Title 29

SECTION 1400.735-12

1400.735-12 Outside employment, business activities, or interests (paid or unpaid).

§ 1400.735-12 Outside employment, business activities, or interests (paid or unpaid).

(a) Outside employment. (1) An employee shall not engage in outside employment or other outside activity not compatible with the full and proper discharge of the duties and responsibilities of his Government employment.

(2) Outside employment limitations in paragraph (a)(1) of this section do not preclude an employee from:

(i) Receipt of a bona fide reimbursement, unless prohibited by law, for actual expenses for travel and such other necessary subsistence as is compatible with this part for which no Government payment or reimbursement is made. However, this paragraph does not allow an employee to be reimbursed, or payment to be made on his behalf, for excessive personal living expenses, gifts, entertainment, or other personal benefits, nor does it allow an employee to be reimbursed by a person for travel on official business under agency order.

(ii) Participation in the acitivities of national or State political parties not prohibited by law.

(iii) Participation in the affairs of, or acceptance of an award for a meritorious public contribution or achievement given by a charitable, religious, professional, social, fraternal, nonprofit educational and recreational, public service, or civic organization.

(3) Incompatible activities referred to in paragraph (a)(1) of this section include, but are not limited to:

(i) Acceptance of a fee, compensation, gift, payment of expense, or any other thing of monetary value in circumstances in which acceptance may result in, or create the appearance of, conflicts of interests; or

(ii) Outside employment if it is determined that engaging in the proposed outside activity might:

(a) Influence or conflict with the employee's decisions or actions in planning, interpreting, or executing policies, programs, and work assignments of the Service;

(b) Injure relations of the Service with the public;

(c) Impair the employee's physical capacity to render proper and efficient service at all times;

(d) Interfere with the impartial performance or jeopardize acceptability of the employee in his work;

(e) Conflict with the employee's normal office hours, including an allowance for sufficient time for travel to place of outside employment or activity. (Normal office hours will be considered as those which are established for the specific office in which the employee works.) In the absence of extenuating circumstances, approval generally will not be granted where the outside activity requires presence of the employee prior to 6 p.m.

Note:

Teaching activities are not approved automatically, but rather on the basis of time required, appropriate subject matter, etc.

(4) The Service, as a matter of policy, does not look upon any outside employment or business activity, including concurrent employment by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and any other Governmental political subdivision or agency, as being consistent with the best interests of the Service.

(5) Employees may not engage in any outside employment, including teaching, lecturing, or writing, which might reasonably result in a conflict of interest, or an apparent conflict of interest, between the private interests of the employee and his official government duties and responsibilities. No employee shall directly or indirectly accept, engage in, or continue in any outside employment or business activity, full- or part-time, paid or unpaid, without advance written approval (including teaching or lecturing).

(b) Private compensation. An employee shall not receive any salary or anything of monetary value from a private source as compensation for his services to the Government (18 U.S.C. 209).

(c) Teaching, writing and lecturing. (1) Teaching, writing and lecturing by Federal employees are generally to be encouraged so long as the laws, general standards, and regulations pertaining to conflicts of interest and the standards and regulations in this part applying to outside employment are observed. Teaching commitments will generally be limited to one class, course, or assignment during a concurrent period. These activities frequently serve to enhance the employee's value to the Service, as well as to increase the spread of knowledge and information in our society. Such activities, if remuneration is anticipated, must not be dependent on information obtained as a result of the employee's official government position if such information is not available to others, at least on request.

(2) This provision does not, of course, prevent the Director from authorizing an employee to base his writings or lectures on nonpublic materials in the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service files (not involving national security) when this will be done in the public interest. Personal research relating to mediation, collective bargaining and labor management relations is encouraged as a progressive step in self-development. The writing of articles in this area, which may be released or submitted for publication, is also encouraged. Research and writing are not considered official activity, and therefore may not be undertaken on duty time; and the author may receive compensation for publication thereof. Advance approval by the Director, before undertaking the research or writing, is not required. However, when such research is undertaken, or such article is being written on the basis of an official assignment, the work will be performed on duty time and the product will be the property of the Service.

(3) If any type of article, when published or released, will identify the author in any manner as an employee of the Service, such identification necessarily implies that the article reflects either the official policy or the philosophies of the Service. For that reason, it must be submitted to the Director before release or publication, or it must contain a disclaimer phrase to the effect that the article or statement does not necessarily reflect the official policy or philosophies of the Service.

(d) Procedure for approval of outside employment or teaching. Clerical and administrative employees' approval for outside activity shall be in writing and may be granted by the Regional Director, if a regional employee, or by the Director of Administrative Management, if a national office employee. Approval for such outside activity for all other employees of the Service shall be granted by the Director or his designee. Requests for approval shall be made in writing through the employee's supervisor and must contain the following:

(1) The name and address of the employer or business activity;

(2) The exact nature of the work or employment;

(3) Working hours.

[33 FR 5765, Apr. 13, 1968, as amended at 58 FR 35377, July 1, 1993]