TRAINING

TRAINING . . . ETHICS

Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office, Arlington, Virginia and Patent Office Professional Association, Case No. 00 FSIP 55, June 12, 2001 (Release No. 440).

The UNION proposed the Panel should adopt the following:

C.1.: (i) The Office shall provide at least yearly ethics training to all bargaining-unit employees in accordance with 5 C.F.R. Part 2638.701 et seq.; (ii) At the time the Office makes an offer to a candidate for a bargaining-unit position, the Office will provide an OGE Form 450 that the candidate may complete and mail to the OGC if they accept the job offer. If the candidate fills out the form, OGC will promptly review the Form 450 and, if they identify any potential conflicts of interest, notify the candidate of the results.

C.2.: Live ethics training will be offered once per year for all second-year employees and GS-11 employees. All other bargaining-unit employees will be offered live ethics training every three years.

The AGENCY proposed that training be provided as required in the applicable Governmentwide regulations issued by the Office of Government Ethics.

The PANEL ordered the UNION to withdraw its proposal.