FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS . . . 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 that the Panel adopt the wording recommended by the Factfinder:

D.4.: E-mail may be used for communication with the prior permission of the employee.

D.7.: (i) The Office hereby determines that the duties of patent examiner positions which are below GS-13, below GS-12 for design examiners, are positions at such a low level of responsibility that the submission of a CFD [Confidential Financial Disclosure] statement is unnecessary because of the substantial degree of supervision and review over these positions; (ii) The Office hereby determines that the following POPA bargaining unit employees will not be required to file the Form 450 unless procurement activity or contract supervision requires otherwise: All classifiers regardless of grade except those who are actively examining patent applications; all librarians regardless of grade; and all employees of the Scientific Technical Information Center.

D.9.: Employees should request guidance from the DAEO [Designated Agency Ethics Official] in writing. The written request for guidance should contain all the relevant and correct information regarding the potential con-flict of information. The DAEO will acknowledge receipt of a written re-quest for guidance as soon as possible, usually within five (5) business days, and will, if necessary, discuss a time frame for a final written decision. Final decisions will be written upon a written request by the employee.. The employee's written request and the DAEO written decision may be via e-mail, unless the employee requests a more private form of communication. Decisions and opinions of the DAEO will be effective from the time they are first communicated to the employee. The DAEO will keep records of their decisions.

The UNION proposed also that the Panel impose the following wording, which was rejected by the Factfinder:

D.6.: If management assigns a case or project to an employee that would conflict with any holding listed in the employee's most recently filed financial disclosure statement, management shall, upon the employee's written request, provide a detailed written explanation of why the case or project must be assigned to the employee, and why any alternative assignment suggested by the employee would not be feasible.

The AGENCY proposed that:

1. [E]-mail or other appropriate means may be used for communication with employees.'"
2. The Factfinder's recommendations relative to §§ D.7 and D. 9 and the Union's proposed § D.6 not be included in the agreement.

The PANEL ordered the parties to adopt the following language:

D.4.: E-mail or other appropriate means may be used for communication with employees.

D.7.: (i) The Office hereby determines that the duties of patent examiner positions which are below GS-13, below GS-12 for design examiners, are positions at such a low lever of responsibility that the submission of a CFD [Confidential Financial Disclosure] statement is unnecessary because of the substantial degree of supervision and review over these positions; (ii) The Office hereby determines that the following POPA bargaining unit employees will not be required to file the Form 450 unless procurement activity or contract supervision requires otherwise: All classifiers regardless of grade except those who are actively examining patent applications; all librarians regardless of grade; and all employees of the Scientific Technical Information Center.

D.9.: Employees should request guidance from the DAEO in writing. The written request for guidance should contain all the relevant and correct information regarding the potential conflict of interest. The DAEO will acknowledge receipt of a written request for guidance as soon as possible, usually within five (5) business days, and will, if necessary, discuss a time frame for a final written decision. Final decisions will be written upon a written request by the employee. The employee's written request and the DAEO written decision may be via e-mail, unless the employee requests a more private form of communication. The DAEO will keep records of their decisions.

In addition, the Union's proposed § D.6. shall be withdrawn.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS . . . RIGHTS TO INFORMATION

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 impose the Factfinder's recommendations in §§ H.1.(ii) and (iii) and H.2.(i):

H.1.(ii): A log will be kept of names and dates of all individuals who access any information from the employee's CFD statements, except that entries in the log will not be required for the Agency ethics officials or for persons for whom disclosure of the releases to the employee is precluded by law or regulation; (iii) In the first month of every fiscal year, employees may request a copy of the log detailing access to their own records in the prior fiscal year. [Bold in original.]

H.2.(i): The Office shall provide a report to POPA within one month of the end of each fiscal year describing each instance of an examiner being required to divest financial holdings or transfer because of a conflict of interest, and each instance in which a waiver has been granted, without identifying the examiner. This description shall include the company name, the art and the rationale relating the two and, in the case of a waiver, the reason for the waiver.

The AGENCY proposed that the words "receive" and "release of," respectively, be used in § H.1.(ii) and (iii) instead of "access" and that the Factfinder's recommended wording in § H.2.(i) not be included in the agreement between the parties.

The PANEL ordered the parties to adopt the Factfinder's recommendations.