Quiz: How Well Do You Know the Limits on Federal Employee Job Searches?
You might be surprised at what is and isn't considered seeking employment in the most recent ethics rules.
More than a quarter of federal employees are at least considering leaving their jobs with the recent change in presidential administrations, according to a GovExec.com/Government Business Council poll conducted in January. That doesn’t even account for employees who might be looking for a change of pace regardless of who is running the country, or those who might be forced to leave due to potential budget cuts.
If you are among those who have started considering options outside of the government, you might be aware that there are some ethics rules you must follow to ensure that your job search does not undermine your agency’s ongoing projects. The Office of Government Ethics updated these rules in July. The concept is fairly straightforward: you must remove yourself from agency decision-making that could have a “predictable and direct effect on the financial interests” of a person or company with whom you are in communication about potential employment. But what counts as communication about potential employment? When are you considered to officially be seeking a job?
Take our quiz to find out how well you know the ins and outs of the ethics rules that you must follow in your job search.
