Prior Approval for Outside Employment
and ActivitiesRequired for Public and Confidential
Financial Disclosure Filers
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
On March, 24, 2000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture published
an interim rule in the Federal Register that requires all employees
who file a public or confidential financial disclosure report to
seek and obtain prior approval to engage in outside employment and
activities. This rule became final
on October 2, 2000. The requirement does not prevent employees from
seeking outside employment, but helps to prevent employees from
getting themselves into situations were it might be perceived by
a reasonable person that a conflict may exist.
Employees must use form REE-101, “Application for Approval
to Engage in Non-Federal Employment or Activity.” This form
is available in Adobe Acrobat format.
Approval by the immediate supervisor and appropriate ethics advisor
will be based on an assessment that the employment generally does
not appear to violate any criminal statutes or other administrative
regulations pertaining to ethics. It is not a determination that
a criminal or ethical conflict could not arise.
All REE employees considering outside employment should carefully
review and be familiar with the provisions of the Standards
of Ethical Conduct (5 CFR, Subpart H, §§ 2635.801
- 807) and USDA
Bulletin 735-1, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct.
