PARTICIPATING IN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES LIMITED SERVICE AND…

      PARTICIPATING IN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
 LIMITED SERVICE AND INTERMITTENT EMPLOYEES
          ON-DUTY ACTIVITIES                               OFF-DUTY ACTIVITIES

In what political activities may a                Are there any restrictions on a temporary
temporary or intermittent Federal                 or intermittent employee's political
employee participate when on duty?                activities when off duty and off
 P None; a Federal employee may not               Government premises?
engage in partisan political activities while      P No. Restrictions on the political
on Government premises or when on                 activities of employees who serve fewer
duty.                                             than 130 days in a 365-day period or who
                                                  serve on an intermittent basis with an
What other limits apply when at work?             irregular schedule are limited to on-duty
 P Federal employees may not:                     conduct or conduct while on Federal
  R use Government property for political         premises. When off duty and not on U.S.
purposes, including use of Government             Government property, such employees
equipment to send political e-mails;              may fully participate in partisan political
  R use a Government position or                  activities, including running for office in a
influence to interfere with an election or to     partisan election, soliciting political
coerce any person to participate in a             contributions, or otherwise supporting a
political activity;                               candidate or party.
  R wear a political button on duty;
  R display a partisan banner, sign,              Are these the only restrictions on Federal
sticker, or poster in a Federal office; or        employees?
  R consider political affiliation or political    P No. Federal employees, including
activity with regard to a personnel action        those who work fewer than 130 days per
(except with regard to Schedule C                 year and those on intermittent schedules,
employees and non-career SES                      are subject to ethics rules regarding
appointments).                                    misuse of position (such as by using
                                                  public office for personal benefit) and
                                                  misuse of information (such as by
                                                  disclosing nonpublic information).

  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