Opinion ID: 454348
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Exemption for Direct Services

Text: 15 The Service Contract Act expressly exempts [a]ny employment contract providing for direct services to a Federal agency by an individual or individuals. 41 U.S.C. Sec. 356(6). Appellants contend that their employees fall within this exemption because they provide services to the Laboratory, which is concededly an agent of the United States. The regulations, however, construe the exemption to apply to a contractor only when that contractor as an individual provides direct services to the government and no service employee would ... be used in the performance of the contract. 29 C.F.R. Sec. 4.121. This construction comports with the well-settled rule that while terms of remedial labor legislation are to be liberally construed, exemptions in such statutes should be read narrowly. See Donovan v. Nekton, Inc., 703 F.2d 1148, 1151 (9th Cir.1983); Brennan v. Keyser, 507 F.2d 472, 477 (9th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 1004, 95 S.Ct. 1446, 43 L.Ed.2d 762 (1975).