i. Handling incoming customer mail received from employers by way of standard postal mail, to include, new hire data reported on the Standard Commonwealth New Hire Reporting Form (CWIA-25, revised 06 2012), a copy of IRS Form W4 (2015), or an acceptable substitute and data received via magnetic media.
ii. Each incoming piece of mail will be time/date stamped with the date and time of receipt, before submitting the item for back office staff processing into CWDS.
2. The selected Offeror shall reject invalid data submissions as defined below.
a) Only accept employers’ data submitted using a secure method, to prevent data loss, corruption, or unauthorized receipt of sensitive information.
b) Ensure that employers attempting to submit new hire data via file attachment to an email, or embedding data into the body of an email message, are contacted promptly and directly within one (1) business day with instructions to resubmit their data via a preferred reporting method. Offeror staff will not accept data received from employers via email under any circumstances.
c) Ensure that employers attempting to provide new hire data by inbound telephone call or voicemail messages are not accepted. The Offeror staff shall respond to voicemail messages within one (1) business day requesting the data be submitted using one of the approved reporting methods. Offeror staff will not accept data received from employers via telephone or voicemail message under any circumstances.
3. Data Storage.
The selected Offeror shall store all electronic and hardcopy data received from employers, to include data received but not yet validated or processed in the CWDS application, in a secure manner at the close of each business day, according to Commonwealth, DLI, and CWDS standards of data confidentiality and data handling.
G. Staffing.
The selected Offeror shall provide technical and managerial staff with appropriate skills to undertake management, and data collection, validations, and processing of new hire data. The selected Offeror shall ensure back office staff is knowledgeable about general new hire reporting program state and federal legislative mandates, and is able to respond to questions from employers about this legislation, under the guidance and instruction of program management within DLI-CWIA.
1. The selected Offeror shall provide appropriate staffing levels (up to a maximum of ten (10) staff persons) to accommodate annual workflow fluctuations, and plan for growth in hiring activity of 7% to 10% per year of the contract. This growth represents an increase in weekly new hire data collection activity of approximately 5,000 records per week (or over 250,000 per year). Provide training for data entry staff to ensure efficient, timely and secure handling of confidential data.
2. The selected Offeror shall provide new staff, and existing staff, with periodic training, on at least a quarterly basis, to keep their skills in data collection, validation, processing, and customer service up to date. The training will cover all aspects of data collection, validation, processing, and customer service, and will be tailored to meet staff needs according to their assigned roles and responsibilities (e.g., data entry staff will be trained on current data collection techniques, etc.).
a) Ensure staff is fully trained and capable of applying new information gained through training, to: enhance their technical skills in data handling and process of records; enhance their customer service skills, in responding to questions from employers about the program, and in educating employers; enhance their knowledge of general and technical program-specific information.
3. The selected Offeror shall ensure that data collection staff and customer service staff are cross-trained in each role and responsibility related to their respective work (i.e., data entry staff are able to assume the role of customer service staff, as needed; customer service staff are able to assume the role of data entry staff in data entering new hire data from incoming paper forms, faxes, etc.).
a) Ensure data collection staff and customer service staff is fully cross-trained in each other’s major roles, responsibilities and job duties, to allow for maximum flexibility in workload supervision and management, and to maximize back office operation efficiency.
b) Cross training of supervisory and managerial staff (i.e., operations management staff, technical support staff, customer service supervisor staff, etc.) in the same manner as that of the data entry and customer service staff will be at the discretion of the Offeror.
4. Technical and Managerial staff shall:
a) Have strong problem solving and customer relation skills, especially verbal and written communication skills while resolving technical issues or data validity issues with employers over the phone, by email, or over the Internet through Live Chat.
b) Have familiarity with the requirements of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, and Pennsylvania Act 58 of 1997, and be able to respond to questions from employers about this legislation, under the guidance and instruction of Program management within DLI-CWIA.
c) Have familiarity with the uses of program data for child support enforcement and collection purposes, fraud detection in unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation programs, and labor market statistics, and be able to respond to customer questions on these subjects, or forward these questions to appropriate Program staff within DLI-CWIA.
d) Have Microsoft Office 2010 Suite end user skills and experience.
e) Have Business Objects Enterprise (Version 4.1 or higher) end user skills and experience.
f) Have technical skills related to data handling and processing of records, regardless of software, file-type or reporting media.
g) Knowledge and ability to work with, and manipulate, information provided by employers in various software packages, by file type and reporting medium.
h) Knowledge and ability to communicate telephonically (and communicate using Openscape phone software, as required), and by computer (using Live Chat instant messaging software, as required).
i) Provide support to multi-state employers who wish to report their data to Pennsylvania, including answering questions on both general reporting requirements and detailed technical requirements about the Multi-State Employer (MSE) process.
j) Instruct employers on how to complete the MSE registration process through the Federal MSE Registry (MSER) website located at: . For problems, or questions regarding the process, Offeror staff will instruct employers to contact the MSER Help Desk at phone (410) 277-9470 during regular business hours Monday – Friday (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST) or by email at: MSEdb@acf..
k) Instruct MSE who contact the program and wish to report to Pennsylvania to review and comply with the information given at the program webpage “New Hire Reporting for Multi-State Employers” within the CWDS application. Provide these employers with navigation instructions to this page, by selecting the “New Hire Reporting for Multi-State Employers” menu choice from the drop down menu located at the top of the new hire program Information page (beside the “Additional New Hire Reporting Information” title), and pressing the View button.
