Chapter 2
EMPLOYEE CONFLICT OF INTEREST
In conformity with the Ethics in Public Service Act (Chapter 42.52, RCW), this policy sets forth basic principles of that act for reference for all University employees.
A. No employee shall have an interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, that is in conflict with the proper discharge of his or her official duties. No officer or employee shall incur an obligation, of any nature, or engage in a business, transaction, or professional activity that is in conflict with the proper discharge of his or her official duties.
B. No employee , except as provided by law, shall have a beneficial interest in a contract, sale, lease, purchase, or grant that may be made by, through, or is under the supervision of the employee, in whole or in part. No employee may accept, directly or indirectly, any compensation, gratuity, or reward from any other person beneficially interested in the contract, sale, lease, purchase, or grant; except such prohibition shall not apply to University officers and employees who have, with respect to that beneficial interest, complied fully with the provisions of the University Handbook, Volume Four, Part V, Chapter 5, Section 6 [Involvement with Commercial Enterprise, Deeper than Consulting], University of Washington Grants Information Memo 10, and, as applicable, National Science Foundation (GPM 510) 1995, and Public Health Service Regulations, 42 C.F.R., Part 50 and 45 C.F.R. Subtitle A.
C. No employee shall, except in the course of official duties or incident to official duties, assist another person, directly or indirectly, whether or not for compensation, in a transaction involving the University a) in which the employee has participated or b) if the transaction has been under the official responsibility of the employee within a period of two years preceding such assistance. No officer or employee may share in compensation received by another for assistance that the officer or employee is prohibited from providing by law.
D. A business entity of which an employee is a partner, managing officer, or employee shall not assist another person in a transaction involving the University if the employee is prohibited from doing so by section 3.
E. No employee shall, directly or indirectly, ask for, give, receive, or agree to receive any compensation, gift, reward, or gratuity for performing, omitting, or deferring the performance of any official duty, unless otherwise authorized by law. See University Handbook, Volume One, Standing Orders, Chapter 1, Section 8; Volume Two, Chapter 12, Section 12-12, Subsection H and Section 12-23, Subsection VI; and Volume Four, Part VI, Chapter 3.
F. No employee shall employ or use any person, money, or property under the employee's official control or direction, or in his or her custody, for the private benefit or gain of the employee or another.
G. After termination of employment with the University, no former employee shall, within a period of one year from the date of termination of such employment, accept employment or receive compensation from an employer if the former employee, during the two years immediately preceding termination of University employment:
- was engaged in a substantial and significant way in the negotiation or administration on behalf of the University of one or more contracts with a total value of at least $ 10,000 with that employer;
- was, as a consequence of such substantial and significant involvement in such negotiation or administration, in a position to make discretionary decisions affecting the outcome of such negotiation or the nature of such administration; and
- will have duties of employment with the employer or the activities for which the compensation would be received that include fulfilling or implementing, in whole or in part, the provisions of such contract(s) or include the executive supervision or high-level managerial control of actions taken to fulfill or implement such contract(s).
H. No employee may accept an offer of employment or receive compensation from an employer if:
- the employee knows,
- the employee has reason to believe, or
- the circumstances would lead a reasonable person to believe that the offer of employment or offer of compensation was intended, in whole or in part, to influence the performance or nonperformance of duties by the employee during the course of University employment.
I. No former employee may subsequent to his or her University employment assist another person outside the University, whether or not for compensation, in any particular transaction involving the University in which the former employee participated during University employment.
The above statements summarize provisions of the Ethics in Public Service Act and are provided for descriptive purposes only. In matters where the possibility exists of conflicts, reference should be made to one's supervisor, to the text of the Ethics in Public Service Act, and to the applicable federal regulations, particularly NSF Investigator Financial Disclosure Policy (GPM 510) 1995 and the PHSR, 42 C.F.R. Part 50 and 45 C.F.R. Subtitle A, and University of Washington Grants Information Memorandum 10.
BR, September 19, 1977; Executive Order No. 32 of the President, February 27, 1998
Section 2. Employment of More Than One Member of a Household
A. In the appointment of its faculty and staff members, the University seeks those persons most qualified to fulfill the institution's teaching, research and service obligations.
B. Accordingly, members of the same family or household may be appointed to University faculty and staff positions when it has been determined that they are qualified for the position. Such determination as to qualification may not be made by the member of the candidate's family or household.
C. An employee may not supervise another member of the employee's family or household.
D. RCW 42.52.020 provides in part as follows: " [n]o state officer or state employee may have an interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or engage in a business or transaction or professional activity ... that is in conflict with the proper discharge of the state officer's or state employee's official duties." RCW 42.52.070 further provides that "no state officer or state employee may use his or her position to secure special privileges or exemptions" for himself or herself, his or her spouse, child, parent, or other family or household member.
E. The University considers the following as among the institutional transactions that involve a beneficial interest: appointment, termination of appointment, promotion, demotion, approval of salary increase or decrease.
F. The restrictions made in Subsections D and E above and in Faculty Code, Section 24-50 (Conflict of Interest) do not themselves prohibit members of the same family or household being appointed to positions in the same unit of the University, but the restrictions of conflict of interest as defined in section D above must in all cases be fully observed.
BR, February 1971; S-A 38 [see also Faculty Code, Section 24-50], March 1971 and S-B 126, December 1975: both with Presidential approval; and Executive Order No. 32 of the President, February 27, 1998
Section 3. Definition of Substantial Economic Interest
Executive Order 80-16 of the Governor of the State of Washington defines "substantial economic interest" as used in the Executive Conflict of Interest Act (Chapter 42.18, RCW) and in Sections 1 and 2 of this Chapter of Volume Four, Part V. The Executive Order also gives examples of instances in which a conflict of interest would not exist. "Substantial economic interest" means:
A. A direct and significant economic interest and shall not include remote or theoretical interests shared with the public generally, or a specific segment of the public; or
B. Economic holdings or business transactions with profit- making entities including any kind of contract, whether it be of debt, employment, loan, lease, option, purchase, sale, mortgage, insurance or other contracts that can squarely raise the conflict of interest issue; or
C. Economic interests in the form of stock, land, partnership interest, or inheritance which should require a state employee to be disqualified in transactions involving the state.
The most important principle to be applied in interpreting "substantial economic interest" is that a state employee's judgment in official matters may be affected by circumstances of personal interest.
In a particular situation, identification of the disqualifying interest shall hinge on all the facts, including the agency, the position, the government action, the impact of that action, the kind and amount of the employee's personal interest, its relation to the employee's job and in some instances the kind and amount of the employee's other interest.
WSR 80-15-040