# 2640.203 Miscellaneous exemptions.
(a) *Hiring decisions.* An employee may participate in a hiring decision involving an applicant who is currently employed by a corporation that issues publicly traded securities, if the disqualifying financial interest arises from:
(1) Ownership of publicly traded securities issued by the corporation; or
(2) Participation in a pension plan sponsored by the corporation.
(b) *Employees on leave from institutions of higher education.* An employee on a leave of absence from an institution of higher education may participate in any particular matter of general applicability affecting the financial interests of the institution from which he is on leave, *provided* that the matter will not have a special or distinct effect on that institution other than as part of a class.
(c) *Multi-campus institutions of higher education.* An employee may participate in any particular matter affecting one campus of a State multi-campus institution of higher education, if the employee's disqualifying financial interest is employment in a position with no multi-campus responsibilities at a separate campus of the same multi-campus institution.
(d) *Exemptions for financial interests arising from Federal Government employment or from Social Security or veterans' benefits.* An employee may participate in any particular matter where the disqualifying financial interest arises from Federal Government or Federal Reserve Bank salary or benefits, or from Social Security or veterans' benefits, except an employee may not:
(1) Make determinations that individually or specially affect his own salary and benefits; or
(2) Make determinations, requests, or recommendations that individually or specially relate to, or affect, the salary or benefits of any other person specified in section 208.
This exemption does not permit an employee to take any action in violation of any other statutory or regulatory requirement, such as the prohibition on the employment of relatives at 5 U.S.C. 3110.
(e) *Commercial discount and incentive programs.* An employee may participate in any particular matter affecting the sponsor of a discount, incentive, or other similar benefit program if the disqualifying financial interest arises because of participation in the program, *provided:*
(1) The program is open to the general public; and
(2) Participation in the program involves no other financial interest in the sponsor, such as stockholding.
(f) *Mutual insurance companies.* An employee may participate in any particular matter affecting a mutual insurance company if the disqualifying financial interest arises because of an interest as a policyholder, unless the matter would affect the company's ability to pay claims required under the terms of the policy or to pay the cash value of the policy.
(g) *Exemption for employment interests of special Government employees serving on advisory committees.* A special Government employee serving on an advisory committee within the meaning of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. app.) may participate in any particular matter of general applicability where the disqualifying financial interest arises from his non-Federal employment or non-Federal prospective employment, *provided* that the matter will not have a special or distinct effect on the employee or employer other than as part of a class. For purposes of this paragraph, “disqualifying financial interest” arising from non-Federal employment does not include the interests of a special Government employee arising from the ownership of stock in his employer or prospective employer.
(h) *Directors of Federal Reserve Banks.* A Director of a Federal Reserve Bank or a branch of a Federal Reserve Bank may participate in the following matters, even though they may be particular matters in which he, or any other person specified in section 208(a), has a disqualifying financial interest:
(1) Establishment of rates to be charged for all advances and discounts by Federal Reserve Banks;
(2) Consideration of monetary policy matters, regulations, statutes and proposed or pending legislation, and other matters of broad applicability intended to have uniform application to banks within the Reserve Bank district;
(3) Approval or ratification of extensions of credit, advances or discounts to a depository institution that has not been determined to be in a hazardous financial condition by the President of the Reserve Bank; or
(4) Approval or ratification of extensions of credit, advances or discounts to a depository institution that has been determined to be in a hazardous financial condition by the President of the Reserve Bank, *provided that* the disqualifying financial interest arises from the ownership of stock in, or service as an officer, director, trustee, general partner or employee, of an entity other than the depository institution, or its parent holding company or subsidiary of such holding company.
(i) *Medical products.* A special Government employee serving on an advisory committee within the meaning of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. app.) may participate in Federal advisory committee matters concerning medical products if the disqualifying financial interest arises from:
(1) Employment with a hospital or other similar medical facility whose only interest in the medical product or device is purchase of it for use by, or sale to, its patients; or
(2) The use or prescription of medical products for patients.
(j) *Nonvoting members of standing technical advisory committees established by the Food and Drug Administration.* A special Government employee serving as a nonvoting representative member of an advisory committee established by the Food and Drug Administration pursuant to the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. app.) and appointed under a statutory authority requiring the appointment of representative members, may participate in any particular matter affecting a disqualifying financial interest in the class which the employee represents. Nonvoting representative members of Food and Drug Administration advisory committees are described in 21 CFR 14.80(b)(2), 14.84, 14.86, and 14.95(a).
(k) *Employees of the Tennessee Valley Authority.* An employee of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) may participate in developing or approving rate schedules or similar matters affecting the general cost of electric power sold by TVA, if the disqualifying financial interest arises from use of such power by the employee or by any other person specified in section 208(a).
(l) *Exemption for financial interests of non-Federal government employers in the decennial census.* An employee of the Bureau of the Census at the United States Department of Commerce, who is also an employee of a State, local, or tribal government, may participate in the decennial census notwithstanding the disqualifying financial interests of the employee's non-Federal government employer in the census provided that the employee:
(1) Does not serve in a State, local, or tribal government position which is filled through public election;
(2) Was hired for a temporary position under authority of 13 U.S.C. 23; and
(3) Is serving in a Local Census Office or an Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation function position as an enumerator, crew leader, or field operations supervisor.
(m) *Official participation in nonprofit organizations.* An employee may participate in any particular matter where the disqualifying financial interest is that of a nonprofit organization in which the employee serves (or is seeking or has an arrangement to serve), solely in an official capacity, as an officer, director or trustee.
Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed independent authority for an agency to assign an employee to serve in an official capacity with a particular nonprofit organization. Agencies will make such determinations based on an evaluation of their own statutory authorities and missions. Individual agency decisions to permit (or not permit) an employee to serve in an official capacity necessarily involve a range of legal, policy, and managerial considerations, and nothing in this paragraph is intended to interfere with an agency's discretion to assign official duties and limit such assignments as the agency deems appropriate.
[61 FR 66841, Dec. 18, 1996, as amended at 62 FR 23128, Apr. 29, 1997; 65 FR 16513, Mar. 29, 2000; 78 FR 14442, Mar. 6, 2013]