l) Offeror staff, including subcontractors, shall complete and sign confidentiality statements and adhere to all established Commonwealth policies and procedures regarding data security and confidentiality of information.
m) Maintain confidentiality of data through data sharing, both in-transit and at-rest.
n) Maintain confidentiality of data through data sharing via computer resource agreements as found in Appendix T, Computer Resource Agreement and Appendix U, CWDS User Agreement.
o) Ensure the worksite desktops are secured each business day, and that peripheral equipment (fax machines, multi-function printers, etc.) are cleared of any sensitive data in print queue, and that confidential new hire data cannot be accessed through these devices.
p) Ensure data downloaded from magnetic media (CD) are not stored on staff desktops after the conclusion of processing and submission into the CWDS application. Ensure that these magnetic media are then destroyed, and not returned to the employer. Offeror staff may return the magnetic media to DLI-CWIA staff, for destruction.
q) Ensure new hire data received on hardcopy paper, by fax, by magnetic media (CD or diskette) are collected, validated, and processed promptly. Once the new hire data are entered into the CWDS database, the original form containing the confidential data is shredded to prevent data theft or loss, and the waste is placed in approved receptacles for pickup and disposal. The Commonwealth will provide shredding services to enable this function to be undertaken, as needed, each business processing day.
5. Technical Staff Qualifications.
a) Technical skills related to data handling and processing of records, regardless of software, file-type or reporting media.
b) Skills in working closely with non-technical customers (employers and/or their representatives) to resolve technical issues related to the reporting of data.
c) Problem solving and customer relation skills, if in a customer service role, to include resolving data validity issues over the phone, or by computer using Live Chat instant messaging software.
d) Problem solving and customer service skills, to include technical skills in spreadsheet manipulation, data troubleshooting, and resolving data validity issues.
e) Knowledge and ability to work with, and manipulate, information provided by employers in various formats, to include Microsoft Office Excel (.xls or .xlsx), fixed-width text or tab-delimited text (.txt), comma separated values (.csv), or Extensible Markup Language (.xml).
6. Managerial Staff Qualifications.
a) Supervision of Offeror staff involved in the back office operations.
b) Support Program office including, but not limited to, employer education, outreach, and employer compliance.
H. Data Collection Support.
The selected Offeror shall provide data collection support to the program and employers each business day, Monday through Friday 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. EST. The Offeror shall request approval from the program administrative staff of DLI-CWIA for any planned deviations from this schedule, to include working on days the Commonwealth is not conducting business due to holidays, weather-related closings, administrative closings, or other designated times.
1. Respond to voicemail messages submitted by employers and other customers after regular business hour to the Phone Web Center support voicemail resource account RA-LI-CWDS-VM-NewHire@state.pa.us within one (1) business day of receipt. Creation and management of voicemail messages, to include the caller ID appearance and updating of voicemail informational content messages, will be the responsibility of DLI-OIT staff. Offeror staff may suggest voicemail message content, and will notify DLI-OIT staff of any problems with the voicemail message, content, or functionality.
2. Respond to email questions submitted by employers and other customers to the Program email account RA-LI-CWDS-NEWHIRE@state.pa.us within one (1) business day. Iron Port encryption software to secure the contents of the email message may be used by the submitter.
3. Respond to email questions submitted by employers wishing to use Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), at email resource account for FTP: RA-LI-CWDS-NewHireSF@ within one (1) business day of rec.
4. Respond to Live Chat (instant message) link at the New Hire Information page within the CWDS application at: during regular business hours Monday – Friday, 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. EST.
For in-depth support to the employer (or other customer), and that requires more explanation and/or information be provided than can reasonably be accomplished through the Live Chat feature, provide follow-up support via email or by phone. Provide this follow-up support within one (1) business day of the initiation of the Live Chat.
5. The selected Offeror staff shall support the program by answering questions from employers and customers about reporting mandates to include the Personal Responsibility, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, Public Law 113-128. New Hire Reporting, 23 Pa. C.S. § 4391 et seq.
I. Program Efficiency.
The selected Offeror shall focus on increasing electronic data submissions of new hire data from employers to the CWDS application, with the goal of decreasing program operational costs and increasing Program operational efficiency. Offeror shall describe their approach to meeting this requirement.
Submission of new hire data by employers using electronic means (data file upload through CWDS, SFTP, or direct data entry) is approximately 93%, with the remaining 7% of records submitted by manual means (on paper, by the Standard Commonwealth New Hire Reporting Form (CWIA-25, revised 06 2012), or an appropriate substitute, or via secure fax.
Over the term of the contract, the Offeror shall work to increase the electronic submission rate of data by employers to CWDS, with the goal of achieving from the effective start date of the contract:
a) 95% electronic submission rate by the end of contract year one;
b) 97% electronic submission rate by the end of contract year two;
c) 99% electronic submission rate by the end of contract year three;
d) 100% electronic submission rate by the end of Optional Extension year one.
J. Quality Control and Auditing.
Quality control standards will be implemented by the selected Offeror and adhered to throughout the terms of the contract. The standards cover both new hire data and Offeror staff engaged in back office operations.
1. Data Quality Control: New hire data collected through CWDS is subject to quality control standards, using existing CWDS infrastructure and architecture to implement existing functionality. These standards include correct file type and file format of files submitted by employers, correct filed format and field layout of records within each submitted file, and complete and accurate data within each field.
