| Employee Acceptance of Gifts
As a general rule. . .
a Department of the Interior employee may not,
directly or indirectly, solicit or accept a gift:
Exceptions to the prohibition.
(a) Gifts of $20 or less. An employee may
accept unsolicited gifts having an aggregate market value
of $20 or less per occasion, provided that the aggregate
market value of individual gifts received from any one
person under the authority of this paragraph shall not
exceed $50 in a calendar year. This exception does not
apply to gifts of cash or of investment interests such as
stock, bonds, or certificates of deposit. Where the
market value of a gift or the aggregate market value of
gifts offered on any single occasion exceeds $20, the
employee may not pay the excess value over $20 in order
to accept that portion of the gift or those gifts worth
$20.
Example: A National Park Service employee and
his spouse have been invited by a representative of a
regulated entity to a Broadway play, tickets to which
have a face value of $30 each. The aggregate market value
of the gifts offered on this single occasion is $60, $40
more than the $20 amount that may be accepted for a
single event or presentation. The employee may not accept
the gift of the evening of entertainment. He and his
spouse may attend the play only if he pays the full $60
value of the two tickets.
Example: A Bureau of Land Management employee
has been invited by an association of ranchers to speak
about his agency's role in the designation of multi-use
lands. At the conclusion of his speech, the Association
presents the employee a framed map with a market value of
$18 and a pen set with a market value of $15. The
employee may accept the map or the pen, but not both,
since the aggregate value of these two tangible items
exceeds $20.
(b) Gifts based on a personal relationship. An
employee may accept a gift given under circumstances
which make it clear that the gift is motivated by a
family relationship or personal friendship rather than
the position of the employee.
Example: An employee of the Minerals Management
Service has been dating a secretary employed by a major
oil company. For Secretary's Week, the oil company has
given each secretary 2 tickets to an off-Broadway musical
review and has urged each to invite a family member or
friend to share the evening of entertainment. Under the
circumstances, the employee may accept his girlfriend's
invitation to the theater. Even though the tickets were
initially purchased by the oil company, they were given
without reservation to the secretary to use as she
wished, and her invitation to the employee was motivated
by their personal friendship.
(c) Discounts and similar benefits.In most
cases, an employee may accept reduced membership or other
fees for participation in organization activities offered
to all Government employees.
Example: An employee of the U.S. Geological
Survey's contracting office may accept a discount of $50
on a car rental special offered by a car rental agency to
all Government employees. Even though the U.S. Geological
Survey's contracting office is currently conducting a
study on the services offered by car rental agencies, the
$50 discount is a standard offer that the rental agency
has made broadly available to all Government employees.
(d) Awards and honorary degrees. An employee
may accept gifts, other than cash or an investment
interest, with an aggregate market value of $200 or less
if such gifts are a bona fide award or incident to a bona
fide award that is given for meritorious public service
or achievement by a person who does not have interests
that may be substantially affected by the performance or
nonperformance of the employee's official duties or by an
association or other organization the majority of whose
members do not have such interests.
Gifts with an aggregate market value in excess of $200
and awards of cash or investment interests offered by
such persons as awards or incidents of awards that are
given for these purposes may be accepted upon a written
determination and approval by the Designated Ageny Ethics
Official. For more details, refer to Subpart B of 5 CFR
2635.
Example: Based on a determination by the
Designated Agency Ethics Official that the prize may be
accepted, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) employee
may accept Mobil Oil Company's annual award for
Conservation, including the cash award which accompanies
the prize, even though the prize was conferred on the
basis of studies and work performed at FWS facilities.
(e) Gifts based on outside business or employment
relationships. An employee may accept meals,
lodgings, transportation and other benefits resulting
from the business or employment activities of an
employee's spouse when it is clear that such benefits
have not been offered or enhanced because of the
employee's official position;
Example: A National Park Service employee whose
spouse is a computer programmer employed by a
Concessioner may attend the Concessioner's annual retreat
for all of its employees and their families held at a
resort facility. However, the employee may be
disqualified from performing official duties affecting
his spouse's employer.
(f) Gifts from a political organization. An
employee who is exempt under 5 U.S.C. 7324(d) from the
Hatch Act prohibitions against active participation in
political management or political campaigns may accept
meals, lodgings, transportation and other benefits,
including free attendance at events, when provided, in
connection with such active participation, by a political
organization described in 26 U.S.C. 527(e). Any other
employee, such as a security officer, whose official
duties require him to accompany an exempt employee to a
political event may accept meals, free attendance and
entertainment provided at the event by such a political
organization.
Example:The Assistant Secretary - Water &
Science is exempt from the noted Hatch Act restrictions.
She may accept an airline ticket and hotel accommodations
furnished by the campaign committee of a candidate for
the United States Senate in order to give a speech in
support of the candidate
(g) Widely attended gatherings and other events
When an employee is assigned to participate as a
speaker or panel participant or otherwise to present
information on behalf of the agency at a conference or
other event, his acceptance of an offer of free
attendance at the event on the day of his presentation is
permissible when provided by the sponsor of the event.
The employee's participation in the event on that day is
viewed as a customary and necessary part of his
performance of the assignment and does not involve a gift
to him or to the agency.
When there has been a determination that his
attendance at a particular widely attended gathering is
in the interest of the agency because it will further
agency programs or operations, an employee may accept a
sponsor's unsolicited gift of free attendance at all or
appropriate parts of a widely attended gathering of
mutual interest to a number of parties. A gathering is
widely attended if, for example, it is open to members
from throughout a given industry or profession or if
those in attendance represent a range of persons
interested in a given matter.
(g) No Refusal Gift Acceptance Policy
All Department of the Interior employees
may accept gifts offered to them by representatives of Indian Tribes,
Alaska Native Organizations, Insular and foreign governments when
refusal to accept such gifts would be likely to cause offense or
embarrassment or otherwise adversely affect relations with the United
States.
In such cases, gifts that have a market value that
exceed the dollar threshold ($20 for domestic gifts and $285 for
foreign gifts) for personal acceptance shall be deposited with the
bureau's property officer.
|
