Acts of Founded Wrongdoing
A protected disclosure was received under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) alleging an employee of Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) was concurrently employed by PSPC and a private company. The Senior Officer for Internal Disclosure mandated an investigation into the following allegations: Allegation that the PSPC employee misrepresented their Conflict of Interest Declaration(s) regarding their outside employment and/or their Employee Work Agreement(s), and allegation that the PSPC employee concealed from PSPC their outside employment hours of work and secured illegitimate approval from PSPC for the outside employment and/or theft of time. The investigation concluded that the PSPC employee misrepresented their telework location in their Employee Work Agreements, misrepresented their outside employment in their Conflict of Interest Declarations, and secured illegitimate approval from PSPC for their outside employment which included an element of time theft. Evidence gathered during the investigation supported the elements of misconduct as described in the PSPC Code of Conduct and the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector. The employee’s ongoing misrepresentations demonstrated a significant lack of judgment and their conduct amounted to wrongdoing as defined under paragraph 8(e) of the PSDPA (a serious breach of a code of conduct).
As a result of the employee’s conduct, corrective measures have been taken. The individual’s employment with PSPC was terminated.