The Conference believes that it is important to ensure that services provided by government contractors—particularly those services that are similar to those performed by government employees—are performed with integrity and that the public interest is protected. In that light, the Conference recommends that the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (“FAR Council”) promulgate model language in the Federal...
Government Contractor Ethics
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Committee:
Project Stages:
1. Gather ideas - Completed2. Select ideas - Completed
3. Council approval - Completed
4. Picking a researcher - Completed
5. Committee consideration - Completed
6. Back to the council - Completed
7. Consideration by the full conference - Completed
8. Implementation - Current
Stage:
8. Implementation
Contacts
Consultant
Kathleen Clark
Professor
Washington University Law
Federal employees and contractor employees are subject to widely disparate ethics regimes. Whereas government employees must comply with extensive rules covering things like personal conflicts of interest, receiving gifts, and post-employment restrictions, contractor employees are generally not subject to such specific regulations (though contractors performing contracts exceeding $5 million must have an internal ethics code). Government contracting has vastly expanded in recent years, and some have suggested that the ethics regime currently applicable to contractors is insufficient. At the same time, new regulations can create additional costs for contractors and agencies. The Recommendation proposes compliance standards related to personal conflicts of interest and use of certain non-public information, with the aim of ensuring ethical conduct on the part of contractors without imposing excessive compliance costs.
Featured Documents
Final Recommendation
- Recommendation number: 2011-3
- Adopted on: June 17, 2011
- Committees: Administration and Management
Implementation
At its Plenary Session on June 16-17, 2011, the Administrative Conference of the United States adopted Recommendation 2011-3, regarding compliance standards for government contractor employees relating to personal conflicts of interest and use of certain non-public information. The recommendation urges the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to draft model contract clauses for agencies to use when negotiating a contract for any service that poses a particular risk of personal conflicts of interest or misuse of non-public information. Agencies would be free to modify those clauses or decline to use them as appropriate.
Read the Federal Register notice announcing the adoption of Recommendation 2011-3, available at 76 Fed. Reg. 48,789, 48,792
Project Documents
Committee Meetings & Events
54th Plenary Session
June 16, 2011 - 2:00 pm EDT
June 17, 2011 - 9:00 am EDT
Location name:
Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, DC
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