News  State Ethics Commission Issues Formal Opinion EC-COI-26-1 on Municipal Department Heads Certifying Payrolls That Include Their Own Pay

Boston, MA — The State Ethics Commission issued formal opinion EC-COI-26-1, advising that a municipal department head may certify their department's payroll which includes their own pay without making a disclosure under § 19 of the conflict of interest law, G.L. c. 268A, provided certain conditions are met. 

The department head’s pay must be a fixed salary established through a written employment agreement, collective bargaining agreement, or Town Meeting-approved compensation plan and be exempt from overtime pay. 

However, a department head may not certify a payroll including their own pay if they are paid on an hourly basis rather than a fixed salary, and may not authorize their own overtime pay, approve the reimbursement for their own expenses or certify the payroll of an immediate family member, without first making a written § 19(b)(1) disclosure to their appointing authority and receiving the authority’s written determination permitting them to do so.

The department head also remains subject to the standards of conduct under § 23.