In this part:

(a) Employee means an officer or employee of HHS other than a special Government employee and includes Commissioned Officers of the Public Health Service who are on active duty, and individuals on assignment or detail to HHS pursuant to the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (5 U.S.C. 3371-3376). The term also includes HHS employees who are detailed to non-Federal or other Federal organizations. At times the term “regular employee” is used in place of “employee” to make a clear distinction between special Government employees and others employed by the Federal government.

(b) Special Government employee means an individual who is retained, designated, appointed, or employed to perform temporary duties either on a full-time or intermittent basis, with or without compensation, for not to exceed 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days.

(c) Person means an individual, a corporation, a company, an association, a firm, a partnership or any other organization.

(d) Former employee means a former employee of HHS or former special Government employee as defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

(e) Principal Operating Component has the meaning given to that term in the Department's General Administration Manual. In addition, when used in these regulations, it includes the Office of the Secretary.

(f) Department means the Department of Health and Human Services.