Season’s Greetings from the Department of the Interior’s Departmental Ethics Office!

The holidays are always a busy time, and the holidays often present ethics issues, too – questions about gift exchanges, office parties, invitations to celebrations and gatherings, and more.

As a small gift to DOI employees, the Departmental Ethics Office has developed an Ethics Guide for the Holiday Season.  This guide summarizes the ethics rules on gifts and other holiday ethics considerations, and includes specific examples of questions the DEO receives this time of year.

As a general rule, the ethics rules and the Standards of Ethical Conduct apply the same way during the holidays as they do during the rest of the year – but we hope this guide can be a helpful resource to you throughout the season.

If you would like more information on the ethics rules during the holidays, please review The Holiday Season Ethics Survival Tips for Federal Employees, developed by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE).  Also, please remember that OGE asks all federal employees to consider declining a gift if it might raise impartiality concerns, even if it may be technically permissible under the ethics rules.

As always, ethics officials in the DEO are available to you to provide guidance in the weeks ahead.  For specific guidance regarding holiday or other ethics-related matters, please contact the Departmental Ethics Office at (202) 208-7960 or DOI_Ethics@sol.doi.gov.

The DEO wishes you all a festive and ethical holiday season!

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