Civil Service FAQ Civil Service Ethics Questions and Answers 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A civil servant discovers their supervisor is awarding contracts to a company owned by a relative. What should the employee do first?
- Ignore it to avoid workplace conflict
- Report the concern through the agency's ethics hotline or inspector general (Correct answer)
- Confront the supervisor publicly
- Accept the situation since the supervisor outranks them
Correct answer: Report the concern through the agency's ethics hotline or inspector general
Employees are required to report potential conflicts of interest through official channels such as the agency ethics office or inspector general.
Question 2: Which action best demonstrates the principle of impartiality in civil service?
- Giving faster service to constituents who are friends or family
- Applying the same eligibility criteria to all applicants regardless of personal relationships (Correct answer)
- Prioritizing cases based on political affiliation
- Approving requests from those who offer gifts
Correct answer: Applying the same eligibility criteria to all applicants regardless of personal relationships
Impartiality requires applying rules consistently and without favoritism to ensure equal treatment for all members of the public.
Question 3: Under U.S. federal ethics rules, what is the general limit for a gift a federal employee may accept from a prohibited source?
- $50 per occasion, up to $100 per year
- $25 per occasion, up to $75 per year
- $20 per occasion, up to $50 per year (Correct answer)
- There is no dollar limit; all gifts are banned
Correct answer: $20 per occasion, up to $50 per year
Federal regulations generally cap acceptable gifts at $20 per occasion and no more than $50 in aggregate per year from a single source.
Question 4: A civil servant is offered a post-government job by a company that was a contractor on a project they supervised. What ethics concern does this raise?
- None, because the project is already complete
- A revolving-door conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- A whistleblower retaliation issue
- A privacy act violation
Correct answer: A revolving-door conflict of interest
The 'revolving door' refers to the concern that officials may favor contractors in anticipation of future employment, creating a conflict of interest.
Question 5: Which of the following is an example of misuse of government position?
- Using your agency email address to receive work-related messages
- Recommending a qualified colleague for a promotion
- Using your official title to endorse a private company's product (Correct answer)
- Signing official documents in your capacity as a government employee
Correct answer: Using your official title to endorse a private company's product
Using an official title or position to endorse private entities for personal gain is prohibited under federal ethics standards.
Question 6: What does the term 'appearance of a conflict of interest' mean in civil service ethics?
- A confirmed violation of ethics rules that has been investigated
- A situation that looks improper to a reasonable person, even if no actual wrongdoing occurred (Correct answer)
- An employee's personal opinion that a policy is unfair
- A disagreement between two coworkers over a decision
Correct answer: A situation that looks improper to a reasonable person, even if no actual wrongdoing occurred
Ethics rules prohibit not only actual conflicts but also situations that a reasonable observer would view as compromising an employee's impartiality.
Civil Service FAQ Civil Service Ethics Questions and Answers 2
A civil servant discovers their supervisor is awarding contracts to a company owned by a relative.
What should the employee do first?