Including Guidance on Receptions, Parties, and Gift
Exchanges Involving Co-workers, Contractors, and Supervisors
Prepared by
DoD Standards of
Conduct Office, Office of General Counsel
g:socgc\handout\05
Holiday Guide (comp)(mod1).doc
The holiday season is
traditionally a time of parties, receptions, and exchanging gifts. However, even at the
General
Rule:
Federal
personnel may not accept gifts offered because of their official positions or
offered by a “prohibited source.” A prohibited source is any one who:
·
Seeks official action by the employee’s agency;
·
Does business or seeks to do business with the employee’s agency;
·
Conducts activities regulated by the employee’s agency;
·
Has interests that may be substantially affected by the employee’s
performance of duty; or
·
Is an organization composed of members described above.
Parties, Open-Houses, and Receptions Hosted by Non-Prohibited
Sources:
1. Federal
personnel may attend social events sponsored by non-prohibited sources if
no one is charged admission. (e.g. most
holiday receptions and open-houses)
2. Federal
personnel may also attend events permitted by the exceptions in the next
section.
Parties, Open-Houses, and Receptions Hosted by Prohibited Sources Including
Contractors:
1. The general rule is that Federal
personnel may not accept gifts from
prohibited sources, including contractors and contractor personnel.
a. Exception #1: Federal personnel may accept gifts (other
than cash) not exceeding $20, as long as the total amount of gifts that
the personnel accepts from that source does not exceed $50 for the year.
b. Exception #2: Federal personnel may accept gifts, even from
a contractor employee that are based on a bona fide personal relationship. (Such personal gifts are actually paid for by
the contractor employee rather than the contractor.)
c. Exception #3: Federal personnel may generally attend an
open-house or reception, and accept any gift of refreshments if it is a widely-attended
gathering, and the employee's supervisor determines that it is in the
agency's interest that the employee attends.
d. Exception #4: Federal personnel may accept invitations
(even from contractors) that are open to the public, all Government employees,
or all military personnel.
e. Exception #5: Federal personnel may accept invitations
offered to a group or class that is not related to Government employment. (For example, if the building owner where
your office is located throws a reception for all of the tenants of the
building.)
f. Exception #6: Refreshments consisting of soft drinks,
coffee, pastries, or similar refreshments not constituting a meal may be
accepted since they are not considered to be a gift.
g. Exception #7: Outside business or other relationship
results in attendance at an event. For
example, a Federal employee’s spouse works at SAIC. The Federal employee may accompany the spouse
to the SAIC employee’s holiday party since the invitation is to the spouse as
an SAIC employee, and not to the Federal employee because of his or her
position.
Parties, Open-Houses,
and Receptions
Hosted by Other Federal Personnel:
1. Invitation from your subordinate: You may accept personal hospitality at the
residence of a subordinate that is customarily provided on the occasion.
2. Invitations from your boss or a
co-worker: No restrictions. Enjoy!
Gifts
and Gift Exchanges Between Federal Personnel:
1. General Rule: Supervisors may not accept gifts from subordinates or Federal personnel who receive
less pay.
a Exception #1: During holidays, which occur on an occasional
basis, supervisors may accept gifts (other than cash) of $10 or less
from a subordinate.
b. Exception #2: Supervisors may accept food and refreshments
shared in the office and may share in the expenses of an office party.
c. Exception #3: If a subordinate is invited to a social event
at the supervisor’s residence, the subordinate may give the supervisor a
hospitality gift of the type and value customarily given on such an occasion.
·
Please note, there are no legal restrictions on gifts given to
peers or
subordinates,
however, common sense (and good taste) should apply.
Gifts
and Gift Exchanges That Include Contractor Personnel:
1. Gifts from contractors,
even during the holidays, may not exceed $20.
2. Gifts to
contractors: Check with the contractor,
since many contractors have codes of ethics that are similar to Federal rules and
therefore may preclude the acceptance of gifts.
Other Important
Information:
1. You may not solicit outside sources for
contributions for your party. This
includes funds, food, and items.
2. Generally office parties are unofficial
events, and you may not use appropriated funds to pay for them.
3. Beware that door prizes or drawings
could involve gambling, which would require compliance with state statutes and
Federal regulations. DoD regulations
prohibit gambling in the Pentagon and on Federal property or while in a duty
status. GSA regulations ban gambling in
GSA owned or controlled buildings.
4. You may not use appropriated funds to
purchase and send Greeting cards.