2. Back Office Operations Quality Control and Auditing: The selected Offeror and all proposed staff who will be undertaking back office operations work, to include supervisors and managers of that work, will be located at the Commonwealth’s worksite location listed in Part I, Section I-22. All data submitted by employers to the program will be collected and processed at that worksite. Outsourcing or offsite handling of data submitted by employers to the Program by the Offeror, or by a subcontractor, is prohibited. All work done at the worksite will be subject to periodic auditing without prior notice, before, during, and after regular business hours by both DLI-CWIA new hire administrative staff and DLI-OIT staff. The purpose of these audits will be to ensure that all agreed-to business procedures regarding new hire data collection, storage, handling, validation, transmission, and processing are understood, are being adhered to, and complied with by the Offeror.
a) A formal audit of all back office procedures, including data collection processing and validation, customer service and support, and worksite supervision and management, will be held at a minimum of once each year of the contract, from the effective start date through the end of the contract.
3. System Quality Control: Because they are involved in new hire data collection and processing within CWDs each business day, Offeror staff is readily available to identify deficiencies and processing bottlenecks in CWDS application system functionality. They are also in an advantageous position to propose possible solutions to these issues, and suggest enhancements to system functionality as it relates to new hire processing. Together, these issues are referred to as incidents.
This applies to both the public-facing employer screens within CWDS, and staff-facing internal screens. Within the CWDS system, these incidents are addressed through a functional release cycle of “scope-design-build-test-apply” activity lasting 2-3 months’ time. The purpose of each release is to enhance applicability, usability, and functionality of the application to be more responsive to customer needs. Typically, three (3) to five (5) new hire related incidents are addressed per functional release, with five to six releases per calendar year. As part of increasing system functionality and quality through this continuous improvement process, the selected Offeror shall be required to:
a) Identify deficiencies in system functionality related to new hire data collection, validation and processing within the CWDS application; these screens include, but are not limited to: data entry (both employer and staff); data file upload (both employer and staff); exceptions handling (both assignment and management of open exceptions); records validation; customer service; and general work to undertake corrective action, such a search functionality (e.g., by batch, employer, submitted information, data files, etc.); and reporting (both operational and administrative reports).
b) Identify possible enhancements to those same functional areas listed in a), above.
c) Escalate all identified incidents to DLI-CWIA and DLI-OIT (CWDS Project Team) staff, for resolution.
d) Test all proposed solutions to incidents, per functional release, as part of end User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Test for production (deployment) testing, and post-Production deployment verification testing. Pre-release testing will identify if the proposed solution works as intended, and if the solution should be implemented as part of the live production database application, post-functional release.
e) Although all Offeror staff will be required to identify and escalate incidents (both deficiencies and enhancements) to the proper Commonwealth staff, only Offeror staff in a supervisory or managerial role, including technical support, will be involved in testing and validating proposed solutions.
f) Offeror staff shall not be responsible for the quality and robustness of the solution, only for testing whether the developed solution works as designed.
K. Operational and Administrative Reports and Analysis.
The selected Offeror shall generate routine operational-specific reports using the new hire staff interface within the CWDS application. Routine administrative reports, along with ad hoc (as needed) reports, will be generated within CWDS by the Offeror, and will be used to provide program workload and cost information, upon request, to the new hire program administrative staff within DLI-CWIA. Details of these reports are given in this section. Please refer to Appendix P, Glossary of Terms Used in the CWDS-New Hire System, for definitions of terms used to describe data elements in these reports.
Offeror staff will be provided operational information (e.g., fax document summary information, and SFTP summary information) to aid them in their work, to help provide data integrity, and to increase efficiency in processing new hire information. This information will be provided in one of the following ways: in a formal report (as a required operational or administrative report); or through ad hoc queries of the CWDS application database, using the Offeror staff interface within CWDS (as an ad hoc business query). The business reports query tool currently used to produce these reports is Business Objects Enterprise Version 4.1. The main CWDS system environment in which operational, administrative and ad hoc reporting is done is the CWDS Master Universe, and the CWDS New Hire environment within that universe. Note that these reports are generated on a routine basis (each business day, weekly, monthly, etc.), or on an ad hoc basis, as discussed below.
The reports are divided into two (2) types, by functionality, operational reports that provide information on the data collection process, and administrative reports that provide information on the validation and processing of the new hire data through the system by the Offeror, once collected.
Additionally, overnight batch processing jobs in the CWDS application generate system messages and output that will also be used by the Offeror staff in their work. Offeror staff will be required to interpret the information provided by the system on the status of the new hire data after validation and processing in CWDS, to include transmission of the data to the SDNH, and take appropriate follow-up action to resolve problems.
Using these routine and ad hoc reports on the results of new hire data collection, validation, and processing, Offeror staff will improve the efficiency of the back office environment.
Please refer to Appendix V, Summary of New Hire Back Office Reports and Batch Processes by Type, for detailed information on each type of operational or administrative report, including: the report name; a brief description of the purpose of the report, or key data items included in the report; users involved in generating the report, validating the report contents, and interpreting the report output for other Offeror staff, or for DLI-CWIA staff. The appendix also provides information on the CWDS system-generated batch processing jobs that run as part of each business day’s processing cycle, and the output that results from the completion of these jobs.
