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B-277678 1 (1999-01-04)

handle is hein.gao/gaobablyp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G AO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Office of the General Counsel B-277678 January 4, 1999 Lorraine Lewis, Esq. General Counsel Office of Personnel Management Dear Ms. Lewis: This responds to your letter requesting our opinion on whether an agency employee on official duty, who is also a member of the National Guard or the armed forces Reserves, may conduct, and use agency office equipment to support, Guard or Reserve business. As explained below, we believe that agencies may permit their employees to use a limited amount of official time and agency resources to support the Guard or Reserves. Background On January 29, 1997, you advised the General Counsel of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that federal employees may not use official time and government equipment for National Guard or Reserve duty purposes. You based this opinion primarily on two provisions of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch promulgated by the Office of Government Ethics. The first requires employees to use official time in an honest effort to perform official duties unless laws or regulations authorize using the time for other purposes. 5 C.F.R. § 2635.705. The second states that an employee has a duty to protect and conserve Government property and shall not use such property, or allow its use, for other than authorized purposes. 5 C.F.R. § 2635.704. It defines authorized purposes as those for which Government property is available to members of the public or those purposes authorized in accordance with law or regulation. Id. You noted that there is no provision that includes Reserve or National Guard duties within an employee's official civilian responsibilities. You also advised the VA General Counsel of the provisions of 5 U.S.C. § 6323, which authorizes military leave for federal employees who perform active military service as members of a Reserve or Guard component. You noted that our office has held that an agency may not grant administrative leave in conjunction with military leave so as to extend the period for which military leave is to be used. 49 Comp. Gen. 233 (1969). You also noted that we have held that it is incompatible for a person to be on active duty in the military and also be employed in a civilian

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