Acts of Founded Wrongdoing
On 27 February 2015, the departmental Internal Disclosure Office (IDO) received a disclosure of wrongdoing pursuant to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) pertaining to alleged wrongdoings of a DND employee. Specifically, the following allegation was made: • A serious breach of the DND/CAF Code of Values and Ethics – It was alleged that the DND employee worked on a contract for another government department while on a period of sick leave and while receiving sick leave benefits from DND.The subsequent investigation conducted by the Directorate of Special Examinations and Inquiries (DSEI) concluded that:• The DND employee was in violation of Defence Administrative Order and Directive (DAOD) 7021-1, Conflict of Interest, for not having submitted a Confidential Report to declare outside employment. The investigation confirmed that the DND employee had been previously advised of the requirement to file a Confidential Report when working for another government department and had previously submitted a Confidential Report for a prior and non-related employment.• The DND employee was in an apparent Conflict of Interest (COI) by engaging in outside employment with another government department while in receipt of sick leave benefits from DND.• The violation of DAOD 7021-1, the apparent COI, and the ethical expectations incumbent upon a DND manager resulted in the determination that the DND employee’s actions constituted a serious breach of the DND/CAF Code of Values and Ethics.
The investigation report contained the following recommendations:
• The DND employee be counselled on the obligations under the DND/CAF Code of Values and Ethics and be required to submit Confidential Reports for all previous and current outside employment.
• The sick leave granted for the period of the overlap be reversed and attributed to other types of leave without pay, thus requiring the repayment of the sick leave benefits.
The DND Senior Officer for Internal Disclosure (SOID) has informed management of the findings of the DSEI investigation. Confirmation was received that both recommendations and corrective measures were implemented. No further action is required.