Each employee must apply his/her own sense of personal ethics, which should extend beyond compliance with applicable laws in business situations, to govern behavior where no existing regulation provides a guideline. It is your responsibility to apply common sense in business decisions where specific rules do not provide all the answers. In determining compliance with this code in specific situations, ask yourself the following questions:

Each supervisor is responsible for the ethical business behavior of his/her subordinates. Supervisors must weigh carefully all courses of action suggested in ethical as well as economic terms and base their decisions on the guidelines provided by this code as well as their personal sense of right and wrong.

Implementation of the provisions of this code is one of the standards by which the performance of all levels of employees will be measured.

B. In recommending or proposing a particular business transaction or course of action for approval, those involved must disclose to their superiors or to the board of directors of the organization, if the recommendation is to the board, all the pertinent information they know about such transactions and the persons involved. The disclosure should include significant information that they may have reason to believe has been omitted by others.

C. Specifically, the organization does not tolerate the willful violation or circumvention of any laws of the United States, its states, counties, cities, or a foreign country by an employee during the course of that person's employment; nor does the organization tolerate the disregard or circumvention of corporate policy or engagement in unscrupulous dealings. Employees should not attempt to accomplish by indirect means, through agents and intermediaries, what is directly forbidden.

Failure to comply with the standards contained in this code will result in disciplinary action that may include termination, referral for criminal prosecution, and reimbursement to the organization or the government for any losses or damage resulting from the violation. As with all matters involving disciplinary action, principles of fairness will apply. Any employee charged with a violation of this code will be afforded an opportunity to explain his or her actions before disciplinary action is taken.

Disciplinary action will be taken:

Under our country's laws, this type of information is treated as intellectual property, usually in the form of information, knowledge, or know-how, the possession of which gives the owner some advantage over other organizations who do not possess it. To be protected under law, such information must not be generally or publicly known or must be patented or copyrighted if publicly disclosed. The organization's intellectual property assets are not always of a technical nature. Typical of such information are:

Following are examples of prohibited activities

In the United States, the organization is legally prohibited from offering, promising, or bestowing money, gifts, loans, rewards, services, use of facilities, lavish or extensive entertainment, or other favors to a government official or employee with a view toward influencing or inducing such official or employee to use his/her influence to effect an action or decision. You must refrain from such acts.

This includes any employee of a Federal, state or local government agency.

No employee of Columbia-Pacific RC&D will offer, give, or promise to offer or give, directly or indirectly, any money, gratuities or other thing of value to any U.S. government employee with current or possible responsibility on an award of the organization. A gratuity includes any gift, favor, entertainment or other item having monetary value of over $10 per event or presentation. This phrase includes services, conference fees, vendor promotional training, transportation, lodging and meals, as well as discounts not available to the general public and loans extended to anyone other than a bank or financial institution.

The provisions of this code apply fully to anyone who acts for the organization. For example, you may not allow an agent to act on behalf of the organization. If you know or have reason to believe that the agent would disregard the code or any law in performing his duties, bring it to the attention of the Executive Board or Executive Director.

D. Commercial Bribery

You are not allowed to make a payment either directly or indirectly or as a kickback to influence someone else, nor are you allowed to accept anything of value from someone who wants to do business with the organization. With the exception of government officials acting on a procurement, inexpensive advertising and promotional items are not considered to have "value," and an occasional business meal may be accepted or given if it has a value of under $25.

In some business relationships outside the government, an occasional gift is appropriate.

The organization strongly discourages any gifts to any individual, but in the event a gift is proposed to be made, approval must be secured in advance from both the cognizant officer of the operating area involved and the Executive Board or Executive Director. However, you may only accept inexpensive gifts of an advertising and promotional nature. Gifts which do not fit this category must be returned. If the return of a gift is not practicable because of its nature, it may be given to a charitable institution and the giver informed of its disposition.

You may neither give nor receive any lavish or expensive entertainment, but occasional normal and customary social business amenities are permitted.

If you are asked to make or accept a payment or gift in any form prohibited by this code, report the matter to your supervisor immediately.

Any individual using this equipment in violation of this policy is liable for any infringements.

E. Record Keeping

To provide an accurate and auditable record of all financial transactions, Agency books, records, and accounts must be maintained in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. You are responsible for safeguarding organization assets under your control and for maintaining an auditable record of financial transactions.

You have a primary responsibility to the organization and are expected to avoid any activity that may interfere, or have the appearance of interfering, with the performance of this responsibility. Similarly, you may not use nor disclose confidential or proprietary information in any outside activity.

A conflict of interest exists if certain of your outside business or other interests may adversely affect your motivation or performance.

How can you tell if you have a conflict of interest? The test criteria include not only whether you actually are improperly influenced but also whether the situation lends itself to improperly influencing you. Even if you are the most conscientious person, a conflicting interest may unconsciously influence you, and the mere existence of that interest may cause the propriety of your acts to be questioned.

If you take inventory of your outside interests, it should be possible to determine whether you actually are improperly influenced, but also whether the situation lends itself to improperly influencing you.

B. Outside Activities

You may not serve as a consultant to, or as a director, officer, or part-time employee of a company that competes or deals with the organization or that seeks to do so, unless you have obtained the prior express consent of your supervisor. Even if you receive no pay from the other company and have no direct or indirect contact with it in your job, this conflict of interest exists because you may inadvertently disclose proprietary information to the other company or benefit it through your organization contacts and general knowledge of how the organization operates.

