Government Employment Ethics Rules
Federal government employees are entrusted to do the work of the people they were hired to serve. With this trust comes a high level of responsibility to behave ethically. Government employees can look to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 for guidance on how to act ethically in the workplace. This act, established as part of an effort to address the breach of trust experienced after the Watergate scandal and resulting resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, includes rules designed to reduce corruption and prevent the improper use of knowledge and information gained while working for the government.
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Required Financial Disclosures
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Specific federal government employees are required to report any gifts, income and other assets they have received. These employees include the president, vice president and all employees with a ranking of GS-16 or higher on the civil service pay scale. The reporting requirements also apply to high-ranking military officers, federal judges, members of Congress and specific congressional employees. Employees covered by the act must report income from a number of sources, including gifts, assets and liabilities, as well as some positions held in business and nonprofit organizations. Gifts of food, lodging, transportation and entertainment are among those that must be reported if they total $250 or more within a calendar year. Other gifts of more than $100 per calendar year must be reported. Income that federal employees glean from dividends, interest, rent and capital gains exceeding $100 must be reported, although only in nine general categories of value. Some categories max out at $1,000, while others allow for as much as $5 million before reporting is required. Forms of income that do not clearly fall into any of the existing nine categories must be reported if they exceed $200 per calendar year, according to the act. Employees covered by the act also must report the names of any individual, nonprofit organization or corporation that paid the employee more than $5,000 in any two calendar years before a report is initially filed. An employee covered by the act must report the names of anyone who paid the employee compensation in excess of $5,000 in any of the two calendar years before a report is first filed. The employee must also include a brief description of the services performed. An employee must also disclose all positions held as an officer, trustee, director, partner, employee, representative, proprietor or consultant of any corporation, firm, or business, including nonprofit organizations.
Post-Employment Restrictions
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Government employees are required to continue behaving ethically after leaving office and are prohibited from disclosing specific job-related information or taking specific honoraria for their work or accounts of their jobs. The act prevents federal employees from receiving payment or other benefits for speeches and writings related directly to their duties or paid because of their status as a government employee. Former federal government employees also have a lifetime bar that prevents them from communicating by letter, phone call or email about matters they became familiar with while working as a federal government employee. The matter must be one in which the United States is "a party or has a direct and substantial interest," according to the law. This restriction is designed to help prevent former employees from switching sides--using the information they gained as government employees to side with private parties in matters relating to the government. A two-year prohibition applies in similar circumstances to communications by former employees regarding matters that they know or should know were under their jurisdiction and pending during their last year in office. Senior personnel, who are at the highest end of the executive pay scale, are subject to additional restrictions designed to prevent them from representing a third party or appearing in any way to influence their former agencies.
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Enforcement of Laws
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The Office of Government Ethics, which was established as a result of the act, is responsible for interpreting the provisions of the act. It is responsible for issuing regulations and advisory opinions, playing an essential role in clarifying ethical expectations. The director of the office may seek to discipline employees and individual government agencies and may take administrative actions in some cases. Additionally, the act allows for criminal enforcement, as well as civil penalties for violations by federal employees. The attorney general also may seek civil penalties and restrictions against parties found guilty of violations.
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