Foreword
The Washington Ethics Law, Revised Code of Washington, Chapter 42.52, applies to all state employees. It governs the actions and working relationships of Highline Community College employees with fellow employees, current or potential customers, suppliers, government representatives, the media, and anyone else with whom the employees of Highline Community College have contact.
In these relationships the college expects that employees will observe the highest standards of ethical conduct. Each employee is expected to place the college’s interest above his or her own self-interest in all education, business, and other work-related matters where there is any actual or potential conflict or the appearance of a conflict.
In adopting the basic statement of ethics, the state law intended that
• a state employee may not have a financial interest or engage in any activity that is in conflict with the proper discharge of the employee’s official duties;
• state employees may not use their official position to secure special privileges for themselves or any other person; and
• a state employee may not receive compensation from any person, except the State of Washington, for performing his or her official duties.
This law defines the term “employee” as including one’s spouse and immediate family.
Employees must resolve any doubt as to the meaning of the Code in favor of good, ethical judgment. Each employee has a responsibility to avoid even an appearance of impropriety.
Statement of Ethics
Government derives power from the people. Ethics in government is the foundation on which the structure of government rests. State officials and government employees hold a public trust that obligates them, in a special way, to honesty and integrity in fulfilling the responsibilities to which they are elected, appointed, or employed.
Paramount in that trust is the principle that public office, or public position, may not be used for personal gain or private advantage.
Code of Ethics
The following sections describe major principles from the ethics law that apply to all employees of Highline Community College:
Gifts............................................. Page 4
Use of State Resources for Personal Benefit Page 5
E-Mail and Internet Use............... Page 6
Confidential Information.............. Page 6
Compensation for ...... Outside Activities Page 7
Honoraria.................................... Page 7
Use of Public Resources for Political Campaigns Page 8
Assisting in Transactions........... Page 8
Financial Interest in Transactions Page 8
Post State Employment.............. Page 9
Disclosure and .... Complaint Procedure Page 9
Biannual Review......................... Page 9
Some employees have extra restrictions under this law and should be informed of these special restrictions by the College Ethics Officer, Larry Yok. All employees are responsible for knowing and complying with all of the law’s provisions that apply to them.
1. Gifts
“No state officer or state employee may receive, accept, take, seek, or solicit, directly or indirectly, any thing of economic value as a gift, gratuity, or favor from a person if it could be reasonably expected that the gift, gratuity, or favor would influence the vote, action, or judgment of the officer or employee, or be considered as part of a reward for action or inaction.”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.140)
The term “gift” means anything of economic value for which no value is given in return. (However, there are certain statutory exceptions, such as some items received from family or friends, co-worker exchanges, and expense reimbursements.)
A Highline employee may not solicit a gift for personal, private or family benefit from students, other employees, vendors, and/or individuals, organizations or companies that may transact business or have a relationship with the college currently or in the future. Employees may solicit gifts on behalf of the college only after receiving approval under the college’s Policy on Fund Raising and Gift Solicitation as administered by the college’s Executive Director of Institutional Advancement.
Unsolicited gifts from vendors and other organizations having or seeking to have a relationship with the college that are received by a college employee are property of the college, as a general rule. The minor exceptions generally include certain unsolicited items, tokens of appreciation such as plaques and desk items, and minor promotional items with a total annual value of less than $50. If in doubt consult with the College Ethics Officer, Larry Yok.
Employees receiving gifts, other than the statutory exceptions, are to report the receipt of the gift to their supervisor in writing to ensure that the gift is accepted by the college through the normal approval process.
If accepted, the gift will be recorded in the college inventory (if required), and put in general use to benefit college programs and our students. Gifts that bear a value of greater than $50 but have no general use that would benefit college programs and students will be disposed of by the College Purchasing Officer.
Employees are to file a written record of receiving and disposing of the gift with their supervisor.
Examples of situations that may arise are given as illustration to help further explain these ethics laws.
