To 

Serve 

With 

Honor 

A Guide on the Ethics Rules 

That Apply to Advisory Committee 

Members Serving as Special 

Government Employees 

U.S. Office of Government Ethics 

www.usoge.gov 

March 2008 
Public Service: 

“I don’t know 

what your destiny 

will be, but one thing I do 

know: The only ones 

among you who will be 

really happy are those who 

have sought and found how 

to serve.” 

Albert Schweitzer 
Agency Ethics Points of Contact 

Name of Committee Official: 

Telephone: 

Name of Ethics Official: 

Telephone: 

You should obtain this information prior to 

beginning your committee work or shortly 

thereafter. 

 

Contents

 3 Government Employee Status

 4 Screening for Conflicts of Interest

 5 Financial Disclosure Reports 

6 Financial Conflicts of Interest

 6 Financial Conflicts of Interest—Imputed Interests

 7 Resolving Financial Conflicts of Interest

 7 Considering Appearance Issues

 8 Outside Consulting Work

 8 Standards of Ethical Conduct Rules 

10 Other Ethics Rules 

10 Post-Employment Laws 

10 Some Final Thoughts 

12 SGE Game Plan for Peak Ethical Performance 

1 
2
 
3 To Serve With 

Honor 

A Game Plan for Success 

A Guide on the Ethics Rules 

That Apply to Advisory Committee 

Members Serving as Special 

Government Employees 

Congratulations on becoming 

a member of the Government’s 

advisory team! In your new 

committee position, you may be 

helping to shape public policy or 

making other contributions that impact 

important issues facing our country. 

Your service on the committee will be 

a rewarding experience. But, while 

your membership has it rewards, it 

also has its ethical obligations. Being 

a member of the Government’s team 

means you’ll have to learn to play 

by the Government’s ethics rules. 

These ethics rules help promote 

public confidence and trust in our 

Government and in the recommendations that your committee will make 

to the Government. These rules will 

also help ensure that you serve the 

Government and your committee 

honorably. 

In this summary, you will learn more 

about the ethics laws and rules that 

apply to your service as a member of a 

Federal advisory committee. We will 

highlight some of the ethics rules that 

are most likely to affect you during 

your Government service. After 

you’ve read this pamphlet, you may 

want to learn more about specific 

ethics rules. Agency ethics officials 

and committee management officials 

are there to answer any of your 

questions or to point you in the right 

direction. They will help you even 

after your committee has finished its 

work and your Government service 

is done. 

Whether your time on a committee 

is short or long, understanding 

these basic ethics rules will make 

your Government service more 

rewarding for you and for your 

fellow committee members. 

Government Employee 

Status 

I will be serving on a committee 

only for a few days a year. Am I a 

Government employee just because 

I am a member of an advisory 

committee? 

Not necessarily. However, 

if you have been given this 

pamphlet by the agency 

sponsoring your advisory committee, it’s likely that you are serving as 

a special Government employee 

(SGE) 1 and are subject to the 

Government’s ethics rules. An 

agency official should determine 

your employment status and then 

inform you whether you are serving 

on an advisory committee in an 

employee status. 

1 An SGE is defined as an “officer or employee . . . 

who is retained, designated, appointed, or 

employed” by the Government to perform temporary 

duties, with or without compensation, for not more 

than 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive 

days. See Title 18, United States Code, Section 

202(a). 
4 In general, your status will depend 

upon what role you will be expected 

to have on the committee. It is very 

important for you and every member 

of your committee to understand 

your role on the committee before 

you even start your committee work. 

If you have not been told, you should 

ask a committee official or ethics 

official to explain your status so you 

will know whether you are subject to 

any of the Government’s ethics rules. 

If you are serving in an SGE status, 

you are considered a Government 

employee. Your role as an employee 

will be to provide your best judgment 

in committee matters that will be 

presented to you for discussion. As 

someone serving on a committee in 

an SGE status, you will be subject to 

most of the Government’s ethics 

rules. Many of these rules will be 

discussed in this pamphlet. 

Keep in mind that some committee 

members may be regular Government 

employees. Other members may not 

be serving as employees at all. These 

non-employee members may be 

serving as representatives of outside 

organizations. Representative 

members are not subject to the 

Government’s ethics rules because 

they are only on a committee to 

provide the views of outside interest 

groups or stakeholders. 

If you are ever unsure about your role 

or status on an advisory committee, 

talk to a committee or ethics official. 

