STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

General Circular No. 001517

To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors

Subject: Implementation of the Contract Review Questionnaire and change in Civil Service contract review and approval process

Issue Date: January 7, 2003

As a result of recommendations from a study completed by Civil Service in response to House Concurrent Resolution 34 of the 2000 Legislative Session, we are implementing the following changes to our review and approval process of certain contracts.

Civil Service Rule 3.1(0) requires the Department of State Civil Service to review proposed contracts for personal services to determine if classified state employees could and should perform the services stated in a contract between the State and any person. To more effectively perform this duty, the Department will review in greater detail contracts that impact the jobs of classified state employees and/or their employment status. This expanded review of a proposed contract will require an agency to complete a questionnaire only when requested by the Department. A request to complete the "Contract Review Questionnaire" will occur in cases where it has been determined that a contract impacts the jobs of current classified state employees or in cases where the services have been traditionally performed by classified state employees. An example of this type of circumstance is when a contract’s approval results in a layoff of classified employees performing the services. The questionnaire may also be required when a Request for Proposal is issued that could result in a contract that impacts classified employees. We believe that by receiving more standardized information from the agencies, we are better equipped to make more informed and knowledgeable recommendations to the State Civil Service Commission. The information gathered from the questionnaire will be shared with the State Civil Service Commission to further assist them in their decision to approve or not approve a contract. An agency appointing authority may be asked to appear before the State Civil Service Commission to explain any of the information provided.

To ensure the effectiveness of the questionnaire, the Department formed a workgroup composed of agency undersecretaries, legislative staff, agency human resource professionals, Office of Contractual Review staff, and Civil Service staff to finalize the structure and format of the questionnaire. Based on the group’s work and personal experiences in this area, it does not appear that to complete the questionnaire would require the agencies to compile any new information. Accordingly, the questionnaire could be completed with information on-hand that was used to determine the need to utilize an outside contractor and the information used to select the contractor.

The questionnaire has been designed to provide information on 5 important factors associated with privatization. These 5 factors are as follows:

1. Implementation Structure - identifies the contractor and describes the overall terms of the contract;
2. Legislative Requirements- describes the duties and responsibilities that are required by Title 36 for a department;

(Note: Title 36 establishes departments within the Executive branch of government and further allocates to these departments their powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities.)

3. Cost Data - presents the data used to determine and compare the costs to provide the service being considered for privatization;
4. Workforce Transition - describes the strategies and methods by the agency used to aid impacted classified state employees; and
5. Monitoring and Oversight - describes the evaluation methods and terms used to evaluate the performance of the contractor.

• Contract Administrators should notify their agency HR Director of any contract being considered that might affect in any way the employment of current classified state employees, OR for any function or service that has traditionally been performed by classified state employees (such as, a new prison or hospital).
• Before issuing a Request for Proposal, the agency should contact DSCS Assistance Division if there is a possibility a layoff could occur from the potential contract to discuss the possible impact on classified employees. The Assistance Coordinator may request at this time that the agency complete the questionnaire and submit it with the contract.
• If the RFP process is not required or has been completed, the agency submits a copy of the proposed contract.
• Assistance Coordinator reviews the proposed contract.
• If the Assistance Coordinator determines that the contract could affect employment status of classified employees, coordinator requests agency to complete the questionnaire, if the questionnaire has not been completed prior to this step.
• Agency completes the questionnaire and returns by specified date.
• Coordinator reviews questionnaire and makes recommendation to approve or not approve.
• The contract is placed on the CS Commission agenda for discussion and action at the next regularly scheduled meeting. The agency is notified of the time and date of the meeting.

It is our desire to work with the agencies to provide effective services to the public. We feel that by incorporating this questionnaire into our contract review and approval process, we are better serving the citizens of this State, the agencies, and classified state employees. If you have any questions regarding this circular please contact Dwuena Wyre at 225-342-8977 or at dwyre@dscs.state.la.us. A copy of the questionnaire is attached.

Sincerely,

Allen H. Reynolds
Director

Contract Review Questionnaire  (in Adobe Acrobat)