Leading by Example: conflicts of interest and secondary employment
Do you understand your obligations as a manager when it comes to conflicts of interest and secondary employment?
As a manager, it is important we model behaviours and ways of working that demonstrate meeting our obligations as employees of a Queensland public service agency. And while not necessarily an exciting topic, a key role of being a manager is ensuring we meet our individual obligations.
One important area is declaring and managing conflicts of interest and a great place to start is to revisit our obligations.
- Each employee has an obligation to declare any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest as outlined in the Metro North Conflict of Interest policy and procedure.
- The policy includes all potential conflicts of interest and specifically identifies secondary employment as a potential conflict of interest.
- By making this declaration it allows you to consider any potential conflicts of interest risks such as fatigue and develop strategies to manage any actual conflicts.
When it comes to secondary employment, employees are not prohibited from undertaking secondary employment. Where it becomes tricky is if secondary employment is not declared and/or appropriately managed.
Having a personal friendship or relationship with, or being related to, another employee is also an example of where making a declaration is required, noting what’s important is who and how you declare and how that declaration is managed.
All managers are encouraged to take a moment to review the policy and procedure and talk to your teams about conflicts of interest.
If you have any questions about conflicts of interest, contact Metro North AskHR on 1800 275 275 or MNAskHR@health.qld.gov.au. Once you are up-to-speed on your obligations, you’ll be well positioned to advise your team members too.
For additional information on conflicts of interest, please refer to the Conflict of Interest Policy and Declaring and Managing Conflicts of Interest Procedure.