You may also have a conflict of interest if your outside activities which in and of themselves may not be conflicts of interest are so demanding on your time that they interfere with your job performance.

C. Employment of Current and Former U.S. Government Employees

To ensure the utmost propriety in relations with government personnel, the organization's Policy on Restrictions on Employment of Current and Former U.S. Government Employees must be strictly followed. This directive established the policy for the recruiting and hiring of current or former employees of the U.S. government, and establishes the post-employment restrictions on such employees. As provided in this policy, employment discussions may not be held with a current U.S. government employee until he or she has obtained a recusal from his or her current grant responsibilities related to Columbia-Pacific RC&D and provided a copy of this statement to the organization. Federal laws and regulations and this policy directive establish a number of post-employment restrictions on former government employees: all employees are expected to strictly comply with the restrictions which apply to them. It is your responsibility to determine your obligations, if any, under such regulations.

F. Employee's Duty to Report Conflicts of Interest

It is your duty to report to your supervisor or the Executive Board or Executive Director any known conflicts of interest within the organization. Further, you should report to the Executive Board or Executive Director any instances that come to your attention where non-organization personnel misrepresent themselves and organization officials or employees.

B. Any such uses of Agency assets for personal purposes may be reportable to the Internal Revenue Service for tax purposes.

B. It is required for each person who uses their personal vehicle for work related business to carry general liability auto insurance.

B. All advances, whether for travel or salary, not liquidated within sixty (60) days of their incurrence will be taxed for the sake of payroll tax withholding, FICA and FUTA.

B. The Personnel Committee shall yearly set rates for maximum reimbursements for travel, meals and lodging. These established rates shall become part of the Manual of Accounting Procedures.

B. Each employee's salary or wage will be formally reviewed annually and adjustments, as determined by the Board of Directors.

C. New hires, terminations, pay rate changes, voluntary payroll deductions and court-ordered payroll deductions will be approved in writing by the Executive Board. A copy of all such authorizations will be retained in each employee's personnel file.

B. At the present time, random drug tests are only done when the safety of staff members may be in question. Such tests may be deemed necessary based on observed inconsistent or erratic behavior that constitutes a health or safety hazard to other employees or the personal safety of the employee displaying the behavior. It is the policy of the Columbia-Pacific RC&D to require a drug test of all new or rehire employees.

C. Information on the dangers of drug abuse in the workplace will periodically be posted on the bulletin boards or be made available directly to staff members through the Administrative Department. The Administrative Department is aware of public and private agencies that provide support or programs in treating drug-related problems and should be contacted if information or assistance is needed. In some circumstances, the Agency health insurance plan may provide some financial benefit in support of counseling or rehabilitation programs. In order to determine specific benefit levels that may apply, one needs to deal directly with the insurance company at the time of treatment.

D. Since the Drug-Free Workplace Act requires that companies be able to document the notification and receipt of its policy by each staff member, personnel will be asked to sign this statement and return it to the Administrative Assistant for inclusion in their personnel file. In this way, we can fully document our compliance with the notification process.

E. Columbia-Pacific RC&D strongly supports the intent and purpose of the Drug-Free Workplace Act and encourages all staff members to fully comply with the provisions of the program. It is only with everyone's support that we can successfully implement this policy.

F. In implementing the Drug-Free Workplace Act, the Administrative Assistant will make notification to the appropriate contracting officer within ten (10) calendar days after receipt of notice of the employee's conviction. Columbia-Pacific RC&D is also to take the required personnel or treatment referred action within 30 calendar days after receipt of notice of an employee conviction. Both actions will be documented in a Drug-Free Workplace file. Disclosure to such information will be strictly controlled to limit undue injury to the employee.

C. Charges to awards for salaries and wages, whether treated as direct costs or indirect costs, will be based on documented payrolls approved by a responsible supervisory official. The distribution of time worked must be supported by labor distribution reports.

D. Labor distribution reports will be prepared and controlled according to the following minimum standards:

B. For time worked beyond forty (40) hours in a pay period, the hourly pay rate of exempt employees will be disregarded if not material.

Marilee P. Colwell Economic Director________

Bernard Klatte Fish Biologist ______

Brian T. Erickson Project Coordinator _

B. All other regular employees, when not covered by Section 919, of Columbia-Pacific RC&D are entitled to overtime premium pay at the rate of time-and-a-half for all hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours in the seven (7) day period from Sunday to Saturday. Time taken off for vacation, holidays, sick leave and other excused absences is not to be considered in calculating the total hours worked.

C. All employees hired specifically through a grant for less than a two (2) year period will be considered temporary employees.

D. Authorization for all overtime must be obtained from each employee's supervisor.

B. Full-time employees with two (2) to nine (9) years of continuous employment with the Columbia-Pacific RC&D will be entitled to receive seven (7) hours of paid vacation for each calendar month worked.

E. Employees intending to take vacation leave will notify their supervisors sufficiently in advance of when time off is to be taken to permit work schedules to be met.

B. It is the policy of Columbia-Pacific RC&D to pay backpay, if awarded to union employees, to non-union employees, in the same amount of entitlement and at the same time as paid to union employees.