Important guidance on the COER, post-PHS employment ethics, the DA shutdown, etc.

Post-Employment Rules for PHS officers

Fellow officers,

Below and attached is important information on the following Commissioned Corps-related topics:

1. Post-employment ethics requirements
2. COER guidance (webinars) for the officer, rater, and reviewing official
3. Direct Access (DA) shutdown
4. Retirement seminar recording
5. Identity Protection Services following the CCMIS security vulnerability

Please take the time to read through this brief update in its entirety.

1. The Division of Personnel Security and Ethics (DPSE) would like to remind IHS officers of our responsibilities and restrictions regarding employment after retirement or separation from the Commissioned Corps.  Please read the attached message.
2. To date, over 1,500 IHS officers have not completed their 2016 Annual Commissioned Officers’ Effectiveness Report (COER). Officers should ensure you are giving your Rater and Reviewing Official plenty of time to complete their respective sections, including time for discussion and potential changes.

The Division of Commissioned Personnel Support (DCPS) has created separate brief webinars to assist officers, Raters, and Reviewing Officials (RO) with the completion of the 2016 Annual COER.  Each webinar has a table of contents so viewers can easily jump to identified sections to address specific questions.  Please reference the following links (which will also be available on the DCPS website at https://www.ihs.gov/dcps/training-webinars/) to obtain helpful information for:

1. Officers:  The COER – Officer Responsibilities and Guidance
2. Raters:  The COER – Rater Responsibilities and Guidance
3. Reviewing Officials: The COER: Reviewing Official Responsibilities and Guidance

Share these links with Raters and Reviewing Officials that may benefit from the guidance.

3. Direct Access Shutdown – The DA Shutdown is scheduled to last until January 3, 2017.  During this time, ensure that leave that is taken during the shutdown is approved and documented via email and/or the PHS-1345 form, if it was not already approved in DA.  Once DA access has been restored, ensure that all leave approved and taken during the shutdown is requested and approved in the DA system.
4. Retirement Seminar webinar recordings: Please use the links below to access the archived two-day Retirement Webcast hosted by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on May 23 and May 24, 2016.   It may take a few minutes for the webcast slides to load.

Here is the link to the archived webcast for May 23, 2016:

URL: http://services.choruscall.com/links/hrsa160523

Here is the link to the archived webcast for May 24, 2016:

URL: http://services.choruscall.com/links/hrsa160524

5. The Commissioned Corps is making available identity protection services to individuals potentially affected by the system vulnerability with the Commissioned Corps Management Information System (CCMIS). See the following link for more information:  https://dcp.psc.gov/ccmis/ips.aspx.  In particular, note that no one will contact you to confirm any personal information.  If you are contacted by anyone asking for your personal information in relation to the security vulnerability, do not provide it.

Please contact your respective regional DCPS Liaison Office with questions.

Thank you,

CDR Angela Mtungwa

Director, Div. of Commissioned Personnel Support

Office of Human Resources

Commissioned Corps Liaison

Indian Health Service

O: (301) 443-3464

F: (301) 443-5304

Angela.Mtungwa@ihs.gov