Appendix W, Summary of New Hire Back Office Reports and Batch Processes, by Sample, provides sample views of each administrative report that will be used by the Offeror to undertake and oversee back office operations.
1. Required operational reports: Offeror staff will generate these reports using the new hire staff interface within the CWDs application. Once these reports are generated, Offeror staff are required to interpret the data found in each report and take action, as needed, to correct any errors and resolve any discrepancies found. If the actions taken will impact the ongoing back office operations, or result in downtime for maintenance or troubleshooting work, the Offeror must notify DLI-CWIA staff of the status of the issue and work done to resolve any operational problems. In the event that DLI-CWIA is unavailable, the Offeror shall escalate the issue to the CWDS-Employer Services designated Point of Contact (POC) at the CWDS Project Worksite.
Operational reports include fax service reports, FTP/EFT (File Transfer Protocol/Electronic File Transfer) service reports (including employer activity reports), and Easylink Fax Imaging Services reports. Details of these reports, with comments, are as follows:
a) Fax Service Summary Report. This report will be generated each business processing day.
b) Fax Service Detailed Report. Separate reports will be generated for both successful and unsuccessful fax transmissions of employer-submitted new hire data to the Program. These reports will be generated each business processing day.
c) FTP and EFT Services Employer Activity Reports. Based on the creation date of each of these reports, data in each report are grouped by FTP/EFT user (i.e., employer), and each report lists a record for each data upload performed.
The Account Master List Report is required on an ad hoc basis, and contains a list of records of all FTP/EFT accounts (by employer).
These reports will be generated each business processing day, and on a routine monthly basis.
d) Easylink Fax Image Services Report. This on-demand report provides information on the Easylink fax service process, for troubleshooting and issue resolution involving incoming faxes containing new hire data. Incoming faxes are converted to .tif images, for viewing on the CWDS data entry staff interface, and for data entry of the information directly into CWDS by Offeror staff. Offeror staff is responsible for workload maintenance issues, to include batching of incoming faxes, and keying data from fax images into CWDS through the new hire staff interface screens.
DLI-OIT is responsible for coordinating the support and management of the incoming fax services for the Offeror (using Easylink fax software). Offeror staff shall notify the DLI-CWIA new hire manager of any fax service issues that may arise (e.g., missing faxes, incomplete information, system failure, etc.) as they receive and process new hire data via incoming fax. In the event that DLI-CWIA new hire staff is unavailable, the Offeror shall escalate the issue to the CWDS-Employer Services designated POC at the CWDS project worksite, and notify them that a fax service issue has arisen. Once notified by the DLI-CWIA new hire staff of by the CWDS-Employer Services POC about the issue, DLI-OIT will work to troubleshoot and resolve the problem.
The Commonwealth reserves the right to respond to technological change and upgrades involving data collection, and reserves the right to convert Easylink fax image services into an in-stream data file, for more efficient processing. This conversion process will use Optical Character Resolution (OCR) software to convert the incoming faxes into data and images, requiring no Offeror staff data entry except for the handling of exception records that “fall out” of the conversion process due to errors, etc. The Commonwealth will provide a minimum of thirty (30) days’ notice to the Offeror before implementing these changes.
2. Required Administrative Reports: These reports will be generated by the Offeror staff as part of their routine workload in data collection, validation, and processing in CWDS. These reports will be generated using either standard report buttons in the CWDS application staff interface, or through Business Objects Enterprise Version 4.1 (or higher). Once generated, the Offeror shall interpret the data found in these reports, and take action, as needed, to correct errors and resolve any discrepancies found. If the actions taken will impact the ongoing back office operations, or result in downtime for maintenance or troubleshooting work, the Offeror must notify DLI-CWIA new hire administrative staff of the status of the issue and work done to resolve any administrative problems. In the event that DLI-CWIA new hire staff is unavailable, the Offeror shall escalate the issue to the CWDS-Employer Services designated POC at the CWDS Project Worksite. Once created, these reports may be given to program staff within DLI-CWIA, as needed or requested for administrative purposes.
3. Required Analysis of Batch Processing Work: Outside of the routine reporting and ad hoc reporting requirements described above (for both operational and administrative reports), additional administrative work related to batch processing of new hire information from CWDS (and also used as part of data collection, validation and processing) is required of the Offeror staff.
This system batch processing work includes interpreting the output and results of CWDS system-generated batch processing jobs (either successful or unsuccessful), and taking appropriate action to either troubleshoot and resolve the issue, or contacting DLI-CWIA new hire Program staff for further guidance and input. The Offeror shall receive notice from the CWDS Project team of all system-wide problems, maintenance windows, or service outages.
4. Statistics Reports. The Offeror shall collect statistics on Live Chat usage, volumes of customer questions answered each month, volume and costs of faxes received by the Program, and volume of records received by mail each month. This data shall be reported monthly in a format acceptable to DLI-CWIA .
Please refer to Appendix V, Summary of New Hire Back Office Reports and Batch Processes by Type, for more detailed information on each type of batch process, including: the batch process name; a brief description of the purpose of the batch process, or key data items included in the process, and the frequency that the batch process runs (usually, once per business day).
