These tips can help government ethics offices streamline the processes for ensuring financial disclosure filings are complete, accurate, and on time
Every government worker who is in a position to make final decisions or take actions that “will have a direct and substantial economic effect on the interests of any non-federal entity” is required to fill out an annual financial disclosure form. The purpose is simple – to eliminate any conflict of interest – or even the appearance of a potential conflict of interest.
Yet not every ethics office navigates the financial disclosure season in the same way. We’ve seen it firsthand working with nearly 40 different government agencies, in recent years, to assist with more than a half million financial disclosure forms.
Our experience in this area has given us a good view of which processes work well – and which ones need improvement. Below are a handful of best practices we’ve seen government ethics offices use to streamline their conflict review and financial disclosure processes.
1. Review the list of personnel required to file
Employees are prone to move around. They get promoted, take on a new role, or leave for another position. When this happens, it’s possible they may no longer be in a position of budget or spending authority – and are no longer required to file.
No ethics office has time to chase former filers only to discover the requirement no longer applies. This means they’d do well to stay on top of this list all year round, adding new hires that need to file a disclosure – and removing those that don’t.
This is a simple step some offices struggle keeping up with that will save a lot of time amid the fast pace and high stress of the financial disclosure season later.
Tech tip: If your agency is an FDonline customer already, the software has capabilities that can scrub the list for you. For example, you can integrate HR data that adds and removes filers as they join or exit your agency.
2. Develop a pre-season financial disclosure
A pre-season checklist should include the basic filing requirements, deadlines, and guidance. Sending such a document out to your list of filers goes a long way to educating them about the process – and helping them prepare to file – collecting the right financial disclosure documents for example.
Keep in mind forms get updates and guidance changes, so be sure to review this carefully every year before sending it out.
Tech tip: Our clients don’t have to do this as FDonline already has these checklists built-in. Financial Disclosure updates the forms with the latest version and checks your list of filers continuously. In addition, the filing deadlines are embedded in the software.
3. Establish notification reminders
Civil servants who are required to file have significant responsibilities – they get busy with their jobs. So, it’s important to develop templates and set calendar reminders to send these out by email.
We recommend setting up three successive reminders at 15-, 10- and 5-days out from the deadline. Each reminder should have progressively stronger language and the final 5-day-out reminder should include the filer’s immediate supervisor on the distribution.
Tech tip: FDonline will handle sending out all of the email reminders for you automatically – we call these “triggered notifications.” It’ll even send a daily past-due reminder for those filers that have missed the deadline. Is a daily reminder annoying? Yes, however, most ethics offices will note that’s the point – and filers hold the key to turning off the reminders by filing their form.
4. Provide ongoing training and support
Ethics offices should provide training programs and ongoing support resources so employees understand their disclosure obligations, can have their questions answered and navigate the submission process effectively.
Some ideas for training on conflicts of interest and financial disclosure include:
- Mandatory training during onboarding of new employees;
- Periodic sessions before and after the filing season;
- Offering “office hours” (even virtually) during the filing season;
- Creating a self-serve help forum; and
- Developing and publishing frequently asked questions (FAQs) like the Department of Interior did with this video (embedded nearby).
In some organizations, these items are required by regulation. When they are not, they should be implemented as best practices. It’s worth pointing out that ethics training during onboarding could also be a key event to help scrub the list of filers.
Tech tip: FDonline is used by program administrators to remind filers of available ethics training and support, and can include links to use outside resourcesand guidance to support filers.
5. Triage forms as they are being filed
Ethics offices need to have a system or process for triaging forms as these are being submitted. There are two key reasons for this practice.
First, ethics offices have 60 days to complete conflicts review once a financial disclosure form is filed. The clock starts the day the form is filed – even though the confidential filing (OGE Form 450) period runs six weeks (Jan. 1st to Feb. 15th) and the public (OGE Form 278) filing period lasts about 4.5 months (Jan. 1st to May 15th).
Second, not all filers have the same disclosures. Some forms will require a higher level of effort to complete. Similarly, some forms will contain disclosures that were included last year and haven’t changed, which require little or no effort to review.
Tech tip: Some ethics offices still use spreadsheets and SharePoint for triage, but FDonline can make this a whole lot easier. It’ll automatically prioritize submissions based on programmed triage rules. It’ll also distinguish the items on the forms that require review and the items that have not changed – like stock holdings the filer disclosed the prior year.
6. Develop a standard for granting filing extensions in financial disclosure
Life isn’t predictable and so while it’s important to ensure the vast majority of agency employees file on time, there are reasons to grant an extension. In these cases, the ethics office ought to develop a standard for deadline extensions – document and publish those standards – and then ensure they are being applied consistently over time.
Historically, reasons for granting extension include:
- Bereavement;
- Military service for civil servants serving in the Guard/Reserve; and
- Overwhelming work responsibilities (i.e. crash efforts).
Tech tip: FDonline will keep track of deadlines for you including extensions. The dashboard will give you a bird’s eye view of the forms outstanding, currently in review, completed and extensions granted. This puts the status of filing at your fingertips – even if you have 16,000 filers like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
7. Develop standards for issuing cautionary guidance
Ethics offices reviewing forms may require a filer to take action in the event of a material conflict of interest. For example, a civil servant with stock holdings in a company that’s bidding on a government project over which they have influence. The ethics office may require that employees divest their holdings – or recuse themselves from the decision process.
Yet things are not always so clear – and gray areas do exist. In those cases, an ethics office may write a cautionary memo with recommendations to mitigate a conflict or perception of a conflict. For example, they may recommend an employee limit certain activities.
As with the process for granting filing extensions – the reasons for issuing cautionary guidance need to be defined, documented, and implemented uniformly.
Tech tip: FDonline provides agencies with a record of cautionary guidance provided, when they were provided, and why they were provided. This will help clear up any questions or inquiries from internal or external stakeholders.
8. Purging old data and documents
Federal law requires government agencies to hold financial disclosure filings for six years – and only six years. It is unnecessarily risky and expensive to securely hold such sensitive information beyond that time period. Ethics offices need to create a process for segmenting and removing financial disclosures as they hit their six-year anniversary.
Tech tip: FDonline will purge documents on the deadline automatically. You can schedule purges in advance or set a reminder to review and purge dated filings.
9. Prioritize data security in financial disclosure
The government is a rich target for bad actors – state-sponsored and otherwise. Financial disclosure data contains sensitive personal and financial information that agencies are obliged to protect. Protection means using secure authentication and encryption of the data when it’s in transit and being stored to help prevent unauthorized access.
Tech tip: FDonline is FedRAMP-authorized to ensure security and is currently being used by 39 different government agencies including the FAA, USDA, DOI, DOC, FDIC, SSA and NEH, among others.
10. Implement automation in support of financial disclosure
Automated cloud-based software platforms like FDonline can streamline – and expedite – the process of financial disclosure and conflict review. The technology reduces manual error, ensures timely compliance, and makes it easier for everyone involved.
Tech tip: See it for yourself! Contact us for a no-obligation demo.
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Resources:
- OGE Forms Library (U.S. Office of Government Ethics)
- 10 Simple Tips to Make the OGE 450 Filing Process Easier (USDA)
- Summary of Government Ethics Rules for New Department Officials (DOJ)
- Office of Government Ethics: A Primer (Congressional Research Service)
- Ethics – Fourteen Principles of Ethical Conduct for Federal Employees (DOE)
- Principles of Ethical Conduct for Government Officers and Employees (NIH)
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