In some cases, your committee 

appointment papers will say what 

your status is and/or the role you will 

going to be 

while serving 

on a committee. 

have on the committee. However, don’t 

ever begin your 

committee 

until you know 

what your status is 

work 

Screening for Conflicts of 

Interest 

Is there anything that I should be 

doing to comply with the Government 

ethics rules before I begin my 

committee service? 

Yes. You’ll need to get an 

“ethics checkup” before you 

begin your committee’s 

work. We’ve all read press stories 

about athletes having to pass a 

physical examination before they can 

start playing for a sports team. 

One reason that 

teams require 

athletes to pass 

such exams is to 

make sure they 

are able to 

perform to the 

very best of their 

ability. In much the same way, the 

Government wants to ensure that you 

will be able to perform to the best of 

your ability when you begin working 

on one of its advisory committee 

teams. 

Your best service is possible only 

when you are not affected by conflicts 

of interests or appearances of conflicts 

of interest. Conflicts of interest can 

arise if you have extensive outside 
activities and financial holdings or 5 

other interests that relate to the 

subject matter of your committee 

service. An “ethics checkup” or a 

conflict of interest screening helps 

the Government ensure that your 

committee work is done in a manner 

that will uphold the Government’s 

high ethical standards. 

Financial Disclosure 

Reports 

What does an “ethics checkup” 

involve? Is this exam a one-time 

event? How will I know if I have 

passed this ethics checkup? 

As with any physical exam, 

there is always a little bit of 

paperwork to fill out. In 

general, one of the first forms you 

have to complete prior to beginning 

your committee work is a financial 

disclosure report. This report 

collects information about you, your 

spouse, and dependent children. 

You will have to fill this report out 

before you give any advice to the 

agency and in no event later than 

your first committee meeting. You 

will have to complete this report 

annually if you are reappointed. 

As you know, no exam is ever 

complete without some amount of 

probing by the doctor. In much the 

same way, ethics officials will probe 

and look closely at your report to see 

if any of your financial interests or 

affiliations may raise any ethical 

flags. In some cases, they may have 

to ask you additional questions 

about your finances. Keep in mind 

that this checkup will ultimately 

benefit both you and your 

committee’s work. An ethics 

checkup will protect you from 

unintentionally violating ethics 

laws and rules. The ethics laws 

can sometimes carry very serious 

penalties and fines if you violate 

them by allowing your conflicts to 

go untreated. This exam will help 

the Government ensure that your 

advice is free from any actual or 

perceived conflicts of interest. 

Your agency ethics official can tell 

you more about the financial disclosure report, including the type of 

report you will be required to fill 

out. Even after you have filed your 

report, you may want to sit down 

and talk to your ethics official about 

your report if you believe your 

committee is going to work on a 

matter that may affect one or more 

of your financial holdings. In some 

cases, a matter that would raise 

concerns may not have been 

apparent during your initial “ethics 

checkup.” You should immediately 

consult with an agency official about 

this matter. Remember, an ethics 

checkup is only as good as the 

information you provide to your 

agency. 
6 Financial Conflicts of 

Interest 

I work for a pharmaceutical company, and over the years have 

received a fair amount of stock in 

the company. What should I do if 

the work of my advisory committee 

will affect my employer? 

Generally, you may not work 

on a committee matter that 

will affect your own, or 

your employer’s, financial interest. 

For example, let’s say you were 

serving on an advisory committee 

that is advising an agency on 

whether it should continue a health 

program that provides nutrition 

information and free vitamins to 

children. The Government purchases some of the vitamins it 

distributes 

from your 

company. It 

would be a 

conflict of 

interest for you 

to participate in 

committee matters 

relating to the distribution of the vitamins, because you 

both own stock in, and are employed by, a company that has a 

financial interest in the issue. 

Whether you can be involved in 

committee matters that relate 

generally to the agency’s nutrition 

program depends on how the 

program will affect your company. 

The agency’s ethics official or 

committee management official will 

advise you on how to proceed. 

Financial Conflicts of 

Interest—Imputed 

Interests 

Would I still have a conflict of interest 

if I didn’t work for the pharmaceutical 

company or own any stock, but my 

spouse owned stock in the company 

that she bought through her broker? 

Yes. The ethics laws treat the 

financial interests of the 

following as if they were 

your own financial interests: 

❐	 Your spouse; 

❐	 Your minor child; 

❐	 Your employer; 

❐	 Your general partner; 

❐	 An organization in which you 

serve as officer, director, trustee, 

or general partner; or 

❐	 A person with whom you are 

negotiating or have an arrangement 

for prospective employment. 

So, if your spouse owned stock in the 

pharmaceutical company described 

above, you would still have the same 

conflict of interest concern described 

in the previous question. 

