On October 1, 2004, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) distributed a memo emphasizing the importance of ethical conduct and integrity for all HHS employees. To further that effort, a memo establishing a new requirement that candidates for positions subject to filing the Public Financial Disclosure Report (SF 278) must complete four steps prior to entering on duty. The selected individual must have:
- Filed a completed new entrant form SF 278 with the HHS Office of the General Counsel, Ethics Division (OGC/ED);
- Executed an ethics agreement, where appropriate, that is satisfactory to the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO), or his designee;
- Received an initial ethics orientation or similar briefing from the DAEO's office, in person, by telephone, or other means; and
- Received a final ethics clearance from the DAEO or his designee.
The following procedures and sample documents implement these requirements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH): (all documents are in Acrobat pdf format)
- Clearance of
Candidate Selected to Fill a Covered Position
- Clearance of
Current Employee Acting in the Position 14 Days or Less
- Clearance of Current Employee Acting in the Position More than 14 Days
Addenda Mentioned in the Above Procedures:
- Addendum 1: NIH Positions Subject to Filing the SF 278
(1/05)
- Addendum 2: Conflicts of Interest Fact Sheet
(Revised 9/05)
- Addendum 3: Ethics
Agreement Form (pdf, fillable)
- Addendum 4: Sample Email Notification of Ethics Clearance
For assistance and additional information, contact your IC's Deputy Ethics Counselor or Ethics Coordinator.
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ReaderUpdated: 8/31/07