Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Standards of Employee Conduct Need Improvement

FPCD-79-29: Published: Mar 14, 1979. Publicly Released: Mar 14, 1979.

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The development and implementation of standards of conduct in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) were reviewed.

Standards of conduct for Federal employees in HEW do not provide sufficient guidance to enable employees and supervisors to identify and resolve potential ethical problems. The standards are incomplete, complex, and out-of-date. As a result, employees are not always aware of their responsibilities, and a supervisor's advise is often a personal interpretation of the HEW Standards of Conduct regulation.

Recommendation for Executive Action

  1. Status: Closed

    Comments: Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.

    Recommendation: HEW should: (1) revise and update the standards to make them complete, current, and easier to read and understand; (2) make the Department Counselor's interpretations of the standards available to supervisors; (3) expand training on the standards for Department supervisors who provide advise and guidance on employees' ethical conduct; (4) prepare a publication summarizing the standards and alerting employees to potential conflict problems for which they should seek advise; and (5) use available information to identify areas of the standards that need to be revised.

    Agency Affected:

 

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