ADVISORY OPINION 00-11
Use of State Facilities for Voluntary Benefits
References: RCW 42.52.160(1), (2); RCW 42.52.070. Use of state facilities for private gain. Granting special privileges.
ISSUE
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?
OPINION
The answer is 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. Agencies have discretion about whether to permit this use of state facilities. However, if the employee making the decision favors one insurance business over another, there may be a violation of RCW 42.52.070 which prohibits granting special privileges.
ANALYSIS
This opinion concerns use of state facilities by businesses selling insurance products that may qualify for voluntary employee payroll deductions pursuant to RCW 41.04.020, which provides in part:
Any employee or group of employees of the state of Washington or any of its political subdivisions, or of any institution supported, in whole or in part, by the state or any of its political subdivisions, may authorize the deduction from his or her salaries or wages and payment to another, the amount or amounts of his or her subscription payments or contributions to any person, firm, or corporation administering, furnishing, or providing (1) medical, surgical, and hospital care or either of them, or (2) life insurance or accident and health disability insurance, or (3) any individual retirement account selected by the employee or the employee's spouse established under applicable state or federal law[.]
(Emphasis added.)
Businesses selling these insurance products frequently ask to use state facilities to contact state employees. Typically, a business will ask for a time and place at the agency to provide information to employees on breaks, lunch, or non-working time. This might occur in the lobby of a building or in a large conference room. If the employee wants to buy insurance, the business will provide the employee with a sign up sheet and a payroll card to be completed and sent to the payroll department for deduction from the employee’s pay pursuant to RCW 41.04.020. Sometimes a number of businesses will hold "benefit fairs" where employees can get information from a number of different vendors.
The question before the Board is whether it is an improper use of state resources for a state officer or employee to permit these business to use state facilities to contact state employees. The answer is no. RCW 41.04.020 authorizes voluntary payroll deductions for this insurance. Since this voluntary insurance benefit is authorized by law, it does not violate RCW 42.52.160(1) if state facilities are used to provide employees with information about the insurance.
However, just because RCW 42.52.160(1) is not violated does not mean that an agency is required to permit an insurance business to use its facilities. The agency may reasonably decide not to permit an insurance business to use its facilities. The employee making the decision whether to permit such use must be careful not to favor some businesses over others. RCW 42.52.070 prohibits employees from using their positions to "secure special privileges" for another person. There may be a violation of RCW 42.52.070 if an employee permits one insurance business to use agency facilities and not another. The question of whether RCW 42.52.070 is violated would depend on whether there was a good reason for distinguishing between the two insurance businesses.