L. Security and Confidentiality.
Security and data confidentiality procedures regarding the handling of new hire data, including data entry, storage, and retrieval of data from databases, and transmission of the data to DLI through the CWDS application, will be followed in all circumstances. These procedures are established through Commonwealth, DLI and CWDS guidelines and confidentiality agreements regarding data handling and release of data. Confidentiality agreements concerning the release of new hire data will extend to include all program back office operations work undertaken by the Offeror, and to all work subcontracted. A sample confidentiality agreement that must be signed by all Offeror staff is included in Appendix T, Computer Resource Agreement, and Appendix U, CWDS User Agreement.
Security procedures and software (e.g., IronPort Email encryption for email communication, or PGP data encryption for magnetic media) are in place to ensure confidentiality of the new hire data is maintained. (In regards to email encryption, this ensures communication between the employer and the program about their new hire data is also secure.) This confidentiality of data is maintained for the data when both In-transit and While At Rest.
Current Commonwealth standards for security and confidentiality related to data processing software, technology and platforms may be found in Appendix X, Enterprise IT Standards Quick Reference Guide and Appendix Y, Additional Software Documentation. Appendix Z, Technology Lifecycle Classifications, contains definitions of terms used in the Enterprise Quick Reference Guide. Appendix AA, IronPort Email, discusses the procedures employers may use to send secure email communication to the program, should they so choose. Note that this secure email feature is intended for email communication only, not data submission; data submission by file attachment to an email, or embedding within the body of the email, is prohibited.
In addition, DLI-OIT has itself established standards and policies that must be followed by the Offeror. These standards are listed in Appendix BB, L&I Enterprise Standards.
Secure fax (using Easylink Fax Processing) and Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) procedures are in place to maintain data confidentiality and security when employers use these methods of submitting data to the program.
Secure procedures for hardcopy submission of new hire data are in place to maintain data confidentiality and security when employers submit data to the program using magnetic media (CD or diskette). Employers who submit data via magnetic media will be required to use PGP encryption software to encrypt their data, and then submit the magnetic media to the program using a secure mailer and standard postal mail. Please refer to Appendix Y, Additional Software Documentation, for more information.
Additionally, data collection, validation, and processing at the back office worksite will be made secure through the use of encryption software on Offeror staff workstations. The purpose of this software is to render the desktop PC unreadable to unauthorized users in the event of theft from the worksite. Please refer to Appendix Y, Additional Software Documentation, for more information.
Offeror staff shall ensure that all daily operations at the worksite will be conducted in a secure and confidential manner, to minimize the loss or theft of new hire data, or access to the data by unauthorized persons. Procedures that will be in place to ensure this include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Prompt receipt and handling of all data received from employers on paper via standard postal mail, or by magnetic media (CD or diskette), and secure storage of these materials if not data entered into the CWDS application at the close of each business day. Prompt shredding of these the same materials (paper), and disposal of the waste into approved receptacle, once the data are entered into the CWDS application. Upon collection of the data from the magnetic media and submission into the CWDS application, the magnetic media will be destroyed, and not returned to the employer. Offeror staff may return the magnetic media to DLI-CWIA staff, for destruction.
2. Time/date stamping of all data received through hardcopy media (for accountability purposes) before further processing occurs.
3. Prohibition of Offeror staff from handling data received through hardcopy media, or printed from electronic format (e.g., from fax, etc.) in a casual manner (e.g., unsecured on desktops and visible to unauthorized staff, in a common area accessible to unauthorized staff, etc.).
4. Prohibition of discussion of confidential new hire data in an unsecure or casual manner (e.g., through unauthorized emails, or phone conversations, or offsite or after work hours, etc.).
M. Emergency Preparedness.
To support continuity of operations during an emergency, including a pandemic, the Commonwealth needs a strategy for maintaining operations for an extended period of time. One part of this strategy is to ensure that essential contracts that provide critical business services to the Commonwealth have planned for such an emergency and put contingencies in place to provide needed goods and services.
1. Describe how Offeror anticipates such a crisis will impact its operations.
2. Describe Offeror’s emergency response continuity of operations plan. Attach a copy of the plan, or at a minimum, summarize how the plan addresses the following aspects of pandemic preparedness:
a) Employee training (describe Offeror’s training plan, and how frequently it will be shared with employees)
b) Identified essential business functions and key employees (within Offeror) necessary to carry them out
c) Contingency plans for:
i. How Offeror will handle staffing issues when a portion of key employees are incapacitated due to illness.
ii. How Offeror employees will carry out the essential functions if contagion control measures prevent them from coming to the primary workplace.
d) How Offeror will communicate with staff and suppliers when primary communications systems are overloaded or otherwise fail, including key contacts, chain of communications (including suppliers), etc.
e) How and when Offeror’s emergency plan will be tested, and if the plan will be tested by a third-party.
N. Outgoing Transitions.
Should DLI decide to transition the work begin done under this RFP to a different vendor and/or the DLI, the selected Offeror shall actively and cooperatively participate with the DLI and its incoming vendor on staff transition and knowledge transfer. The selected Offeror shall develop and outgoing transition plan and training materials when requested by DLI. The outgoing transition plan shall be reviewed and approved by DLI. Once approved all activities included in the plan must be completed within 21 days. The transition plans shall include at a minimum; transition assistance and training. The selected Offeror shall continue to meet all requirements defined in this contract until such time the outgoing transition plan has been fully executed and the contract end date is reached.
Offeror staff must be able to deliver work in accordance with the standards established by DLI-OIT found in Appendix BB, L&I Enterprise Standards, and the Governor’s Office of Administration, Office of Information Technology (OA/OIT).
