APPEARANCES OF BIAS When do a Federal employee…

                        APPEARANCES OF BIAS
When do a Federal employee's personal          Are any other factors considered?
relationships conflict with official duties?    P Yes. Disqualification is only necessary
P An employee is disqualified from             if the employee's participation would
working on a matter if a named party is        cause an appearance of loss of
(or is represented by) someone with            impartiality.
whom the employee has a close
relationship, so such relationships may        How are appearance problems resolved?
create conflicts. They are called "covered
relationships" and are defined in ethics       P An employee must either:
regulations.                                   R not work on a matter in which an
                                               appearance of bias is likely because of a
What are "covered relationships?"              personal relationship, or
 P An employee has a "covered                   R obtain special authorization to work on
relationship" with:                            the matter, which may be granted if the
 R anyone with whom the employee has           agency's need for the employee's
(or is seeking) a business or financial        participation outweighs the appearance of
relationship;                                  impropriety concern. Such authorization
 R a recent former employer or client (for     may be sought through the Ethics Law
one year or two years, depending on            and Programs Division.
severance arrangements);
 R a close relative;                           What if an appearance of bias is not from
 R a household member;                         a "covered relationship?"
 R a current or prospective employer or         P An employee should discuss with a
client of the employee's parents, children,    supervisor whether a matter should be
or spouse; and                                 reassigned if someone with whom the
 R an organization in which the employee       employee has a personal relationship,
is an active participant.                      such as a friend, is involved. The
                                               decision on whether to reassign the
                                               matter would be based on management
                                               concerns, rather than ethics regulations.

  Ethics Law and Programs Division, Office of the Assistant General Counsel for
             Administration, United States Department of Commerce
             202-482-5384 ­ ethicsdivision@doc.gov ­ January 2, 2008

                        A WORD ABOUT ETHICS