USE OF PUBLIC OFFICE FOR PRIVATE GAIN. An employee shall not use his public office for his own private gain or for the private gain of friends, relatives or persons with whom he is affiliated in a non-governmental capacity, or for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise. In particular, an employee shall not use his Government position, title or authority:
- In a manner intended to induce another to provide any benefit to himself or to friends, relatives or affiliated persons;
- In a manner that could be construed to imply that his agency or the Government sanctions or endorses his personal activities or those of another; or
- To endorse any product, service or enterprise except in furtherance of statutory authority to do so, in accordance with agency programs to give recognition for achievement or to document compliance with agency standards or requirements.
USE OF NONPUBLIC INFORMATION. An employee shall not engage in a financial transaction using nonpublic information, or allow the improper use of nonpublic information to further his own private interests or those of another. Information that is "nonpublic" includes information the employee knows or reasonably should know:
- Is routinely exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or protected from disclosure by statute;
- Is designated as confidential by an agency; or
- Has not actually been disseminated to the general public and is not authorized to be made available to the public on request.
USE OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY. An employee has a duty to protect and conserve Government property and to use Government property only for authorized purposes. Authorized purposes are those for which Government property is made available to the public or those purposes authorized in accordance with law or regulation.
USE OF OFFICIAL TIME. Unless authorized in accordance with law or regulation to use such time for other purposes, an employee shall use official time in an honest effort to perform official duties. And, an employee shall not encourage, direct, coerce or request a subordinate to use official time to perform activities other than those required in performance of official duties or those authorized in accordance with law or regulation.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBPART H - OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES
GENERALLY. In addition to the standards set forth in this subpart, an employee's outside employment and other activities must comply with all ethical requirements set forth in subparts A through G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (5 C.F.R. 2635), including the requirement to avoid even the appearance of using public office for private gain. For example, the prohibition against use of Government property for unauthorized purposes would prohibit an employee from using the agency photocopier to reproduce documents for his outside organization.
RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED BY OTHER LAWS. Outside activities frequently raise questions about the following:
- The restrictions in 18 U.S.C. 203 and 205 on employees engaging in representational activities before the United States;
- The constitutional prohibition against accepting any office, title or compensation from a foreign government; and
- The Hatch Act, which prohibits most employees' participation in certain partisan political activities.
PRIOR APPROVAL FOR OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES. As required by supplemental agency regulation, an employee must obtain approval before engaging in outside employment or activities. Special Government employees are not subject to this requirement.
CONFLICTING OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES. An employee shall not engage in outside employment or activities prohibited by statute or by supplemental agency regulation, or that would materially impair the ability to perform his official duties requiring his disqualification.
RESTRICTIONS ON RECEIPT OF COMPENSATION. With certain exceptions, Presidential appointees to full-time non-career positions shall not receive any outside earned income for outside employment or other outside activities performed during that appointment. Higher-level non-career employees may not, in any calendar year, receive outside earned income which exceeds 15 percent of the rate of pay for Level II of the Executive Schedule. These non-career employees also are prohibited from receiving any compensation for teaching without prior approval, serving as officers or board members of outside entities, practicing certain professions, or being affiliated with firms or other entities that practice those professions.
SERVICE AS AN EXPERT WITNESS. In the absence of specific authorization, an employee shall not represent anyone other than the United States as an expert witness in any proceeding before a court or agency of the United States if the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest. This restriction applies even though no compensation is received. A less restrictive standard applies to special Government employees.
TEACHING, SPEAKING AND WRITING. An employee shall not receive compensation for teaching, speaking or writing that is related to his official duties.
- DEFINITION OF RELATED TO DUTIES. Teaching, speaking or writing is "related to an employee's official duties" if:
- The activity is undertaken as part of his official duties;
- The invitation to engage in the activity was extended primarily because of his official position;
- The invitation or the offer of compensation was extended by a person whose interests may be affected by the employee's official duties;
- The information draws substantially on nonpublic information; or
- For most employees, the subject of the teaching, speaking or writing deals in significant part with any matter presently assigned to the employee, any matter to which the employee had been assigned in the previous one‑year period, or to any ongoing or announced policy, program or operation of his agency. Certain noncareer employees are subject to additional restrictions and special Government employees are subject to less restrictive standards.
- EXCEPTION FOR TEACHING. An employee may receive compensation for teaching certain courses, notwithstanding that the subject matter is related to his official duties and notwithstanding that he may have been offered the opportunity because of his official position.
FUNDRAISING. Provided that he does not otherwise violate the Standards of Ethical Conduct, an employee may engage in charitable fundraising activities in a personal capacity if he does not use his official title, position or authority to further that effort or personally solicit funds or other support from subordinates or from anyone known to him to be a prohibited source for purposes of the gift restrictions in subpart B of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (5 C.F.R. 2635). A special Government employee, however, may solicit charitable contributions from a prohibited source as long as that person does not have interests affected by the performance of his official duties.
JUST FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS. Employees shall satisfy in good faith all just financial obligations.
STATUTORY SYNOPSIS
(18 U.S.C. '' 203, 205, 208)
The following three criminal statutes place restrictions on Federal employees who engage in outside activities:
Section 203, title 18, United States Code, prohibits you from receiving compensation for representing another in relation to any proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation, arrest or other particular matter in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest, before any court or any Federal department or agency.
Section 205, title 18, United States Code, prohibits you from:
- acting as agent or attorney, with or without compensation, in the prosecution of any claim against the United States;
- receiving any compensation for assistance in the prosecution of any claim against the United States; or
- acting as agent or attorney, with or without compensation, in connection with any covered matter in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest. (A "covered matter" includes any judicial or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, investigation, charge, accusation, arrest, or other particular matter.)
Section 208, title 18, United States Code, prohibits you from participating personally and substantially, as a Government employee, in any particular matter in which, to your knowledge, a financial interest is held by:
- you, your spouse, and your minor child;
- your general partner;
- any organization in which you are serving as officer, director, trustee, general partner, or employee; or
- any person or organization with whom you are negotiating or have any arrangement concerning prospective employment.
This participation prohibition not only covers such items as contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and claims, but also includes legislation and policy-making that is focused upon the interests of specific persons, or a discrete and identifiable class of persons. This prohibition is not on having a specific financial interest, but rather on the work that you may perform as a Federal employee.