| Date: | 04/23/1985 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | State Ethics Commission |
A full-time social worker for the Department of Social Services (DSS) may become a part-time DSS employee and also work for a private counseling agency, subject to certain limitations. In particular, she may not receive compensation from the private agency in relation to the referral or treatment of clients from DSS.
You are currently a full-time social worker in an Area office of the Department of Social Services (DSS). You have been offered a part-time position with an Institute (Institute), a private mental health counseling agency which accepts client referrals from a different Area office of DSS. If you accept the position with the Institute, you will become a part-time employee at DSS. You expect to be employed by DSS for more than sixty days in any period of 365 consecutive days.
What limitations does the conflict-of-interest law, c. 268A, place on your employment with the Institute while you are as DSS employee?
You are subject to the following limitations.
As a social worker for DSS, you are a state employee as defined in G.L. c. 268A, § 1(q), and as a result are subject to the provisions of that law. Section 4(a) provides that no state employee shall directly or indirectly receive or request compensation from anyone other than the commonwealth or a state agency in relation to any particular matter[1] in which the commonwealth or a state agency is a party or has a direct and substantial interest. However, as a part-time employee for DSS, you would be considered a special state employee for the purposes of G.L. c. 268A and are therefore eligible for a less restrictive application of G.L. c. 268A. In particular, paragraph 7 of § 4 states that as a special state employee you are only subject to § 4(a) prohibitions
"...only in relation to a particular matter in which [you have] at any time participated as a state employee, or (b) which is or within one year has been a subject of [your] official responsibility, or (c) which is pending in the state agency in which [you are] serving.
Therefore, the propriety of your receipt of compensation from the Institute depends on whether your compensation is in relation to particular matters subject to the § 4(¶ 7) prohibition. The Commission has previously ruled that the referral of a client by a state agency and the treatment of that referral are particular matters in which a state agency has a direct and substantial interest. See, EC-COI-82-77; 84-112.[2] Therefore a referral from DSS to the Institute would a particular matter pertaining in your state agency within the meaning of § 4. Consequently, you may not be paid by the Institute in relation to the referral or treatment of clients from DSS. On the other hand, § 4 will not prohibit your treatment of clients referred by state agencies such as the Department of Mental Health, because those matters would not be pending in your state agency.