Example 1:
Mary is a Highline employee with a husband and three children. Linda, the president of the XYZ Corporation, gives Mary and each member of her family a ticket to a sporting event. The value of each ticket is $15 and the total value of the five tickets is $75. Linda has never met Mary’s family.
Mary has committed an ethical violation. The value of the tickets received by Mary and her family exceeds the $50 limit. The gift of tickets to Mary’s family is attributable to her because there is no independent business, family, or social relationship between Linda and Mary’s family. Although there are some exceptions to the $50 limit, this does not qualify.
Example 2:
Bob works for Highline as a library technician. Part of Bob’s job is to assist people doing research in the library, and in this capacity, Bob has helped representatives of the QRS and the ABC Corporations.
When their research is completed, the two corporations each give Bob a gift. QRS gives him a fishing rod worth $50, and ABC gives him a fishing reel worth $45. Bob accepts these gifts.
Bob has committed an ethical violation. Even though the value of each individual item is $50 or less, the fishing rod and reel constitute a single gift. A single gift is defined to include any group of items to be used in conjunction with each other. The fishing rod and reel are designed to be used together and the value of this single gift is $95.
Example 3:
Kathy works as a gardener on Highline’s grounds staff. Her job involves mowing lawns and maintaining flower beds. DEF Corporation supplies the college with gardening supplies but Kathy’s job does not involve these contractual matters. Every six months DEF gives the college’s gardeners, including Kathy, a new pair of gardening gloves, valued at $15. During the calendar year, Kathy accepts two pair of gloves for a total value of $30.
Kathy has not committed an ethical violation because Kathy received multiple gifts from a single person with a total value less than $50. Had Kathy participated in the decision to purchase the gardening supplies, a more stringent rule would have applied and accepting even one pair of gloves would be a violation.
2. Use of State Resources for Personal Benefit
“No state officer or state employee may employ or use any person, money, or property under the officer’s or employee’s official control or direction, or in his or her official custody, for the private benefit or gain of the officer, employee, or another. This section does not prohibit the use of public resources to benefit others as part of a state officer’s or state employee’s official duties.”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.160)
This prohibition is designed to prohibit the use of state resources for private purposes, such as avoiding a cost or expense, or paying a discounted government rate by using a state resource for some personal use. While this prohibition is clear, the Executive Ethics Board allows occasional use by employees of property having “de minimis” costs. De minimis use means no actual cost to the state, or the cost to the state is so small as to be insignificant or negligible. An employee can make occasional but limited use of state resources for private benefit provided
• there is no cost to the state; and
• the use of state resources does not interfere with the performance of this employee’s or any other employee’s official duties.
For example, an employee may use an office telephone to make occasional local calls during breaks, an office bulletin board to post notices, or office space to hold meetings at lunch. The test for occasionally using state resources for private benefit, is that
• the cost to the state is de minimis;
• the use does not interfere with the performance of official duties; and
• there is some benefit to the public in addition to private benefit.
No use may be made of consumable property such as paper, envelopes, or spare parts.
There are some de minimis uses that are strictly prohibited. Use of the telephone for local calls for political purposes or in connection with the employee’s private business are not allowable at any time.
State property cannot be “borrowed” for private use. All acquisitions and disposals of state property must follow college procedures.
3. E-Mail and Internet Use
While the ethics law was written before the widespread use of the Internet and e-mail, the Executive Ethics Board has developed a number of advisory opinions that govern the use of these resources. These can be found at www.wa.gov/ethics/index_adv_opinions.html.
In general, they permit de minimis use of e-mail for personal use under the standards outlined in the advisory opinions. The messages need to be brief and infrequent. The general ethics standard is that any use of a state resource for other than official business needs to be brief in duration and frequency to ensure that there is no cost to the state and the use does not interfere with the performance of official duties. You should remember that e-mail is not private and while not a normal practice, it could be read at any time.
E-mail cannot at any time be used for political or campaign activities, commercial uses, conducting an outside business, or solicitation on behalf of others.
