COMPLIANCE CHATTER

Ethics Edition

Are you preparing to leave state service?

Employees who transition out of UConn should be aware of the Post-State Employment rules within the State Code of Ethics.

The Post-State Employment rules are also known as "Revolving Door" provisions and include lifetime and one-year bans.

Lifetime Bans

Confidential Information: You cannot share confidential information you learned while working for UConn in exchange for money or financial benefit either for yourself or someone else. 

Side-Switching: You cannot legally represent anyone besides the state in a matter that you were deeply involved in while working for the state, and in which the state has a substantial interest. This rule stops people from switching sides in the middle of important state-related cases or processes.

One-Year Bans

Cooling-Off: You may not represent anyone, including yourself, before your former agency for compensation. “Represent” includes any action which reveals the identity of the individual, e.g., a personal appearance, phone call, signature on a document, identification on a firm’s letterhead, etc.

State Contracts: If you participated substantially in the negotiation or award of a state contract valued at $50,000 or more, you may not accept employment with a party to the contract for one year after leaving state service, if you resign within one year after the contract was signed. Substantial participation applies whenever the individual exercised discretionary authority at any level of the contract award process.

Kimberly Fearney is the Ethics Liaison for UConn and UConn Health, and serves as a link between the University and the Office of State Ethics. The Ethics Liaison is responsible for coordinating and facilitating the development of ethics policies as well as conducting annual education and training concerning the State Code of Ethics.

All ethics inquiries or questions regarding compliance with the State Code of Ethics and/or the University’s various ethics policies may be directed to:

Kim.Fearney@uconn.edu

Learn more about the provisions in the State Code of Ethics.

Review additional Compliance Clips and Chatters.