Federal employees will be granted more freedom to represent non-profit organizations in front of government agencies under new Office of Personnel Management regulations.
The new rules permit a government employee, without compensation, to represent before the government "any cooperative, voluntary, professional, recreational, or similar not-for-profit organization if the majority of its members are employees of the United States."
For example, a member of Blacks in Government or the Federal Manager's Association who also works for the government would be permitted to represent these groups before his or her agency.
However, employees are prohibited from representing an outside organization when the representation involves a claim against the United States or if the action is during a judicial or administrative proceeding where the organization is a party. Employees are also not permitted to request grants, contracts or federal funds on behalf of an employee organization.
The debate about employee representation began in 1996. OPM published final regulations in the June 1996 Federal Register that restricted federal employees from acting as agents or attorneys for any organization other than a labor organization before any federal agency. OPM had restricted this practice for fear of conflicts of interest.
After the effective date of this final rule, Congress passed the Federal Employee Representation Improvement Act of 1996 to permit greater employee representation of employee organizations.
After publishing the new proposed rules and receiving public comment, OPM issued final regulations.
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