|
Advisory
Opinion
|
Subject |
Issue |
Summary
of Board's answer |
RCW
and/or WAC |
Cross
Reference |
| 00-01 |
Employment
after public service
Ownership
of stock
|
Does
a former state employee's ownership of stock with a post-state
employer create a beneficial interest in contracting with former
state employer? |
Yes.
The ownership of stock confers ownership in a company's assets;
allows stockholders to participate in the general management of
the company; and provides the stockholders with a share in company
profits or earnings. To the extent that a company's profits or
earnings derive from its contracts, stock ownership confers a
beneficial interest in those contracts. |
RCW
42.52.080 |
97-07
98-11
|
| 00-02 |
Compensation
for outside activities; employment after public service
Financial
benefits on administered grant program
|
Are
there any circumstances under which a state employee may financially
benefit on projects funded by a grant program an employee administers? |
No.
RCW 42.52.030 prohibits state officers and state employees from
financially benefiting as a result of grant programs under the
officer's or employee's supervision. RCW 42.52.040 prohibits state
officers or state employees from assisting others, whether or
not for compensation, in a transaction involving the state, and
therefore prohibits a state employee from volunteering for an
organization that is a recipient of grant funds or a contractor
under a program administered by the state employee.
|
RCW
42.52.120
RCW
42.52.080
|
96-07
97-03
97-09
|
| 00-03 |
Use
of state resources
Cell
phones
|
Can
a state employee who has been issued a cellular phone for official
business modify the phone to establish a personal line for calls
that will be paid for by the employee? |
The
answer is no. Under WAC 292-110-010(6) a state officer or state
employee may not make private use of state resources and then
reimburse the agency so there is no actual cost to the state.
If a state officer or state employee is provided a cellular phone
for the purpose of conducting state business, use of the phone
is limited to the facilitation of state business unless the agency
has submitted, and the Board has approved, a policy of reimbursement. |
RCW
42.52.160
WAC
292-110-010
|
97-04 |
| 00-03A |
Use
of persons, money, or property for private gain; Use of state
resources |
This
opinion supplements Advisory Opinion 00-03. |
Master
agreement does not prohibit a state employee from adding a private
line to a state phone subject to agreement. However, this
fact does not change the result of Advisory Opinion 00-03. |
RCW
42.52.160
WAC
292-110-010
|
97-04 |
| 00-04 |
Compensation
for outside activities
Private
timber company regulated by employing agency
|
Whether
an archaeologist has a potential conflict of interest if the archaeologist
holds outside employment with a private timber company regulated
by the archaeologist's employing agency. |
No,
unless the archaeologist is required to participate in regulatory
matters affecting the interests of the outside employer. If the
archaeologist does participate in regulatory matters that may
affect the interests of the outside employer, the conflict of
interest must be addressed through some alternative means or the
employee may be required to divest the outside employment. |
RCW
42.52.020
RCW
42.52.120
|
97-03 |
| 00-05 |
Compensation
for official duties or nonperformance; gifts; limitations on gifts
$100
Cash award
|
Can
a state employee accept a $100 cash award from the Western Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO) for team
excellence? |
No.
Cash awards in excess of $50 may not be accepted by state officers
and state employees unless they fall within the exception under
RCW 42.52.010(10)(j) for "Awards, prizes, scholarships, or other
items provided in recognition of scientific or academic achievement."
|
RCW
45.52.010
RCW
42.52.110
RCW
42.52.140
RCW
42.52.150
|
96-01
99-05
|
| 00-06 |
Gifts
Cash
prize
|
Can
a state- employee accept a cash prize in recognition for engineering
achievement under the academic and scientific achievement exemption
under RCW 42.52.010(10)(j)? |
Yes.
Cash prizes awarded for outstanding engineering achievement fall
under the exemption in RCW 42.52.010(10)(j) for academic and scientific
achievement. |
RCW
45.52.010
RCW
42.52.150
|
99-05 |
| 00-07 |
Post-State
Employment |
Can
a former state employee provide consulting services to his former
state agency when the consulting services are similar to work
previously performed under a grant that funded the former employee's
state work? |
Yes.
The prohibition against assisting in a transaction involving the
state under RCW 42.52.080(5) is not violated if post-state consulting
services do not involve the same services that the former employee
rendered under a grant-funded position, and when the former employee
did not participate in the decision to contract for such services.