O. Service Level Agreements (SLA).
The selected Offeror shall meet the service levels as described in Appendix R, Service Level Agreements. Failure to meet the service levels will result in a reduction of the monthly invoice in the amount of the Service Level Credit indicated.
Tasks.
A. Incoming Transition.
During the transition assistance and training period, the selected Offeror shall be responsible for the production of deliverables related specifically to the transition assistance and training as follows:
1. Proposed staff of the Offeror shall attend all training sessions offered by the incumbent data collection vendor during the transition period.
2. Proposed staff of the Offeror shall learn the program back office daily operations.
3. Proposed staff of the Offeror shall actively participate in the learning process, through questions and answers, clarification of information and instructions, and “hands on” practice in data collection, validation and processing of new hire data, etc. as needed, with the help of the incumbent data collection vendor.
a) “Hands on” practice in data collection, validation, and processing of new hirer data will NOT occur in any live (production) environment within the CWDS application, but will instead be conducted through lower environment interfaces within the system, such as the regular Training (TRN) or User Acceptance Training (UAT) environments.
4. Offeror management and supervisory staff will provide DLI-CWIA administrative staff with three (3) status reports, in a format acceptable to DLI, on the progress of the transition assistance and training outcomes during the training period, according to the following schedule:
a) Training Day 1: Initial Status Report, with an overview of the training process and learning activity/training schedule for the period.
b) Mid-Training Status Report (within ten (10) days of the start of training), detailing activities completed since the start of training, and deficiencies noted during the training.
c) Final Status Report (within five (5) days of the end of the training period), detailing activities covered during the entire training schedule, problems addressed and overcome through the training, and lessons learned that may be applied to the program back office operations work.
DELIVERABLE: Completion and acceptance of the Final Status Report.
B. Back Office Operations Support.
The selected Offeror shall provide new hire data collection, validation, processing operations and support. This task shall include, but not be limited to, the following activities:
1. Provide employer support as described in section IV-3.D. Employer Support.
2. Provide employer outreach as described in section IV-3.E. Employer Outreach.
3. Provide data collection as described in section IV-3.F. Data Collection
4. Provide data validation as described in section IV-3.F.
5. Maintain ongoing staffing for operational needs as described in section IV-3G. Staffing.
6. Provide data collection support as described in section IV-3.H. Data Collection Support.
7. Increase program efficiencies as described in section IV-3.I. Program Efficiency
8. Perform quality control and auditing services as described in section IV-3.J.Quality Control and Auditing.
9. Generate reports and analysis as described in section IV-3.K. Operational and Administrative Reports and Analysis.
C. Outgoing Transition.
The selected Offeror shall cooperate with the DLI and any subsequent contractor in any activities related to the turnover of responsibilities. The selected Offeror shall develop and outgoing transition plan when requested by DLI. The outgoing transition plans shall include, but is not limited to, training and transition of operations.
DELIVERABLE: Outgoing Transition Plan
Reports and Project Control.
The Offeror is required to produce numerous routine administrative and operational reports in support of back office operations. These include the system-generated routine reports used to administer day-to-day operations of the data collection, validation and processing work. The section below provides details on the type, frequency and scope of reports that the Offeror shall produce during the length of the contract that are outside the scope of these system-generated operational reports. For these reports, the Offeror shall use Microsoft Office 2010 Suite software, or provide reports in a format acceptable to DLI-CWIA.
A. Employer Outreach Task Plan.
Offeror shall submit a draft employer outreach task plan as part of their response to this RFP, in accordance with Section IV-3.E Employer Outreach. The employer outreach task plan work shall include, but is not limited to, a well-defined outreach goal with timeline and steps to achieve that goal clearly indicated, methods of conducting outreach, outreach materials, Offeror staff assigned to the effort, Offeror staff roles and responsibilities, methods for analyzing the results, methods for collecting feedback on those results to DLI-CWIA New Hire Program staff.
Where appropriate, a PERT or GANTT chart display should be used to show project, task, and time relationship. An employer outreach task plan will be produced for each planned outreach effort conducted over the length of the contract.
The selected Offeror shall prepare and update the employer outreach task plan upon request by DLI-CWIA staff.
B. Vendor Monthly Invoice Report.
1. The selected Offeror shall generate the vendor monthly invoice report each month and shall present this as a report package for billing and invoicing of all work performed for the prior month.
The report package will consist of:
a) A cover sheet describing the contents of the report package, the start and end dates of the invoiced activity, amount (total costs) to be invoiced, and remittance address to which payment will be sent.
b) A copy of the fully executed purchase order (to be initiated once the Contract resulting from this RFP is agreed to and signed) including the purchase order number, effective dates, and the selected Offeror SAP vendor number.
c) A copy of the vendor monthly invoice report (New Hire Report 149 generated from the CWDS Reporting Database), for the month of the invoiced activity.
d) A copy of the activity summary report (New Hire Report 150 generated from the CWDS Reporting Database), for the month of the invoiced activity.
2. The vendor monthly invoice report (RPT 149) will provide a breakout of total new hire records processed in the CWDS application to the SDNH, on a monthly basis by data reporting method (both electronic and manual), and will include the cost per transactional record and the base fee for all vendor data collection, validation, and processing activity for the invoiced month.