5 As a general
rule, participation at holiday social events is personal, not official, and
therefore use of government vehicles to/from such events would not be
authorized. However, there may be very limited circumstances in which a senior
official or officer is invited to attend because of his official position and
where he will be performing official functions at the event as opposed to being
invited because he or she is an important person. In these situations, use of a government
vehicle may be authorized, subject to normal "home-to-work"
transportation restrictions. Note,
however, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to justify the use of a
government vehicle when a function involves one’s immediate staff/office or
events comprised of personal friends. All
requests for use of a government vehicle to attend holiday social events should
be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Rules
Applicable to Contractor Employees:
1. Many contractors have rules of ethics
or business practices that are similar to the Federal rules. Take these rules into consideration before
offering contractor employees gifts or opportunities that they may not be able
to accept.
Examples:
1. Office Party (non-duty time): Your office is having a holiday party
during the non-duty lunch hour or after work and asks each person attending to
pay $5 to cover refreshments and to bring a pot luck dish or dessert. Contractor employees may attend, pay $5, and bring
food because these contributions are not considered to be gifts, but a fair
share contribution to the refreshments.
Remember, contributions must be voluntary, so soliciting must be
done with care to ensure there is no pressure.
Also, ensure this is non-duty time for the contractor employees as well.
2. Office Party (duty time): What about a party that cuts into duty
hours? The Government usually may not
reimburse a contractor for its employees’ morale and welfare expenses. The contractor has to decide whether to let
its employees attend and forego payment for their time, or insist that they
continue to work. If contractor
employees are allowed to attend, the contractor must also decide whether it
would pay its employees for that time, even though the Government would not
reimburse it. The contractor does not
have to pay its employees for that time.
Consult the contracting officer and ethics counselor before inviting
contractor employees to a function during their duty hours.
3. Gift to Supervisor: Your office wants to give the office
supervisor a gift. However, you can’t solicit other
employees for contributions to a group gift.
(Group gifts are permitted only for special, infrequent events such as
retirements.) As for contractor employees,
you can’t ask them to contribute anything, as it is considered soliciting a
gift from a prohibited source. Even if
contractor employees volunteer to contribute cash, it may not be accepted
because the $20 exception does not apply to cash.
4. Exchange of Gifts: Your office, including the contractor
employees, wants to exchange gifts at the party. If gifts are chosen at random or traded,
there are no monetary limits (except common sense) because the purchaser of the
gift does not know who will eventually receive it. Gift exchanges in which employees purchase
gifts for other employees whose names they drew at random are more
troublesome. Where contractor personnel
are involved, a $20 limit applies. Where
an employee may buy a gift for a superior, the $10 limit is prudent. Some organizations consider such a gift
exchange to be exchanges of items of equivalent value, and that everyone
participating is paying market value for the items, so no one is receiving a
gift. As such, the suggested monetary
limits above are not applicable.
5. Private Parties (Federal
Personnel): One of your Government
co-workers is having a party at his house and has invited office personnel,
including the contractor employees. A
gift of food and refreshments to a contractor employee does not violate
Government ethics rules. The contractor
employees may want to check with their contractor’s rules before accepting
(since many contractors have similar ethics rules). If the contractor employee brings a
hospitality gift, it may not exceed $20.
If such a gift is edible, even if it exceeds $20, the host may accept it
on behalf of all the guests and share it with them.
6. Private Parties (Contractor
Employee): If a contractor employee
is having a personal party and invites Government personnel, normally
Government personnel must decline, since the food, drink, and entertainment is
a gift from a prohibited source. Several
exceptions may permit attendance, however.
Under the $20 rule, if the average cost per guest does not exceed $20,
Government personnel may accept.
(However, if the cost per guest is $40, the "I won't eat more than
$20 worth of food." defense will not work.) Also, Government personnel may accept if the
invitation is based on a bona fide personal relationship with the contractor
employee. Finally, if the party
qualifies as a widely-attended gathering (involving a large number of persons
representing a diversity of views) and the employee's supervisor determines
that it is in the agency's interest for the employee to attend, the employee
may enjoy the food, drink, and entertainment.
Government personnel who desire to take a gift to show their
appreciation for the hospitality should consult with the contractor employee to
determine if he or she may accept such a gift in accordance with the
contractor's rules of ethics.
7. Private Parties
(Contractor-sponsored): If the
contractor is sponsoring an employee's party or open-house, and you are invited
by the contractor (or an employee of the contractor), you may not attend unless
one of the exceptions in paragraph #6, above, apply.
Have
a wonderful holiday season. Please
remember that this guidance only highlights common questions, and does not
cover every situation.
If you are unsure, contact your ethics counselor.