However, the Board is concerned about the appearance of a conflict
that arises when post-state consulting services are substantially
similar to grant-funded duties performed during state employment.
|
RCW
42.52.080 |
.
|
| 00-08 |
Use
of state resources
Political
campaigns; officer or employee title
|
Is
there a violation of RCW 42.52.180(1) if a state officer or employee
uses his or her title when supporting or opposing a candidate
for office or a ballot proposition? |
No.
State officers' or employee's titles are not a facility of their
agency, so long as any use of the title is accompanied by a disclaimer
that the officers or employees are speaking for themselves and
not their agencies. |
RCW
42.52.180 |
. |
| 00-09 |
Use
of persons, money, or property for private gain |
Does
the use of state resources such as employee time, equipment, and
supplies for the Combined Fund Drive violate RCW 42.51.160(1)? |
No.
RCW 42.52.160(1) does not apply to the conduct of state business.
The Combined Fund Drive is part of the business of the state. |
RCW
42.52.160 |
. |
| 00-10 |
Use
of persons, money, or property for private gain |
Is
there a violation of RCW 42.52.160(1) when an employee of one
agency uses the computer of that agency to send e-mail as part
of his volunteer activities for the Hunter Education Programs,
which is conducted by another agency? |
The
answer depends on whether the employing agency approves.
There is no violation of RCW 42.52.160(1), so long as the employing
agency has no objection to the use of the computer and the e-mail
for the volunteer program. |
RCW
42.52.160 |
.
|
| 00-11 |
Use
of state facilities for voluntary benefits |
Does
an employee violate RCW 42.52.160(1) by permitting a business
to use state facilities to provide employees with information
about insurance products that may qualify for voluntary employee
payroll deductions pursuant to RCW 41.04.020? |
No.
RCW 41.04.020 authorizes voluntary employee payroll deductions
to pay for certain types of insurance. It does not violate
RCW 42.52.160(1) for an employee to permit a business selling
these insurance products to use state facilities to provide information
about their products. |
. |
. |
| 00-12 |
Compensation
for performing official duties; tips |
Does
the acceptance of a tip by a student employed as a waiter in a
college restaurant violate the prohibition in RCW 42.52.110 against
receiving additional compensation for performing official duties? |
No.
RCW 42.52.110 is not violated because tipping in the restaurant
industry is unique in the sense that it is part of the basic compensation
paid to employees. Receipt of a tip for providing service
in a restaurant does not confer a special privilege on anyone. |
RCW
42.52.110
RCW
42.52.070
|
|
| 00-13 |
Employment
after public service |
May
a former state employee, who was as a "project leader"
with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, assist
a new employer to complete the project under a new contract |
Yes,
because the former state employee will be assisting his new employer
in a contract that was developed and negotiated after the former
state employee had left state employment. |
RCW
42.52.080
|
97-06
98-02
|
| 00-14 |
Conflict
of Interest |
1. Is it
a violation of the Ethics in Public Service Act for a state
agency Program Director, or Acting Program Director, who sits
on an agency decision making body that awards and administers
funding, to participate in agency decisions that affect an organization
on whose board the employee sits?
2. Is it
a violation of the Ethics in Public Service Act for a state
agency Program Director, or Acting Program Director, who sits
on an agency board that awards and administers funding, to participate
in agency decisions that affect "direct competitors"
of an organization on whose board the employee sits?
|
1. Yes,
the Program Director or Acting Program Director would be participating,
in his or her official capacity, in a transaction involving
the state and an organization of which the Program Director
or Acting Program Director is an officer or member, in violation
of RCW 42.52.030(3). The Program Director or Acting Program
Director may resolve the violation by disclosing the relationship
and declining to participate in the transaction.
2. Yes,
membership on the board of an organization is an interest in
the organization that, or conflicts with, the discharge of a
state officer's or state employee's official duties as a state
agency decision maker regarding the organization or its direct
competitors, in violation of RCW 42.52.020. The Program Director
or Acting Program Director may resolve the violation by disclosing
the relationship and declining to participate in any transaction
involving the organization or any organization that has an adverse
interest to the organization.
|
RCW
42.52.020
RCW
42.52.030
|
97-10
00-04
|
