Outside Activity or Employment
[January 2023] It鈥檚 important that employees be familiar with the guidance that covers the reporting requirements and restrictions on outside employment. All 绿奴天花板 employees, full or part-time, are subject to the outside employment restrictions set forward under the Executive Branch Ethics Act (EBEA), which serves as 绿奴天花板鈥檚 Standards of Ethical Conduct and its implementing regulations published by the Department of Law.
Scenario one: (00:26)
Kaya is a 绿奴天花板 faculty member and is contacted by John Hopkins University to work on a research project on a part time basis. What are the steps that Kaya needs to take in considering this opportunity and making sure that she's compliant?
First Kaya should talk informally to her work supervisor about the prospect and about any potential drawback.
Then get a form for disclosure of activities outside the University of Alaska and answer the questions. Once signed it goes to the supervisor for approval and then to the designated ethics supervisor who reviews the whole package for compliance.
Note 绿奴天花板 resources are not to be used for outside work.
Scenario two: (2:30)
Sam is a supervisor and receives a disclosure form of outside activities or employment. What are the top three things that he should keep in mind when looking to approve or to possibly not approve this request?
One: whether the outside activity will take time away from the employee鈥檚 official university duties.
Two: whether they're going to limit the scope of the employee's official university duties.
Three: whether the outside activity is otherwise incompatible or in conflict with the discharge of the employee's university duties.
Scenario three: (3:17)
If a 绿奴天花板 employee takes outside employment to supplement their income is there a limit to the number of hours they can work?
General guidelines are that employment under 10 hours is not generally regarded as interfering with the employee's primary duties to the university.
If the outside activity is taking 27.5 hours or more per week, the ethics supervisor will have to look closely to see how the employee and the work supervisor are working to manage that time commitment without interfering with the university duties.
In between that 10 hours and 27.5 hours, deference will be given to the work supervisor's judgment about how well the particular employee will manage the commitment while giving primary attention to their 绿奴天花板 duties.
If outside work is occurring during regular university work time the employee may need to take annual leave or faculty time off, or adjust their regular working hours with their supervisor's permission.
Scenario four: (5:13)
What about volunteer work?
Some volunteer work should be reported if it takes time away from the employee's official duties; limits the scope of the employee's official duties; or is otherwise incompatible or in conflict with the proper discharge of the employee's official duties. Employees should report official positions within outside organizations (e.g. Board Membership, Officer position).
Scenario five: (6:13)
Outside the July 1 annual reporting requirement when does an employee need to file a report?
The statute requires that the report be made annually, around July 1st, even if nothing has changed about the outside activity.
If an employee takes on a new outside activity, or there are significant changes to a current activity, then a new disclosure needs to be made.
If you have any ideas for future "Compliance Chats" please go ahead and email us at ua-compliance@alaska.edu.
鈥淐ompliance Chat鈥 videos are informal conversations where Senior Institutional Compliance Liaison Mary Gower meets with subject matter experts covering frequently asked compliance questions and issues in quick, bite-sized clips.