5 CFR § 734.306
Participation in political activities while on duty, in uniform, in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties, or using a Federal vehicle
November 4, 2020
(a) An employee may not participate in political activities subject to the provisions of subpart E of this part:
(1) While he or she is on duty;
(2) While he or she is wearing a uniform, badge, insignia, or other similar item that identifies the employing agency or instrumentality or the position of the employee;
(3) While he or she is in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by an individual employed or holding office in the Government of the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof; or
(4) While using a Government-owned or leased vehicle or while using a privately-owned vehicle in the discharge of official duties.
(b) The prohibitions in paragraph (a) of this section do not apply to employees covered under subpart E of this part.
Example 1: While on leave without pay, an employee is not subject to the prohibition in §734.306(a)(1) because he or she is not on duty. However, while on leave without pay, the employee remains subject to the other prohibitions in subpart C.
Example 2: A Postal Service employee who uses her private vehicle to deliver mail may place a political bumper sticker on the vehicle, as long as she covers the bumper sticker while she is on duty.
Example 3: An employee who uses his or her privately owned vehicle on a recurrent basis for official business may place a partisan political bumper sticker on the vehicle, as long as he or she covers the bumper sticker while the vehicle is being used for official duties.
Example 4: An employee who uses his or her privately owned vehicle on official business, must cover any partisan political bumper sticker while the vehicle is being used for official duties, if the vehicle is clearly identified as being on official business.
Example 5: A noncareer member of the Senior Executive Service, or any other employee covered by this subpart, who uses his or her privately owned vehicle only on an occasional basis to drive to another Federal agency for a meeting, or to take a training course, is not required to cover a partisan political bumper sticker on his or her vehicle.
Example 6: An employee may not place a partisan political bumper sticker on any Government owned or Government leased vehicle.
Example 7: An employee may place a bumper sticker on his or her privately owned vehicle and park his or her vehicle in a parking lot of an agency or instrumentality of the United States Government or in a non-Federal facility for which the employee receives a subsidy from his or her employing agency or instrumentality.
Example 8: When an agency or instrumentality of the United States Government leases offices in a commercial building and that building includes the headquarters of a candidate for partisan political office, an employee of that agency or instrumentality may do volunteer work, when he or she is not on duty, at the candidate's headquarters and in other areas of the building that have not been leased by the Government.
Example 9: A Government agency or instrumentality leases all of the space in a commercial building; employees may not participate in political activity in the public areas of the leased building.
Example 10: An employee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) may not engage in political activities while wearing a NASA flight patch, NASA twenty-year pin or anything with an official NASA insignia.
Example 11: If a political event begins while an employee is on duty and continues into the time when he or she is not on duty, the employee must wait until he or she is not on duty to attend the event. Alternatively, an employee may request annual leave to attend the political event when it begins.
Example 12: Officials of labor organizations who have been given official time to perform representational duties are on duty.
Example 13: An employee may stuff envelopes for a mailing on behalf of a candidate for partisan political office while the employee is sitting in the park during his or her lunch period if he or she is not considered to be on duty during his or her lunch period.
Example 14: An employee who works at home may engage in political activities at home when he or she is not in a pay status or representing the Government in an official capacity.
Example 15: An employee who is appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate (PAS) may attend a political event with any non-PAS employee whose official duties do not require accompanying the PAS as long as the non-PAS employee is not on duty.
Example 16: A noncareer member of the Senior Executive Service, or any other employee covered by this subpart, may not wear partisan political buttons or display partisan political pictures, signs, stickers, or badges while he or she is on duty or at his or her place of work.
Example 17: An employee may not engage in political activity in the cafeteria of a Federal building, even if the cafeteria is in space leased by a contractor.
Example 18: An employee who contributes financially to a political action committee through a voluntary allotment made under §550.311(b) of this title may not complete the direct deposit forms while he or she is on duty, in a “room or building” defined in §734.101 or in a Federally owned or leased vehicle.
Example 19: An employee who contributes financially to a political action committee through a voluntary allotment may not personally deliver his or her completed direct deposit form, or the completed direct deposit form of another employee, to the payroll employees who would process or administer such forms. However, the employee may mail his or her direct deposit form to his or her agency payroll office.
[59 FR 48769, Sept. 23, 1994, as amended at 61 FR 35101, July 5, 1996]
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