Ethics

This section gives an overview of the ethics rules and restrictions that govern federal employees.

TOP RECOMMENDATION:

Ethics Rules for New Employees⁠

(Department of Education) A suite of resources on the rules that govern conduct as a government employee. Some guidance is specific to the Department of Education, but the resource is generally helpful for all federal employees.

Ethics Resources

⁠

Institute for Ethics in Government Education Library⁠

(Institute for Ethics in Government) A large repository of on-demand ethics trainings. Designed for ethics practitioners, but many courses are also accessible and useful to regular federal employees.

⁠

The Hatch Act: Political Activity and the Federal Employee⁠

(Office of Personnel Management) A recording of an Office of Personnel Management event on the Hatch Act and its restrictions on executive branch employees.

⁠

Hatch Act Guidance on Social Media⁠

(Office of Special Counsel) An overview of what activities the Hatch Act allows and prohibits for federal employees when they use social media.

GAP ANALYSIS:

We struggled to find many plain-language resources on the ethical rules for government employees. The best we found was the

Department of Education’s Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch⁠

. However, we believe more resources may exist at other agencies that are simply not publicly accessible. We could not find any resources on government ethics that address specific considerations for technologists.

⁠

Communications This section includes materials on crafting clear and effective public communications. Resources are divided into those that deal specifically with written communications and those that address digital communications strategy more broadly.⁠

⁠

Professional Development This section provides an overview of professional development resources for government employees. It includes resources on improving interpersonal skills, finding mentorship, and strengthening management and leadership.⁠

⁠

Gallery

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.