CONTACTING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON BEHALF OF…

     CONTACTING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON
               BEHALF OF OTHERS
Are Federal employees restricted from           When is an employee barred from
dealing with the U.S. Government?               representing an employee organization
 P Yes. Employees may not represent             before a Federal agency or court?
anyone (other than themselves) before a          P An employee may not represent an
Federal agency or Federal court. This           organization composed primarily of other
bars most contacts made with the intent         Federal employees (or their family
to influence the U.S. Government                members):
(including serving as an expert witness).         R in a claim against the Government,
Employees also may not receive                    R in a proceeding,
payments based on representational                R if the matter at issue involves financial
activities of others before a Federal           payments from the Government (such as
agency or Federal court (such as from           a contract or grant), or
partnership distributions if in a                 R if the employee receives payment for
partnership). Employees may, however,           the representational activities.
lobby Congress.
                                                Are there any special rules for limited
Are there exceptions to these                   service employees?
restrictions?                                    P Yes. Special Government employees
 P Yes; an employee may represent:              (employees who serve for less than 130
  R another employee in a personnel             days in a 365-day cycle) are only barred
dispute (if not paid and if not in conflict     from contacting the Government on
with the employee's Federal duties);            specific-party matters that:
  R a spouse, parent, child, estate, or trust     R are before the Department (if the
(if the employee receives prior approval        employee served for more than 60 days)
through the Ethics Law and Programs             or
Division); or                                     R on which the employee worked
  R a Federal employee organization (in         personally as part of the employee's
some circumstances, as noted below).            Government duties.




  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