The Foreign Service Journal, June 2016

52 JUNE 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Many of us have heard that legal principle, but never thought it would apply to us. Unfortunately, we see too many cases of well-intentioned, hard- working employees who get into trouble—sometimes serious trouble—because they didn’t know about (or appreciate the seriousness of) a particular offense. Working together with HR’s Conduct, Suitability and Discipline division, we’ve come up with a short- list of the most common “I didn’t realize I could get into so much trouble for that” offenses in the hope that our members will read through them, educate themselves and prevent missteps in the future. Failure to lock/alarm doors: Most employees understand the need to secure classified informa- tion, but we see too many cases of employees who secure the information in a safe, lock the safe and then leave, failing to properly lock and/or alarm the door to the room. In addition to result- ing in a security violation or infraction, this offense can also lead to a discipline proposal. The department normally proposes a letter of rep- rimand, which remains in your file for one year or one promotion or tenure board review. However, repeated Ignorance of the Law Is Not an Excuse STATE VP VOICE | BY ANGIE BRYAN AFSA NEWS Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA State VP. Contact: BryanA@state.gov | (202) 647-8160 offense can lead to greater consequences. Late payment of govern- ment credit cards: We often see members complain that they were late because of a move or because they didn’t realize that they should have been receiving a bill. That doesn’t change the fact that they still need to pay the outstanding card balance each month. Penalties pro- posed for late payment of a government credit card are generally suspensions rang- ing from three to five days. If an employee receives a suspension of five days or less, the discipline letter remains in the employee’s performance file for two promotion or tenure board reviews. In other words, your chances for tenure or promotion could be signifi- cantly diminished for two years because you failed to make timely payments on your government credit card. Late or non-filing of financial disclosure forms (OGE-278 and OGE-450): If you’re not sure whether you’re required to file one or both of these forms, consult www.oge.gov. Employees who do not file on time (or who do not request an extension) can end up with a fine of $200 and a letter of reprimand in their file. It is not worth jeopardizing a promotion and/or perfor- mance pay simply for failing to file these important forms, especially when you can ask for an extension. Misuse of a govern- ment vehicle: While we haven’t seen as many cases in this category, it’s still an extremely important one because the statutory penalty for “willful misuse” of a government vehicle is a mandatory 30-day sus- pension without pay. Any suspension over five days means that a discipline let- ter will remain in an employ- ee’s file until that employee is tenured or promoted. It can be very difficult to be tenured or promoted with this type of discipline letter in your file. 14 FAM 433.3 outlines certain exceptional circum- stances in which a govern- ment vehicle may be used for personal reasons, but we highly recommend that you get written consent from the appropriate management official to use the govern- ment vehicle in this capac- ity to protect yourself from disciplinary action. Inappropriate com- ments: We have seen a sub- stantial rise in disciplinary actions arising from Office of Civil Rights administra- tive inquiries. Under 3 FAM 1525.2, OCR must inves- tigate any allegations of racial or sexual harassment. Although there may not be a finding of discrimina- tion that meets the legal standard of racial or sexual harassment, an employee can still face disciplinary action (ranging from a letter of reprimand to a multiple- day suspension without pay) based on inappropriate comments or behavior. We have seen cases where employees face dis- ciplinary action for verbal- izing assumptions based on stereotypes. Employees have also been disciplined for improper comments made after hours and away from the office. Our advice is to be mindful of how your comments and actions may be interpreted by others. You may not intend to be offensive or inappropriate, but the person with whom you are communicating may perceive things differently. n Unfortunately, we see too many cases of well-intentioned, hard-working employees who get into trouble— sometimes serious trouble.