# Standards of Conduct and Government Ethics Course (Self-Paced) Canonical URL: ## Overview Ethics training is a standing federal requirement, which puts a course like this on the budget line rather than the wish list. It is government-wide in scope, covering the rules that apply across the executive branch and deliberately built without reference to any single agency's supplemental policy, so it works for any federal audience, and the sequence runs from the 14 General Principles of Ethical Conduct through conflicts of interest, gifts, misuse of position, outside and post-government employment, and the Hatch Act. It also reflects the 2024 modernization: the modernized Standards of Ethical Conduct took effect 15 August 2024 and introduced new examples covering personal social media use, so any ethics training built before that date now has a gap. The social media point is the one that surprises people, because using an official title or position on a personal account in a way that suggests government endorsement can breach the misuse-of-position rules, even outside work hours. The course also confirms that the gift thresholds of $20 from outside sources and $10 between employees were reviewed and left unchanged. The material is anchored in the actual sources rather than generalities. The criminal conflict-of-interest statutes at 18 U.S.C. 201 to 209 sit next to the Standards of Ethical Conduct at 5 C.F.R. Part 2635, and the course states plainly that the post-employment restrictions are criminal statutes, not guidance. The appearance standard is taught as a test a learner applies rather than a footnote: would a reasonable person with knowledge of the facts question my impartiality. Two drag-and-drop activities carry the practical work, one sorting eight realistic gift scenarios into acceptable and not acceptable with a rationale for each, the other sorting eight activities into generally permitted and generally prohibited under the Hatch Act, and a 20-question final assessment closes the course at 70% to pass, or 14 of 20, with unlimited retakes. The course is agency-neutral by design: only government-wide rules are covered, and learners are repeatedly directed to their own agency ethics official for supplemental policy. ## What you'll learn - Identify the core legal and regulatory sources governing federal employee conduct, including the 14 General Principles of Ethical Conduct - Apply the appearance standard, and recognize why it matters even when no specific rule has been broken - Recognize a conflict of interest and describe the tools used to resolve one, including recusal, divestiture and waiver - Explain the purpose of public and confidential financial disclosure and which applies to whom - Apply the gift rules to determine whether a gift may be accepted from an outside source or from a fellow employee - Distinguish appropriate from inappropriate use of official position, government time, property and nonpublic information - Recognize how personal social media use can implicate the misuse-of-position rules - Describe the ethics considerations for outside employment, seeking new employment, and post-government employment - Explain the general restrictions on partisan political activity under the Hatch Act - Identify how and to whom to report suspected ethics violations, fraud, waste or abuse ## Curriculum #### Module 1 - Introduction to Public Service Ethics & Core Principles (25 min) - Public service as a public trust - Where the rules come from, covering the criminal conflict-of-interest statutes, the Standards of Ethical Conduct, the Hatch Act and agency supplemental regulations - The 14 General Principles - The appearance standard - What changed in the 2024 modernization - Who to contact #### Module 2 - Conflicts of Interest & Financial Interests (25 min) - The criminal conflict-of-interest statute at 18 U.S.C. 208 - Conflicting financial interests - Impartiality and personal relationships beyond money - Resolving a conflict through recusal, divestiture, waiver or a blind trust - Public and confidential financial disclosure #### Module 3 - Gifts: From Outside Sources and Between Employees (30 min) - What makes a prohibited source - The de minimis exception and the annual aggregate limit - Common exceptions including widely attended gatherings, nominal promotional items, personal relationships and honorary awards - Gifts between employees and the rules on superiors and subordinates - What to do about an inadvertently accepted gift. Includes a sort-the-gift drag-and-drop activity #### Module 4 - Misuse of Position and Use of Government Time & Property (20 min) - Using public office for private gain, endorsement or preferential treatment - Using nonpublic information for private gain - Directing subordinates to personal errands - Personal social media and official title - Use of government time, equipment and property #### Module 5 - Outside Activities, Seeking Employment, and Post-Government Employment (25 min) - When outside employment or activities conflict with official duties - Compensated teaching, speaking and writing - What counts as seeking employment and when disqualification obligations begin - Post-government restrictions under 18 U.S.C. 207 including the permanent bar, the two-year restriction and senior-official cooling-off periods #### Module 6 - Political Activity (the Hatch Act) and Reporting Ethics Concerns (30 min) - The purpose of the Hatch Act and who enforces it - Standard versus further-restricted employee categories - What is generally prohibited and generally permitted - Reporting waste, fraud, abuse and corruption, and the protections for good-faith disclosures. Includes a permitted-or-prohibited drag-and-drop activity ## Pricing **Tuition:** $675