Use of the Internet to view Web sites must also be reasonably related to your job. Using the Internet to access information for personal use is not permitted.
Access to private e-mail providers through the state network is not permitted.
4. Confidential Information
“No state officer or state employee may accept employment or engage in any business or professional activity that the officer or employee might reasonably expect would require or induce him or her to make an unauthorized disclosure of confidential information acquired by the official or employee by reason of the official’s or employee’s official position. No state officer or state employee may make a disclosure of confidential information gained by reason of the officer’s or employee’s official position or otherwise use the information for his or her personal gain or benefit or the gain or benefit of another...
“No state officer or state employee may disclose confidential information to any person not entitled or authorized to receive the information. No state officer or state employee may intentionally conceal a record if the officer or employee knew the record was required to be released under RCW Chapter 42.17, was under a personal obligation to release the record, and failed to do so. This subsection does not apply where the decision to withhold the record was made in good faith.”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.050)
College employees are required to maintain confidential information and not to use confidential information for personal gain or for gain by anyone not entitled to receive the information. Likewise, outside employment and other circumstances that are likely to compromise information received from the college must be avoided.
The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) also strictly limits disclosure of student information. See www.highline.ctc.edu/stuserv/registration/ferpa/ferpa1.html.
5. Compensation for Outside Activities
“No state officer or state employee may receive any thing of economic value under any contract or grant outside of his or her official duties... if the contract or grant is related or appears to be related to the employee’s official duties and responsibilities.”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.120)
This provision is to prohibit outside employment or other financial arrangements that could have or could become a conflict, or even have the appearance of a conflict, with the employee’s ability to perform duties and responsibilities to achieve the best results for the college. When considering decisions dealing with employment, remember that the definition of employee includes your spouse and immediate family. There are many specific instructions and requirements under this provision, including a six-part exception for bona fide outside compensation that does not violate other restrictions. If you have questions about a relationship you or your family has, or is contemplating, please consult the College Ethics Officer, Larry Yok.
Supervisors are also not to have business relationships with subordinates.
Example:
John works in Highline’s physical plant department and has the responsibility of ensuring that the contractor (JKL) completing a minor capital project meets the contract conditions and standards. Since John has an excellent understanding of the community college contracting and construction process, JKL Corporation hires John for $200 to spend a weekend reviewing its proposal bid for a construction project at Green River Community College.
John has committed an ethics violation. He may not be paid by JKL because the weekend work appears to be related to his Highline employment, in that he would be paid by a company that he is responsible for monitoring as part of his duties at Highline.
6. Honoraria
“No state officer or state employee may receive honoraria unless specifically authorized by the agency where they serve as state officer or state employee.”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.130)
Honoraria are not permitted if
• the person or organization offering the honoraria is seeking, or is reasonably expected to seek, a contract with or a grant from the college or from a college employee, and the employee receiving the honoraria is in a position to participate in the terms or award of the contract or grant; or
• the person or organization offering the honoraria is seeking or opposing, or is reasonably likely to seek or oppose, enactment or adoption of administrative rules or actions, or policy changes by the college, and the employee receiving the honoraria may participate in this enactment or adoption.
Example:
A faculty member who does not sit on a textbook selection committee considering a particular textbook may agree to review a textbook and accept an honorarium from the publisher. However, should the publisher’s book be considered for selection as a text for a class, the faculty member, having received an honorarium, must refuse to participate in the textbook selection decision.
7. Use of Public Resources for Political Campaigns
“No state officer or state employee may use or authorize the use of facilities of an agency, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of assisting a campaign for election of a person to an office or for the promotion of or opposition to a ballot proposition... Facilities of an agency include, but are not limited to, use of stationery, postage, machines, and equipment, use of state employees of the agency during working hours, vehicles, office space, publications of the agency, and clientele lists of persons served by the agency.”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.180)
Basically state employees may not use state resources for political campaigns, ever. This includes use of the legislative hotline.
