Innovations

The State Ethics Law and You
by Sharon Scully and Maureen Rhea

Over the summer, everyone in Financial Management attended Ethics training in one of the two-hour sessions given by Maureen Rhea from Internal Audit. The sessions were customized for Financial Management at the request of the EIT, and intended to give individuals in FM the information they need to comply with the state ethics law.

Maureen’s training focused on three important subjects covered by the state ethics law, and they warrant repetition, perhaps even commitment to memory:

• Use of state resources
• Gifts
• Outside employment

Employees are always allowed to use University resources to perform University work. “De minimus” or very limited personal use of University resources is allowed under certain conditions. What is considered de minimus isn’t black-and-white, but definitely stay away from a liberal interpretation. Using University resources to conduct an outside business or for political purposes is strictly prohibited.

Employees who do not participate in decisions to acquire goods or services may accept gifts with a value of $50 or less from a single source in a calendar year. Stricter rules apply to employees who do participate in decisions to acquire goods and services.

Both professional and classified employees are required to request approval of outside work for compensation whenever the activity relates to or could conflict with an employee’s University job responsibilities or status as a University employee.

Remember that you can always email or call Internal Audit for help understanding how the state ethics law affects you. Also, we’d be happy to send you a copy of the handouts from the ethics class. Our phone number is 543-4028 and you can email Maureen Rhea at mrhea@u.washington.edu.