Moonlighting and Changing Jobs If you are a full-time public servant who wants to seek a new full-time job in the private sector or to earn extra income by moonlighting, you need to take into account the Ethics Act’s rules on employment by regulated persons. WV Code 6B-2-5(h).

 Any person or business that :

In the case of moonlighting, the rule applies to more than just the customary employment situation of working part-time for an employer and being paid a salary or hourly wage. It prohibits any profit making relationship between you and those you or your subordinates regulate. It also prohibits you from having a substantial ownership interest in a business you or your subordinates regulate, or which sells to those you or your subordinates regulate.

Examples of prohibited work:

! work for a regulated person in any job capacity - laborer, messenger, electrician, sales clerk, night watchman, heavy equipment operator or business consultant

! selling goods or services of any kind to regulated persons

! being paid as a tax or general business consultant by regulated persons or being employed by another consultant to work on that consultant’s projects for regulated persons

! leasing your own home or rental property to a regulated person or, as a part-time realtor, selling or leasing property to them or acting as sales agent for property owned by them

! serving as a paid member of the board of directors of a business regulated by you or any of your agency subordinates

! being a substantial partner in, or owning a substantial share of the stock of, a business you or your subordinates regulate

! having a substantial ownership interest in a business which sells to those you or your subordinates regulate

You are seeking employment if you send out a resume or ask a regulated person or business what employment opportunities may be available - discussing qualifications, compensation, availability of openings, working conditions, etc.

It doesn’t matter whether you or the regulated person initiated the discussion. If you are engaged in a discussion directed toward reaching an employment agreement, you are seeking employment. If you receive an unsolicited job offer from a regulated person, you should immediately advise the person that you must obtain an exemption before considering or discussing possible employment.

The Ethics Commission can grant exemptions from this prohibition. You should contact the Commission before going out to look for a job with, or even discussing a job offer from, a regulated person or business. The Commission’s staff can help you decide if an exemption is needed and, if so, explain how to get one.

No particular form or format is required to request an exemption, although you must specify whether you want a (1) job change exemption or (2) a moonlighting exemption. Job change exemptions are granted routinely, but moonlighting exemptions will be granted only in exceptional cases. Requests should include the following:

• name, home and work addresses and daytime phone number

• the name of your agency and your immediate supervisor

• your job title and a brief job description

Check with your own agency. If you are considering outside employment, you must also check to make sure that your plans satisfy your own agency’s rules and regulations regarding outside employment. Such rules are unaffected by the provisions of the Ethics Act.

Official Action Barred: WV Code 6B-2-5(h) also provides that full-time public servants may not take personal regulatory action on a matter affecting a person (1) by whom he or she is secondarily employed or (2) with whom he or she is seeking employment or has an agreement concerning future employment. [Contact the Ethics Commission for guidance if you are directed to do so after having advised your supervisor of the conflict.]

No Private Pay for Official Action: WV Code 6B-2-5(h) also provides that full-time public servants may not receive private pay for providing information or services that their public positions require them to provide the public at no cost. In other words, public servants can’t sell at night those services they are employed to provide for free during the day. This applies only to private work for those people they are responsible to serve during the day.

Example: John’s public job responsibilities include performing job site surveys for certain types of businesses. The AMEX Co. is such a business and has asked his agency for a survey. John is scheduled to perform the survey three weeks from now, his next available opportunity. AMEX is in a hurry and wants to pay John to do the survey on his day off next week. It would be a violation for John to accept private pay for the survey, even if he performed it on his own time.