1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |Snooze You Lose: ASBCA Denies Appeal Seeking Payment for Employee Paid "To Do Nothing" During Stop Work

Snooze You Lose: ASBCA Denies Appeal Seeking Payment for Employee Paid "To Do Nothing" During Stop Work

Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.01.19

In Advanced Global Resources, LLC, ASBCA No. 62070 (September 10, 2019), the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals addressed whether a contractor may recover unmitigated direct labor costs incurred during a stop-work period. The costs at issue related to an employee hired to work on Advanced Global Resources, LLC’s (AGR) Army technology support services contract. The Army issued a stop-work order one week after award due to a protest. While the stop-work order did not direct AGR to be “on stand-by,” AGR paid the employee despite the fact that the employee did not perform any work on the contract. AGR submitted a request for equitable adjustment for the employee’s direct labor costs and unabsorbed overhead.  The contracting officer denied AGR’s Eichleay damages, and conditionally granted payment of the direct labor costs, if AGR did not appeal. AGR did appeal, and the Board denied the direct labor claim stating that AGR paid the new employee “to do nothing” and failed to minimize its costs. The Board denied AGR’s unabsorbed overhead claim because it did not satisfy the second prong of the Eichleay formula. This decision serves as a reminder to mitigate costs (when possible) during a stop-work period in order to minimize the risk of nonpayment.


Insights

Client Alert | 8 min read | 10.01.25

BIS Issues “Affiliates Rule” to Dramatically Expand Applicability of Entity and Military End-User Lists

On September 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a sweeping Interim Final Rule (IFR), (the “Affiliates Rule”) expanding which entities qualify as Entity List or Military End-User entities, thereby subjecting those entities to elevated export control restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). U.S. export restrictions applicable to entities on the Entity List, Military End-User (MEU) List, and Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List) now apply to foreign affiliates that are, in the aggregate, owned 50% or more by one or more of the aforementioned entities. An entity that becomes subject to these restrictions because of its ownership structure will be subject to the most restrictive controls that attach to any of its parent entities, regardless of ownership stakes....