State employee lobbying is separately regulated and employees should consult their supervisors for information.
8. Assisting in Transactions
“Except in the course of official duties or incident to official duties, no state officer or state employee may assist another person, directly or indirectly, whether or not for compensation, in a transaction involving the state in which the state officer or state employee has at any time participated, or if the transaction involving the state is or has been under the official responsibility of the state officer or state employee within a period of two years preceding such assistance.”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.040)
9. Financial Interest in Transactions
“No state officer or state employee... may be beneficially interested, directly or indirectly, in a contract, sale, lease, purchase, or grant that may be made by, through, or is under the supervision of the officer or employee, in whole or in part; or accept, directly or indirectly, any compensation, gratuity, or reward from any other person beneficially interested in the contract, sale, lease, purchase, or grant... No state officer or state employee may participate in a transaction involving the state in his or her official capacity with a person of which the officer or employee is an officer, agent, employee, or member, or in which the officer or employee owns a beneficial interest...”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.030)
Highline employees may not participate in college decisions that benefit, or appear to benefit, the employee or any person or organization in which the employee has or appears to have a beneficial interest. A beneficial interest commonly means a financial interest or a potential financial benefit. Beneficial interest includes spouses, family members, and businesses and organizations in which an employee has a level of management power and owner interest but excludes ownership interest in mutual funds, investment pools, and corporation stocks where there is no management power.
Example:
If the college is considering purchasing a product or service from a company employing one’s spouse in a management position, the employee must refuse to participate in the process that may lead to a decision to purchase or not purchase the product or service.
10. Post State Employment
The ethics law contains restrictions on former state employees who want to do business with the state. A Highline Community College employee considering leaving the college and seeking employment that may do business with the college or other state agencies should carefully study this section of the ethics law.
11. Disclosure and Complaint Procedure
“A person may, personally or by his or her attorney, make, sign, and file with the appropriate ethics board a complaint on a form provided by the appropriate ethics board. The complaint shall state the name of the person alleged to have violated this chapter or rules adopted under it and the particulars thereof, and contain such other information as may be required by the appropriate ethics board.”
(Excerpt from RCW 42.52.410)
Highline Community College employees may file complaints with the Executive Ethics Board directly as noted above or may make complaints known to the College Ethics Officer, Larry Yok. For complaints to the ethics board, see RCW 42.52.410. Complaints to the college may be made informally or formally.
Informal complaints may be presented orally and will be investigated as deemed appropriate by the College Ethics Officer. The kind of investigation and subsequent action remains the sole prerogative of the Ethics Officer. Filing an informal complaint does not preclude a subsequent filing of a formal complaint.
Formal complaints to the college must be in writing, signed by the complainant, and filed with the College Ethics Officer. They must contain all pertinent information. Employees named in formal complaints shall be afforded the right to all information contained in the complaint and shall have adequate opportunity to provide information and evidence needed or requested by the College Ethics Officer, Larry Yok. An investigation of a formal complaint normally will result in a written decision by the College Ethics Officer.
Retaliation against a complainant is forbidden as a matter of college policy, as well as state law.
12. Biannual Review
All employees will receive a copy of the Highline Community College Code of Ethics. New employees will receive a copy during employee orientation conducted by the Human Resources Office. All supervisors are responsible for reviewing the Code of Ethics with their office and departmental employees at least once a biennium. Supervisors will report to their department heads and to the College Ethics Officer, Larry Yok, the time and date of the departmental review of the Code of Ethics and the names of the employees attending the review at the end of each review cycle.
As rules are adopted they will be available to employees from the College Ethics Officer, Larry Yok. All Highline Community College employees are expected to follow these guidelines and to use reasonable and conservative judgment in matters of personal use of time and equipment.
The State of Washington’s Executive Ethics Board maintains an informative Web site located at www.wa.gov/ethics/ that has the relevant law, questions and answers, and all the advisory opinions issued by the Board. Please refer to this Web site to find the most up-to-date ethics law.