Conflicts of interest concerns that are 

not addressed can penalize you and 

your committee’s work. Ethics 

officials or committee officials will 

work with you to make sure that you 

can continue to do your committee 

work ethically and honorably. 
 

Resolving Financial 7 

Conflicts of Interests 

What steps should I take to avoid 

violating the Government’s ethics 

rules if I have a conflict of interest? 

There are several ways to avoid 

a conflict of interest while 

working on a committee 

matter. The most common way is 

simply not to work on a particular 

committee matter if it raises a conflict 

of interest for you. For example, in 

the situations discussed above, to 

avoid what otherwise would be a 

conflict of interest because of your 

financial interest in the pharmaceutical company, you could simply not 

participate in those committee matters 

that would affect the financial interests of the company. We call this 

remedy a recusal. 

If you have a conflict of interest, 

you should consult an ethics official 

because ethics regulations may 

resolve some of your conflicts of 

interests. For example, there are 

some exceptions that apply if the 

value of your stock is below a certain 

amount. Another exception may 

permit you to participate in matters 

affecting your non-Federal employer 

in certain cases. 

Considering Appearance 

Issues 

Am I required to do anything if I have 

an outside business relationship that 

is not a financial conflict of interest, 

but just looks bad for my committee? 

Because you serve the Government, you should always 

conduct yourself in a manner 

that is above ethical reproach. So, 

even if there is no financial conflict 

of interest, your outside relationships 

may at times raise questions in the 

public’s mind about how fair you 

can be while working on a particular 

committee matter. For example, 

“appearance” concerns may arise 

when you are asked to work on a 

committee matter that you know 

may affect a member of your household or your former employer or 

client. In general, you should be 

alert for situations where— 

❐	 a former employer, 

❐	 a client of yours or your spouse, 

❐	 a person or organization with 

which you have some kind 

of business or contract relationship, or 

❐	 your spouse’s employer 
 

8 will be specifically affected by your 

committee’s activities. In some cases, 

it may be appropriate for you not to 

work on a certain committee matter 

because of appearance concerns. 

Because you are part of the 

Government’s team, you are never 

alone in dealing with these kinds of 

appearance concerns. If you are not 

sure whether a potential situation 

could raise an appearance problem, 

you should stop your work on that 

committee matter and contact your 

agency’s ethics official or committee 

official to discuss your concerns. 

These officials can help you address 

possible appearance problems. 

Outside Consulting Work 

I have an outside consulting business 

that requires me to represent clients 

before the Government. Is this O.K.? 

I

n general, you may not represent 

another person, whether or not 

you are compensated for the 

representation, before a Federal 

agency or court in connection with a 

matter that you have worked on as an 

SGE. The types of representational 

services covered include written 

and oral communications, as well 

as making physical appearances on 

behalf of someone else with the 

intent to influence or persuade the 

Government. 

Once you have served more than 60 

days as an SGE within the previous 

365 days, you may not represent 

anyone on any matter pending in the 

agency where you serve. Remember, 

you should always talk to an agency 

official if you are thinking about 

representing a client before the 

Government on a matter that involves 

the subject matter of your committee’s 

work or the overall programs of the 

agency that is sponsoring your 

committee. 

Standards of Ethical 

Conduct Rules 

Are the conflict of interest laws the 

only ethics rules that I must know 

before I start my work as a committee 

member? 

There are a number of other 

important ethics rules that 

will guide your conduct while 

you are serving as an SGE. Most of 

these rules are part of “The Standards 

of Ethical Conduct for Employees of 

the Executive Branch (Standards of 

Conduct).” As a committee member, 

you are expected to be aware of and 

follow these basic ethics rules while 

in Government service. Some of the 

rules you should know include: 

❐ Don’t accept improper gifts. 

company that does 

business with, or is regulated by, 

the agency that sponsors your 

committee is a prohibited source. 

Don’t ask for or accept gifts that 

are given because of 

your committee 

position or that 

come from 

certain “prohibited sources.” 

For example, a 
 

 

 

 

 

There are many exceptions to this ❐ 9 Don’t accept compensation for 

general rule. Find out more about 

these gift exceptions by talking to 

a committee or ethics official. 

❐	 Don’t use public office for 

private gain.

 For example, you may not use 

your committee position, title or 

any authority associated with your 

advisory committee to coerce or 

induce a benefit for yourself or 

others. 

❐ 	 Don’t misuse Government 

information.

 If you get information that has 

not been made available to the 

general public, don’t use (or

 allow the improper use of) that 

nonpublic information to further 

any private interest, either your 

own or another’s. Contact a 

committee official or agency 

ethics official if you have any 

questions about whether you

 may release certain types of 

information. 

