To assure that the business of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is conducted effectively, objectively, and without improper influence or the appearance of improper influence, employees and special Government employees must be persons of integrity and must observe high standards of honesty, impartiality, and behavior. They must not engage in any conduct prejudicial to the Government and must avoid conflicts of private interests with public duties and responsibilities. In accord with these principles, the regulations in this part are issued to inform HHS employees and special Government employees what standards of conduct are expected of them in performing their duties and what activities are permitted or prohibited both while they are employed and after their employment with the Department is ended.

In this part:

(a) Employee means an officer or employee of HHS other than a special Government employee and includes Commissioned Officers of the Public Health Service who are on active duty, and individuals on assignment or detail to HHS pursuant to the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (5 U.S.C. 3371-3376). The term also includes HHS employees who are detailed to non-Federal or other Federal organizations. At times the term “regular employee” is used in place of “employee” to make a clear distinction between special Government employees and others employed by the Federal government.

(b) Special Government employee means an individual who is retained, designated, appointed, or employed to perform temporary duties either on a full-time or intermittent basis, with or without compensation, for not to exceed 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days.

(c) Person means an individual, a corporation, a company, an association, a firm, a partnership or any other organization.

(d) Former employee means a former employee of HHS or former special Government employee as defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

(e) Principal Operating Component has the meaning given to that term in the Department's General Administration Manual. In addition, when used in these regulations, it includes the Office of the Secretary.

(f) Department means the Department of Health and Human Services.

(a) The regulations in this part apply to all employees of the Department and to special Government employees to the extent indicated in Subparts J and K. They apply whether an employee is on leave, including leave without pay, or on duty.

(b) These regulations may be supplemented by regulations governing principal operating components, or sub-units of principal operating components, provided the clearance and publication requirements for standards of conduct regulations are met and approval is obtained from the Department Ethics Counselor and the Assistant Secretary for Personnel Administration.