| Date: | 11/24/1981 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | State Ethics Commission |
A Department of Revenue (DOR) employee may work part-time for a private company conducting public opinion research, but may not prepare state tax returns for the company, or participate as a DOR employee in any particular matters involving his private employer.
You are an employee in the Department of Revenue (DOR). You would like to work for the ABC (ABC) on a part-time basis while maintaining your employment with DOR.
You ask whether, consistent with the conflict of interest law, G.L.c.268A, you may engage in this private employment during your off-duty hours.
The Commission concludes that you may.
In rendering this opinion, the Commission has relied upon the facts as you have stated them and has not made any independent investigation of those facts. In your position with DOR, you (description of duties omitted). In your private capacity, you intend to work at ABC interviewing individuals by telephone on a variety of subjects, including political campaigns and choices. You advise the Commission that ABC is a private entity subject to the rules and regulations of DOR only in regard to state tax returns. ABC intends to offer its services to candidates for elective office but does not now have or intend to enter into any contracts with the Commonwealth or state agencies. You also indicate that the work of ABC is comparable to that of the Harris or Gallup public opinion poll. DOR is a state agency established by G.L.c.14,s.1. As an employee of DOR, you are a "state employee" as that term is defined in G.L.c.268A, s.1(q) and, therefore, are subject to the provisions of s.4(a). This section prohibits you from directly or indirectly receiving or requesting compensation from anyone other than the Commonwealth or a state agency in relation to any particular matter in which the Commonwealth or a state agency is a party or has a direct and substantial interest.[1] In a prior advisory opinion, the Commission has concluded that public opinion research and analysis are not "particular matters", as defined in s.1(k), of direct and substantial interest to the Commonwealth. See, EC-COI-80-5. Accordingly, the private employment you intend to engage in with ABC is not prohibited by s.4(a). However, the scope of your paid activities on behalf of ABC should not include the preparation of ABC state tax return since the commonwealth is a party to and has a direct and substantial interest in the submission of state tax returns. See, In the Matter of Louis L. Logan, Commission Adjudicatory Docket No. 131, p. 22, (April 28, 1981); EC-COI-79-23; Attorney General Conflict Opinion Nos. 645, 660.
You should also be aware of the provisions of s.6 as it relates to your prospective employment with. This section prohibits you from participating as a state employee in any particular matter in which a business organization in which you serve as an employee, or with whom you are negotiating prospective employment, has a financial interest. This section further provides that if your duties would otherwise require you to participate in such a matter, you must file with your appointing official and the State Ethics Commission a written disclosure of the nature and circumstances of the particular matter and the financial interest therein. The appointing official may then either (1) assign the particular matter to another employee, or (2) assume responsibility for the matter himself, or (3) make a written determination to be filed with the State Ethics Commission that the "interest is not so substantial as to be likely to affect the integrity of the service which the Commonwealth may expect from the employee, in which case it shall not be a violation for the employee to participate in the particular matter." This section would apply to you if ARC had a particular matter pending in DOR that required some action on your part.
In conclusion, you may engage in the part-time employment with ABC with respect to the public opinion research. However, you may not prepare state tax returns for ABC for compensation, or participate as an employee of DOR in any particular matter involving ABC that comes before you and you must follow the disclosure provisions outlined above if such a matter does come before you.
End Of Decision
