IHS & HHS Employees:
College basketball teams soon will begin the quest for the national championship. “NCAA 2020 March Madness” gets underway on March 17, 2020 and will conclude with the championship game on April 6. Many sports fans consider a friendly wager on the outcome as a harmless social pastime; but betting, if done at work, runs afoul of the Federal regulations that prohibit gambling for money or property in the Federal workplace. Predicting teams that will advance in a college basketball bracket purely for fun or picking winners to claim bragging rights in the office, however, are not the types of conduct that generally raise concerns.
Federal rules on gambling prohibit employees from gambling while on duty, or while on government-owned or leased property, unless necessitated by their official duties, e.g., undercover officers. 5 C.F.R. § 735.201; 41 C.F.R. § 102-74.395. These restrictions apply not only to Federal employees, but also to members of the public at large, contractors, vendors, and exhibitors when on GSA-controlled property. Violations of the regulations may be cause for disciplinary action by the employee’s agency, which may be in addition to any penalty prescribed by law.
Legally defined, gambling requires three elements:
- A game of chance,
- Consideration for the opportunity to play the game, and
- An offering of a prize.
A “game of chance” includes, but is not limited to, a raffle, lottery, sports pool, game of cards, the selling or purchasing of a numbers slip or ticket, or any game for money or property. “Consideration” includes a participation fee, a wager of money, and something of value in return for the possibility of winning a reward or prize. A “prize” would include a monetary award, or a tangible or intangible item. Examples include meals, drinks, administrative leave, gift certificates, tickets to events, or cash.
In addition to the OCIO gambling prohibition, section 5.4.1 prohibits any personal computer use that could cause congestion, delay, or disruption of service to any HHS IT or network, including the audio and video streaming from the Internet of such things as sporting events. Such use is also a violation of 5 C.F.R. § 2635.704 and .705 for misusing government equipment and time.
Please note that games, raffles, and similar activities that take place during the annual Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) season are not synonymous with gambling when conducted in accordance with the rules in 5 C.F.R. part 950. In addition, the Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 U.S.C. § 107a(a)(5), and General Services Administration regulations, 41 C.F.R. § 102-74.395, permit, as an exception to the gambling prohibition, the sale of state lottery tickets in vending facilities operated by the blind on Federal property.
If you have questions about gambling or the misuse of government equipment or time in the Federal Workplace, contact your operating or staff division’s deputy ethics counselor. A roster of the HHS Ethics Officials may be found at http://www.hhs.gov/ogc/contact/contacts.html. If you are an NIH employee go to https://ethics.od.nih.gov/contacts.html to find the points of contact for your Institute’s or Center’s ethics program.
Beverly A. Pettit
Human Resource Specialist
Area Ethics Contact/PSR
Classifications/LMS Administrator
IHS, Alaska Area Native Health
4141 Ambassador Drive, RM 318
Anchorage, AK 99508
PH: 907-729-1323/FAX: 907-729-1312
PII Reminder: Please do not send Personally Identifiable Information such as Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, etc. through unencrypted e-mail.
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