❐ 	 Use Government property and 

time properly. 

Always use Government property 

only for authorized purposes. 

Government property includes 

office supplies, telephones, 

computers, copiers and any other 

thing purchased with Government 

funds. Also, be sure to use

 your official time to carry out 

committee work. 

teaching, speaking, and writing 

related to your Government 

duties. 

This restriction applies in narrow 

circumstances to SGEs. It does 

not apply at all if the compensation is for teaching university 

courses. And it applies in very 

limited cases if you are an SGE 

who is expected to serve less than 

60 days. If you intend to receive 

compensation for teaching, 

speaking, and writing that is 

related to the subject of your 

committee’s work, talk to

 an ethics official first so that you 

are sure the compensation is 

acceptable. 

❐ 	 Abide by expert witness rules.

 In general, you cannot be an 

expert witness in a judicial or 

administrative proceeding if you 

participated as a Government 

employee in the matter that is

 the subject of the proceeding. 

Moreover, if you are appointed by 

the President, serve on a commission established by statute, or 

have served or are expected to 

serve more than 60 days in a 
 

10 period of 365 days, this bar 

applies to any proceeding in 

which your employing agency

 is a party or has a direct and 

substantial interest. 

The rules that govern service as 

an expert witness can be very 

complex, so you should always 

get advice from an agency 

ethics official before you agree 

to serve as an expert. 

Other Ethics Rules 

Are there any ethics rules that may 

limit my political activities during 

my service on a committee? 

Yes, a law known as the 

Hatch Act limits certain 

political activities of 

Government employees, including 

SGEs when they are engaged in 

committee work. The law has been 

substantially amended to allow most 

Government employees to engage 

in many types of political activities. 

However, you should check with 

your agency ethics official to ensure 

your activities comply with these 

laws. You may also want to check 

the U.S. Office of Special Counsel’s 

website (the agency responsible 

for enforcing this law) for more 

information and guidance at 

www.osc.gov. 

Post-Employment Laws 

Do any ethics rules apply to me after 

my service on an advisory committee 

has ended? 

Yes. Post-employment laws 

may limit the types of 

communications you may 

make back to the Government on 

behalf of another person. 

For example, you may be permanently barred by a criminal law from 

representing anyone else before a 

Federal agency or court on certain 

matters (such as a contract, grant or 

even an investigation) that you 

worked on while serving on an 

advisory committee. 

There are some other restrictions that 

could apply to your post-Government 

activities, depending on your agency 

and the function you served in on a 

committee. Your agency’s ethics 

official can help you to understand 

these and other post-employment 

rules, either before or after your 

committee service ends. 

Some Final Thoughts 

The Government is very grateful 

for your dedicated service. 

Your commitment in upholding 

the integrity of Government service 

before and even after your committee 
service ends is important and will help 11 

maintain public confidence in the 

Government’s decision making and in 

the quality of your committee’s work. 

We hope this summary helps you to 

understand how some of the Federal 

ethics rules may apply to you as a 

Federal advisory committee member 

serving as an SGE. It is now up to 

you to ensure that you serve with 

honor by following this game plan 

for successful participation on the 

Government’s advisory team. 

In you need more information, please 

talk to a committee management 

official or your agency ethics official. 

Like a good coach, these individuals 

are there to help guide you into 

becoming the best committee member 

you can be — one that acts ethically 

and responsibly before and after his 

or her service ends. In this way, you 

can be proud of your service to the 

Government and to your advisory 

committee team. 

U.S. Office of Government 

Ethics 

www.usoge.gov 

March 2008 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 

SGE Game Plan for 

Peak Ethical Performance 

1 Don’t ever begin your 

committee work until you

 know what your role or

 status is on a committee. 

2 Always get an “ethics 

checkup” before you begin

 your committee work. 

3 Don’t work on a committee

 matter that will affect

 your financial interests,

 unless some exception allows

 you to do so. 

4 Always check with an ethics

 official if you have any 

concerns about an 

appearance of a conflict

 of interest. 

5 Improve “your game” by

 becoming more familiar

 with Government ethics 

rules, especially those that 

are found in the Standards

 of Conduct and in the

 Conflict of Interest laws. 

6 Talk to your agency ethics

 official if you anticipate

 doing some teaching, 

speaking, or writing as 

an outside activity for 

compensation or engaging

 in representational activity

 before the Government. 

7 Understand the postemployment rules either

 before or after your advisory

 committee service ends. 

8 Remember that learning

 more about the Government’s

 ethics rules will help ensure

 that you serve your committee

 honorably.