COVID-19 Update: Office of the General Counsel—Ethics Forms

Given the expanded group of Smithsonian employees who will be teleworking under the Smithsonian’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency response plan, the Office of General Counsel (OGC) is temporarily amending its process for completing the following ethics forms:

• OGC Form 1, Paid Outside Activity
• OGC Form 2, Sponsored Travel
• OGC Form 3, Honorary Degree or Award
• OGC Form 4, Board Membership
• OGC Form 5, Direct Reimbursement
• OGC Form 6, Special Circumstance Travel

These ethics forms may be completed in Microsoft Word format. Ethics forms are available on OGC’s Prism website. If you are unable to access an ethics form, please contact OGCEthics@si.edu.

When forms require the approval and signature of the requesting employee’s supervisor and Unit Director, the approvals may be provided by an e-mail message from the supervisor and Unit Director. The e-mail messages should indicate whether the specific proposed request is approved (e.g. Mary Smith’s sponsored travel to London in September is approved). No signature by the requesting employee, supervisor, and/or Unit Director will be required on the ethics form.

The completed ethics form and all supporting documentation (including e-mail approvals from supervisors and Unit Directors) must be submitted to OGCEthics@si.edu.

An ethics counselor will be assigned to review the form and advise the requesting employee directly via e-mail whether the request is approved.

For further information on this message or if you have additional ethics questions, please contact the Office of the General Counsel at OGCEthics@si.edu or 202-633-5115.

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