| Use of Official Position |
| Q |
Question: Sue Ellen, a manager for the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recently became aware
that a personal friend who is looking for a job in the
budget office at the Forest Service. Sue is aware of
this person's professional qualifications and experience
and would like to send a letter of recommendation to the
director of the budget office at the Forest Service. Can
she do this? |
| A |
The answer is yes. Sue Ellen may use
her official title and official stationery in a letter
of recommendation for someone seeking Federal
employment. She may not use her official title or
stationery to send a letter of recommendation to a
potential private sector employer unless it is for a
former Federal employee who used to be under her
responsibility. |
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| Post-employment |
| Q |
Question: On post employment. Joshua
recently retired as a GS-15 attorney/advisor for the
Solicitor's office. He was asked by officials of the
Pawnee Indian Tribe to represent the tribe in a mineral
royalty dispute before the Bureau of Land Management.
Joshua was involved in the beginning phase of this
particular dispute when he was employed by the
Department. Will the post employment laws allow Joshua
to represent the Pawnee Tribe before the Department?
|
| A |
The
answer is yes. Under the provisions of 25 U.S.C.
450i(j), a former employee may be assigned to represent
a recognized Indian Tribe on a particular matter before
an agency of the United States. The former employee may
do this without violating the post employment laws under
18 U.S.C. 207. If the matter was one in which the former
employee was involved in as a Federal employee, the
former employee is only required to notify (in writing)
the head of the agency of his or her plan to represent
the Tribe before the agency. |
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| Political Activities |
| Q |
Question: On political activities. Tina
, an NPS employee, lives in Federal housing provided by
the National Park where she works. She wanted to know
whether she could display political signs in the window
or on the front lawn of her home. |
| A |
The
answer is yes. The statutory prohibition governing
political activities specifically prohibits a Federal
employee from engaging in political activities while on
duty or in a room or building occupied in the discharge
of official duties. Because housing units would not be
considered rooms or buildings occupied in the discharge
of official duties, the law would not prohibit employees
from displaying political signs in their homes or on
their lawns. |
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| Fund Raising |
| Q |
Question: Marilyn, a BOR employee, works
part time as one of the managers of the daycare facility
at the Federal workplace. To help offset the daycare
tuition costs for some of the other lower paid BOR
employees, Mary would like to hold a raffle or similar
fund raising event during lunch time in the building's
cafeteria. Is this activity permitted? |
| A |
The
answer is yes. Generally, fund raising activities on
Federally owned or leased property are prohibited unless
they are for a charitable organization approved by the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The Combined
Federal Campaign is one of the organizations approved by
OPM. An exception was made by OPM for agencies that
wanted to hold fund raising activities to benefit the
daycare centers within their organization. |
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| Acceptance of Gifts |
| Q |
Question: A OSM mining inspector is
scheduled to inspect the progress of a commercial coal
mining reclamation site. The site is in a remote
location that is not serviced by commercial aircraft.
The mining company responsible for the reclamation work
has offered to give the inspector a ride to and from the
site in its corporate helicopter. Is it ok for the
inspector to accept the ride? |
| A |
The
mining inspector was advised that he could accept the
helicopter ride offered by the mining company as long as
there was a written arrangement with the mining company
to bill the Department of the Interior for the
inspector's helicopter ride. This arrangement must be
made prior to the flight. |
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| Acceptance of Gifts |
| Q |
Question: For doing an outstanding job,
a BIA superintendent was given a gift consisting of a
box of salmon and a hand made blanket from a Tribe that
his agency services. The salmon and blanket have a
market value that exceeds $20. Is it okay for the
superintendent to accept the gifts? |
| A |
Yes.
The superintendent may accept the gifts on behalf of the
Department. He may not keep the items for himself since
each item has a market value that exceeds the $20
Government wide gift acceptance rule. However, since the
salmon is a perishable item, the superintendent may
share the salmon with employees of the agency. The
blanket must be registered with the agency's property
officer, but may be displayed anywhere in the agency
office.
It is important to note that under the Government's
ethics regulations, employees are generally prohibited
from accepting gifts from persons or organizations that
have a business relationship with their agency. However,
the Department has an exception to this regulation which
allows employees to accept gifts (exceeding $20 in
value) from representatives of Indian Tribes, Alaska
Native Organizations, insular and foreign governments
when refusal to accept such gifts would be likely to
cause offense or embarrassment or otherwise adversely
affect relations with the United States. All
non-perishable gifts must be registered with the
agency's property officer. |
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| Acceptance of Prizes |
| Q |
Question: A BLM employee, with the
permission of her supervisor, attends a free hi-tech
conference which is open to anyone including the general
public. The employee participates in a drawing for a
door prize which is open to everyone and cost nothing to
participate. Lucky gal, she wins the door prize which is
a lap top computer. Can the employee keep the computer?
|
| A |
We
advised the BLM employee that she may accept and keep
the lap top computer. This is based on the determination
that the computer was a prize and not gift from the
sponsor of the event. In addition, the sponsor of the
event is not a prohibited source (e.g. a business client
of the Department), and the Department did not pay any
registration fee for the employee to attend the
conference. |
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| Outside Work |
| Q |
Question: A NPS computer specialist
inquired whether he could accept a part time job with a
local computer software company. The company has no
business dealings with the Government and the part time
work would involve writing and testing software, and
soliciting new business for the company. |
| A |
We
advised the NPS employee that in his case, several
concerns need to be addressed before he can accept the
part time job. First, he needs to get the approval of
his supervisor to make sure that the new part time job
will not take up so much time that it will interfere
with his NPS responsibilities. Second, the employee was
advised that if he takes the part time job, he may not
appear before any U.S. agency to solicit business for
the software company. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. 205
prohibits Federal employees from representing any anyone
before a court or agency of the United States on a
matter in which the United States is a party or has a
financial interest. Therefore, he may not go before the
United States to solicit new business for the company.
|
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