Summary: Basic standards of conduct for government officials were prescribed in a recent Executive Order. Standards of employee conduct developed by federal agencies often differ in the ways they are interpreted and applied. Differences in agency application of standards result from statutes applicable to individual agencies and different agency responsibilities.
The basic philosophy underlying the application of standards of employee conduct places the primary burden of responsibility on the employee to know and to abide by standards, while agencies assume a passive role and usually react only to employee initiatives. Agencies generally have not taken sufficient action to evaluate the effectiveness of their standards. Federal agencies were not making use of available information sources to periodically review and evaluate the effectiveness of their standards as guidance for their employees. Negotiating for employment generally is not defined. Restrictions on accepting honoraria were included in the standards of only two of the six agencies reviewed, and only one agency prohibited outside employment with a company having a business relationship with the agency. Former guidance to agencies on developing standards was not adequate to minimize variations in the behavior expected of employees from different agencies. Agency management must better communicate the importance of these standards to employees and establish ways to recognize when problems exist in their implementation.
