Ethical Issues In Government Contract

In recent years, the federal government has increasingly relied upon private contractors to perform services previously provided in-house by civil servants (Government employees). Despite this expansion in the use of government contractors, there continues to be a substantial disparity between the ethics, rules regulating government employees, and those applicable to government contractor employees. Whereas there are many statutes and regulations that create an extensive ethics regime for government employees, the rules currently applicable to contractor employees vary significantly by agency. A conflict of interest (COI) occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly bias the motivation

Of these major ethical risks, existing criminal laws regulate contractors’ offering or receipt of gifts and misuse of government property. With respect to gifts, criminal bribery laws would prohibit a contractor employee’s offering anything of value to a federal employee to obtain favorable treatment, and the Anti-Kickback Act would prohibit a contractor employee from accepting gifts from a potential sub-contractor or other party that are aimed at improperly obtaining favorable treatment under the contract. With respect to misuse of property, traditional criminal laws against larceny and embezzlement would prohibit a contractor employee’s misappropriating public property, theft & fraud, Improper use of Government Property, bribery and influence peddling, divulging confidential information, immoral conduct and federal criminal law prohibits a contractor employee’s misusing or abusing government

By contrast, the compliance standards applicable to contractor employees are much less comprehensive and can vary significantly from contract to contract. A handful of statutes apply to contractor employees and prohibit their offering bribes or illegal gratuities, serving as foreign agents, disclosing procurement information, and offering or receiving kickbacks. The FAR requires contracting officers to identify organizational conflicts of interest (in which the contractor has a corporate interest that may bias its judgment or the advice it provides to the government) and address or waive such conflicts. The FAR also requires contracting firms that have entered into one or more government contracts, valued in excess of $5 million and requiring 120 days or more, to have in place “codes of business ethics and