(a) Prohibited outside employment and business activities. No Postal Service employee shall:
(1) Engage in outside employment or business activities that involve providing consultation, advice, or any subcontracting service, with respect to the operations, programs, or procedures of the Postal Service, to any person who has a contract with the Postal Service or who the employee has reason to believe will compete for such a contract;
(2) Except as permitted by paragraph (b)(2) of this section, engage in outside employment or business activities with, for, or as a person engaged in:
(i) The operation of a commercial mail receiving agency registered with the Postal Service; or
(ii) The delivery outside the mails of any type of mailable matter, except daily newspapers.
Example 1 to paragraph (a)(2)(ii): United Parcel Service (UPS), Federal Express (FedEx), Amazon, or DHL offers a part-time job to a Postal Service employee. Because UPS, FedEx, Amazon and DHL are persons engaged in the delivery outside the mails of mailable matter (as defined in paragraph (d)(3) of this section) that is not daily newspapers, the employee may not engage in employment with UPS, FedEx, Amazon, or DHL in any location in any capacity while continuing employment with the Postal Service in any location in any capacity. If the employee chooses to work for UPS, FedEx, Amazon, or DHL, the employee must end his or her postal employment before commencing work for that company.
(3) Engage in any fundraising (as defined in 5 CFR 2635.808(a)(1)), for-profit business activity, or sales activity, including the solicitation of business or the receipt of orders, for oneself or any other person, while on duty or in uniform, at any postal facility, or using any postal equipment. This paragraph does not prohibit an employee from engaging in fundraising at a postal facility as permitted in connection with the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) under 5 CFR part 950.
Example 2 to paragraph (a)(3):An employee volunteers at a local animal shelter (a non-profit organization) which is having its annual fundraising drive. The employee may not solicit funds or sell items to raise funds for the animal shelter while on duty, in uniform, at any postal facility, or using any postal equipment.
Example 3 to paragraph (a)(3):Outside of his postal employment, an employee operates a for-profit dog-walking business. The employee may not engage in activities relating to the operation of his business while on duty, in uniform, at any postal facility, or using any postal equipment.
Example 4 to paragraph (a)(3):Outside of her postal employment, an employee has a job as a sales associate for a cosmetics company. The employee may not solicit sales or receive orders for the cosmetic company from any person while on duty, in uniform, at any postal facility, or using any postal equipment.
(b) Prior approval for outside employment and business activities—(1) When prior approval required. A Postal Service employee shall obtain approval from the Postal Service's Ethics Office in accordance with paragraph (b)(3) of this section prior to:
(i) Engaging in outside employment or business activities with or for any person with whom the employee has official dealings on behalf of the Postal Service;
(ii) Engaging in outside employment or business activities with, for, or as a person who has interests that are:
(A) Substantially dependent upon, or potentially affected to a significant degree by, postal rates, fees, or classifications; or
(B) Substantially dependent upon providing goods or services to, or for use in connection with, the Postal Service; or
(iii) Engaging in outside employment or business activities with or for any Highway Contract Route (HCR) contractor.
(2) When prior approval may be requested for prohibited outside employment and activities. If an entity with which an employee wishes to engage in outside employment or business activities is a subsidiary of an entity that is engaged in one the activities described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, but does not itself engage in any those activities, the employee may request approval from the Postal Service's Ethics Office to engage in such activity. The employee's request should follow the procedures of paragraph (b)(3) of this section, and will be evaluated under the standard set forth in paragraph (b)(4) of this section.
Example 5 to paragraph (b)(2):A Postal Service employee who wishes to engage in outside employment with Whole Foods Market may submit a request to engage in that activity to the Postal Service's Ethics Office. Although Whole Foods Market is a subsidiary of Amazon, it is engaged in the supermarket business, not in the delivery outside the mails of mailable matter.
(3) Submission and contents of request for approval. An employee who wishes to engage in outside employment or business activities for which approval is required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall submit a written request for approval to the Postal Service's Ethics Office. The request shall be accompanied by a statement from the employee's supervisor briefly summarizing the employee's duties and stating any workplace concerns raised by the employee's request for approval. The request for approval shall include:
(i) A brief description of the employee's official duties;
(ii) The name of the outside employer, or a statement that the employee will be engaging in employment or business activities on his or her own behalf;
(iii) The type of employment or business activities in which the outside employer, if any, is engaged;
(iv) The type of services to be performed by the employee in connection with the outside employment or business activities;
(v) A description of the employee's official dealings, if any, with the outside employer on behalf of the Postal Service; and
(vi) Any additional information requested by the Postal Service's Ethics Office that is needed to determine whether approval should be granted.
(4) Standard for approval. The approval required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall be granted only upon a determination that the outside employment or business activities will not involve conduct prohibited by statute or Federal regulation, including 5 CFR part 2635, which includes, among other provisions, the principle stated at 5 CFR 2635.101(b)(14) that employees shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical standards set forth in part 2635.
(c) Special rules for outside employment or business activities of OIG employees—(1) When reporting required. A Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) employee shall report compensated and uncompensated outside employment or business activities to the OIG's Office of General Counsel, including:
(i) Any knowing sale or lease of real estate to the Postal Service or to a Postal Service employee or contractor, regardless of the frequency of such sales or leases or whether the sale or lease is at fair market value;
(ii) Any ownership or control of a publicly-accessible online or physical storefront; and
(iii) Volunteer activities, if they regularly exceed 20 hours per week or when the employee holds an officer position in the organization.
