As a Federal employee, you have access to equipment, services, supplies, and other resources that are paid for by the Government to promote public programs.  Even certain intangible items, such as the authority of your position, nonpublic information to which you have access, and your Government title, are considered public property.  You may only use such property for official purposes or, in a few cases, for personal purposes that are specifically authorized.  Please refer to the Summary of Ethics Rules for your component (available on our Ethics Rules page) for more information regarding misuse of Government resources.

Employees have an obligation to report waste, fraud, abuse, or other violations of the law.  You may contact the Office of Inspector General Hotline at 800-424-5197 or 202-482-2495 or email [email protected] to report waste, fraud, abuse, or other violations of law, or to request an investigation.  (The Ethics Law and Programs Office does not investigate allegations of violations of law.)