3. The Activity Summary Report (RPT 150) will present the overall workload activity for the month being invoiced, by data reporting method (both electronic and manual), and will include information on the total records processed (and records processed by reporting method, as a percent of the total) through the CWDS application as a result of the Offeror’s work. Data on new hire processed records in this report shall be compared by the Offeror to that given in the RPT 149, to ensure accurate reporting and billing for all records processed on a per-record transactional basis. The totals given in RPT 150 must match that given in RPT 149.
4. For invoicing purposes, the vendor monthly invoice report package will provide the cost per transactional record, base cost, and total costs to be invoiced by the selected Offeror to the Commonwealth, and will represent the sole paid deliverable for all tasks and work products required per this contract. The vendor monthly invoice report package shall be produced by the selected Offeror within five (5) business days of the end of the month being invoiced, and shall be given to the New Hire Manager within DLI-CWIA for payment processing.
5. For accurate billing purposes, the report package should not be generated until the final batch cycle of new hire records has been submitted to the SDNH from CWDS, for the month being invoiced.
C. Ad Hoc Reports.
Production of these reports will commence with the effective start date of the contract initiated through this RFP, and will proceed as indicated below for the duration of the contract. Ad Hoc Reports: The Offeror shall produce ad hoc reports from the CWDS reporting database, using Business Objects Enterprise Version 4.1, Web Intelligence. These reports will be generated to answer operational and administrative questions as they arise during back office operations. They may also be used to develop and implement outreach activity to employers. The current data collection vendor will be responsible for familiarizing the Offeror’s staff on the use of this ad hoc reporting tool (Business Objects Version 4.1) in the CWDS reporting database, during the transition period. Over the life of the contract, DLI-CWIA staff will be responsible for keeping the Offeror apprised of any changes in technology, software, access, etc. regarding Business Objects Enterprise Version 4.1
D. Monthly SLA Report.
The selected Offeror shall provide a monthly SLA report (within five (5) business days of months end). Report must provide statistical data to track compliance with the SLAs as described in Appendix R, Service Level Agreement.
E. Status Reports and Meetings.
Meetings and reports will commence with the effective start date of the contract initiated through this RFP, and will proceed as indicated below for the duration of the contract. The status reports will be used by the Offeror to provide timely information to DLI-CWIA staff on data collection, validation and processing activities and will be presented in a format acceptable to DLI.
1. Routine Status Report. A biweekly progress report covering activities, problems and recommendations. This report should be keyed to the work plan the Offeror developed in its proposal, as amended or approved by the DLI. This report will include a summary of: records collected, validated and processed, by reporting method and by count of total employers, exception records processed and exceptions outstanding, as of the report date, the number of faxes received through the Easylink fax interface, and the average fax length (in pages) for the reporting period.
2. Provide a breakout of total records received from employers since the last status report, by reporting method, of all records received from employers that were flagged as exceptions and sent to exceptions handling for follow-up corrective action by customer service staff.
3. Provide a breakout of total records received from employers since the last Status Report, by reporting method, of all records that were processed within CWDS with a state of NHPR, and submitted to the SDNH.
4. This fax length data will be used to target those employers submitting large volumes of data via fax, for outreach by Offeror staff, and education in reporting their data by switching to a more secure reporting method, such as FTP and/or through the CWDS website interface (through file upload).
5. Routine Status Meeting. The selected Offeror shall meeting biweekly, or at the request of DLI, to discuss the status of data collection activity, data processing, to include any outstanding problems that need addressed, outreach and education activities, including meeting with employers, bulk mailing of outreach materials, employer groups targeted for outreach, and any issues of customer service and program management.
6. Quarterly Status Meeting. The selected Offeror shall meet with DLI staff to discuss program goals related to data collection and processing activities, including any outstanding problems and CWDS functional releases.
7. Annual Status Report. The Offeror shall produce an annual progress report once each contract year that summarizes the information contained in the routine status report.
8. Annual Program Strategy Meeting. Once per contract year, the selected Offeror shall conduct a knowledge transfer session where Offeror staff will suggest enhancements to the back office operations process.
9. The Offeror shall conduct a meeting to present engagement goals, describe the methodology and plan for organizing work, staffing, managing program tasks, quality, communications, reporting timeliness, and provide an overview of the employer outreach effort. Offeror shall discuss strategies and plans to increase the electronic reporting over the life of the contract.
F. Problem Identification Report.
An “as required” report, identifying problem areas. The report should describe the problem and its impact on the overall project and on each affected task. It should list possible courses of action with advantages and disadvantages of each, and include Offeror recommendations with supporting rationale.
This report will address problems encountered by the Offeror as they conduct back office operations, and may include (but is not limited to): environmental issues arising at the Capital Associates Building CAB worksite (access, resources, materials, etc.); technology issues involving the telephone and Web Center Automatic Call Distribution system (especially Openscape); information technology issues involving software, hardware, computers, monitors, multifunction printers, and other ancillary equipment used in day-to-day work; any other miscellaneous issues not covered above.
This report may be produced as needed, and given to the new hire manager for issue escalation, before additional contacts are made. For critical issues (e.g., telephone system malfunction, etc.) L&I-OIT staff may be contacted directly for prompt assistance and resolution.