Example 6 to paragraph (c)(1)(iii):An OIG employee occasionally volunteers with a domestic violence non-profit. The employee's volunteer duties are generally limited to 5 hours per week. The employee is not an officer of the organization. One weekend the employee helps to build a new home for a family, which takes a combined 22 hours. The employee is not required to report those volunteer activities because the employee is not an officer and the employee's volunteer activities do not regularly exceed 20 hours per week.
Example 7 to paragraph (c)(1)(iii):An OIG employee is a Scoutmaster for his child's local scouting group. The children meet for an hour each week and go on 4-hour hikes one weekend per month. Though “Scoutmaster” may involve leadership, it is not an officer position within the non-profit entity and need not be reported.
(2) When prior approval required. A Special Agent or Criminal Investigator shall also request and obtain written approval prior to engaging in outside employment or business activities which he or she is required to report under paragraph (c)(1) of this section. A request for approval shall be submitted to the OIG's Office of General Counsel, which will be reviewed under the same standard stated in paragraph (b)(3) of this section.
(3) Implementation guidance. The OIG's Office of General Counsel may issue internal instructions governing the submission of requests for approval of outside employment, business activities, and volunteer activities. The instructions may exempt categories of employment, business activities, or volunteer activities from the reporting and prior approval requirements of this section based on a determination that those activities would generally be approved and are not likely to involve conduct prohibited by statute or Federal regulation, including 5 CFR part 2635. The OIG's Office of General Counsel may include in these instructions examples of outside activities that are permissible or impermissible consistent with this part and 5 CFR part 2635.
(d) Definitions. For purposes of this section:
(1) Outside employment or business activity means any form of employment or business, whether or not for compensation. It includes, but is not limited to, the provision of personal services as officer, employee, agent, attorney, consultant, contractor, trustee, teacher, or speaker. It also includes, but is not limited to, engagement as principal, proprietor, general partner, holder of a franchise, operator, manager, or director. It does not include equitable ownership through the holding of publicly-traded shares of a corporation.
(2) Commercial mail receiving agency means a private business that acts as the mail receiving agent for specific clients. The business must be registered with the post office responsible for delivery to the commercial mail receiving agency.
(3) A person engaged in the delivery outside the mails of any type of mailable matter means a person who is engaged in the delivery outside the mails of any letter, card, flat, or parcel eligible to be accepted for delivery by the Postal Service.
(4) A person having interests substantially dependent upon, or potentially affected to a significant degree by, postal rates, fees, or classifications includes a person:
(i) Primarily engaged in the business of publishing or distributing a publication mailed at Periodicals rates of postage;
(ii) Primarily engaged in the business of sending advertising, promotional, or other material on behalf of other persons through the mails;
(iii) Engaged in a commercial business that:
(A) Primarily utilizes the mails for the solicitation or receipt of orders for, or the delivery of, goods or services; and
(B) Can be expected to earn gross revenue exceeding $10,000 from utilizing the mails during the business's current fiscal year; or
(iv) Who is, or within the past 4 years has been, a party to a proceeding before the Postal Regulatory Commission.
Example 8 to paragraph (d)(4)(iii):An employee operates a business which sells handmade wooden bowls on its website and other e-commerce websites and uses the Postal Service as its primary shipper. The employee's business can be expected to earn gross revenue of more than $10,000 from utilizing the mails during the business's current fiscal year. The employee's business is “a person having interests substantially dependent upon, or potentially affected to a significant degree by, postal rates, fees, or classifications” because it is a commercial business that primarily utilizes the mails for the delivery of its goods and the business can be expected to earn gross revenue exceeding $10,000 from utilizing the mails during its current fiscal year.
Example 9 to paragraph (d)(4)(iii):An employee knits scarves as a hobby, most of which she gives to family and friends, but she occasionally sells extra scarves on an e-commerce website and uses the Postal Service as her primary shipper. The employee does not expect to receive more than $10,000 from utilizing the mails during the current calendar year in which she sells the scarves. The employee is not “a person having interests substantially dependent upon, or potentially affected to a significant degree by, postal rates, fees, or classifications” because she is not engaged in a commercial business that can be expected to earn gross revenue from utilizing the mails exceeding $10,000 during its current fiscal year.
(5) A person having interests substantially dependent upon providing goods or services to, or for use in connection with, the Postal Service includes a person:
(i) Providing goods or services under contract(s) with the Postal Service that in total can be expected to provide revenue exceeding $100,000 over the term(s) of the contract(s); or
(ii) Substantially engaged in the business of preparing items for others for mailing through the Postal Service.
Example 10 to paragraph (d)(5)(ii):A mailing house that sorts and otherwise prepares for its clients large volumes of advertising, fundraising, or political mail for mailing to prospective customers, donors, or voters through the Postal Service is “a person having interests substantially dependent upon providing goods or services to, or for use in connection with, the Postal Service” because it is substantially engaged in the business of preparing items for others for mailing through the Postal Service.
[88 FR 53354, Aug. 8, 2023, as amended at 89 FR 7267, Feb. 2, 2024]