G. Final Report.
The Offeror shall present a final project report at the conclusion of the contract initiated by this RFP. This final report will summarize all of the work completed over the length of the entire contract. The annual status reports created during each contract year may be used to support the information provided in this final report. In fulfillment of this deliverable for this final report, the Offeror shall include:
1. An abstract or summary of the back office operations conducted during the contract.
2. A description of the data collection, validation and processing techniques used during the life of the contract.
3. A summary of the activity completed: records collected, validated and processed through the CWDS application by the Offeror, by reporting method; exceptions generated (and resolved); outreach conducted to employers, and the results of doing so to increase employer compliance; and the change in employer compliance over the course of the contract. This summary should include: recommendations on data collection, validation and processing; lessons learned in doing so, and in conducting outreach; and recommendations to improve Program efficiency.
4. The Offeror should include all supporting documentation; e.g., flow-charts, forms, questionnaires, etc. that complement and highlight parts 1 – 3, above.
5. The final report will be completed using Microsoft Office 2010 Suite, or a format acceptable to DLI-CWIA, and presented to DLI-CWIA New Hire staff, and the CWDS Project Team (as needed) at the conclusion of the contract, but before the Effective End Date of the contract.
Contract Requirements—Small Diverse Business Participation.
All contracts containing Small Diverse Business participation must also include a provision requiring the selected contractor to meet and maintain those commitments made to Small Diverse Businesses at the time of proposal submittal or contract negotiation, unless a change in the commitment is approved by the BSBO. All contracts containing Small Diverse Business participation must include a provision requiring Small Diverse Business subcontractors to perform at least 50% of the subcontracted work.
The selected contractor’s commitments to Small Diverse Businesses made at the time of proposal submittal or contract negotiation shall, to the extent so provided in the commitment, be maintained throughout the term of the contract and through any renewal or extension of the contract. Any proposed change must be submitted to BSBO, which will make a recommendation to the Contracting Officer regarding a course of action.
If a contract is assigned to another contractor, the new contractor must maintain the Small Diverse Business participation of the original contract.
The selected contractor shall complete the Prime Contractor’s Quarterly Utilization Report (or similar type document containing the same information) and submit it to the contracting officer of the Issuing Office and BSBO within 10 workdays at the end of each quarter the contract is in force. This information will be used to determine the actual dollar amount paid to Small Diverse Business subcontractors and suppliers. Also, this information will serve as a record of fulfillment of the commitment the selected contractor made and for which it received Small Diverse Business participation points. If there was no activity during the quarter then the form must be completed by stating “No activity in this quarter.”
NOTE: EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND CONTRACT COMPLIANCE STATEMENTS REFERRING TO COMPANY EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICIES OR PAST CONTRACT COMPLIANCE PRACTICES DO NOT CONSTITUTE PROOF OF SMALL DIVERSE BUSINESS STATUS OR ENTITLE AN OFFEROR TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR SMALL DIVERSE BUSINESS UTILIZATION.
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[1] Federal guidelines state that the critical required data elements for NDNH-FCR purposes include: Employer Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN); Employer Name; Employer Address (Street, City, State, ZIP Code); New Hire Employee Social Security Number (SSN); New Hire Employee Name; New Hire Employee Address (Street, City, State, ZIP Code); New Hire Employee Date of Hire. The remaining data elements that comprise the new hire record are considered optional for Federal reporting purposes, but SDNHs are permitted to collect these remaining data elements for Income Withholding Order purposes, or for Program compliance measurement, and submit these also to the NDNH-FCR; Pennsylvania chooses to do so. For more information, please refer to the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) NDNH-FCR website at .
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Step
Processing Step
Maximum Allotted Time to Complete (Days)
1
Employer reports new hire data to CWDS, through
the Contractor's Back Office Operation Worksite
Up to twenty (
20
) business days after the Date of
Hire
A.
For complete, valid records processed in
CWDS with state NHPR:
Upon receipt of the data from the employer, five (
5
)
business days to transmit the new hire data to the
SDNH.
B. For incomplete or invalid records, or records
containing errors in
critical data fields
:
Corrective action through Contractor's Customer
Service within twenty-eight (28) calendar days
C. For incomplete or invalid records, or records
containing errors in
non-critical data fields
:
Corrective action through Contractor's Customer
Service within fourteen (14) calendar days
D. For incomplete or invalid records, or records
containing errors in
optional (neither federally or
state-mandated) data fields
:
Corrective action through Contractor's Customer
Service within seven (7) calendar days
3
CWDS transmits the New Hire data to the SDNH
within DLI
Once each business day, through batch processing
4
DLI matches the New Hire data from SDNH
against DHS-BCSE Child Support case data, and
transmits the results to DHS for Income Withholding
Order (IWO) generation
Upon receipt of the New Hire data in the SDNH,
two (
2
) business days to transmit the New Hire-Child
Support data cross match results to DHS-BCSE.
5
DLI transmits the New Hire data to the NDNH-
FCR via passthrough with DHS, using Cyberfusion
Secure FTP (SFTP).
Upon receipt of the New Hire data in the SDNH,
three (
3
) business days to transmit the New Hire
data to the NDNH-FCR.
10 business days
30 business days
Through the Contractor's Back Office Operations worksite, New Hire data are collected, validated, and
processed in CWDS each business day:
2
New Hire Reporting Timeframe, in Business Days
For complete, validated New Hire data, Subtotal of the
Maximum Time allotted to complete steps 2-5:
For complete, validated New Hire data, Subtotal of the
Maximum Time allotted to complete the entire process:
................
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