Workplace Solicitations

6.2 Workplace Solicitations

Controversies: 3.11, 4.15 Key Words: email, charity, solicitation Case Complexity → Low CD: 5.2 Hillsborough County, Florida, Solicitation Policy

Suppose you received this e-mail on the office server:

Good morning, I have a sample of my 2005 desk “Night-Sky Photography” calendar in my office if anyone would like to see it before purchasing. Please call me first to make sure I am in the office. Price is $15.00. I am taking Christmas orders. Remember, ⅓ of the profit for the calendars goes to Bette (in purchasing) to help out her husband who has recently come down with MS. Thanks, Ron

It is not uncommon to receive e-mail from staff about charitable organizations trying to raise money by selling candy, magazines, or cookies as the Girl Scouts do annually.

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Discussion Questions

1. Should you object about such solicitation at work for organizations support- ing “good” causes?

2. Does the good of helping Bette, a fellow employee, with the expenses associ- ated with her husband’s MS outweigh the personal profit motive?

3. Are the solicitations by a soccer mom to raise funds for her son’s team the same thing as this enterprising fellow who is putting part of his profit to help

a well-liked and financially troubled employee?

4. Should a public administrator see either one or both as unethical in the workplace?

5. Or is this the kind of situation where we shrug and turn our head the other way?

6. What should I do?

7. Suppose the Human Resources director asked you to draft a policy dealing with workplace solicitations, what would your policy cover? All solicitations? Some? Try your hand at drafting the policy.

8. Critique the solicitation policy in Exhibit 6.1.

Ex HIBIT 6.1

Solicitation Policy

Any activity on behalf of profit-making organizations or for private profit is strictly prohibited on county premises. You are permitted to solicit for nonprofit organizations or nonprofit purposes during your free time, such as lunch breaks, in nonwork areas, as long as it does not affect other employees who are working. Abuse of this privilege may be grounds for disciplinary action.

Case Assessment

Mary Mahoney, Management and Budget Department, Hillsborough County, Florida:

I have been with a large Florida county government for many years and have seen all the situations cited in this case and more. Our county government has handled e-mail solicitations with

a policy that prohibits an employee from soliciting for anything via e-mail. Disciplinary action, including termination, can result. Florida has a strong open records law that county administration takes very seriously and applies to e-mail, incoming and outgoing. This helps rein- force the concept that an employee’s e-mail usage is not for personal use, although some incidental personal use is allowed. Certainly, the

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gentleman soliciting the sale of his photo calendars would fall into that category.

If the gentleman wished to post a notice on a county bulletin board,

he could do so providing he follow another county policy. In fact, there is a classified advertisement section on the county’s intranet site where employees are allowed to sell merchandise such as cars, boats, etc., but commercial sales are prohibited.

In our county government, employees may personally solicit on county premises for private nonprofits provided it is done during free time during the work day. A county employee may not at any time dur- ing the work day solicit on behalf of profit-making organizations. An employee helping her daughter sell Girl Scout cookies can solicit during her break as long as it doesn’t affect other employees. She cannot solicit for her Avon business.

Th ere may be another underlying issue with this case. By mention- ing the personal health situation of another person, the husband of an employee, in an organization-wide e-mail, he may be violating the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountablity Act (HIPAA) and, in Hillsborough County, our HIPAA policy.

Should I personally object about the case’s solicitation at work for organizations supporting “good” causes? In my opinion, it is not a public manager’s personal duty to judge whether the cause is “good” or not. It is our job to make sure there are policies and procedures and then follow those. If I were a supervisor, I would counsel the employee sending out the e-mails because our county policy pro- hibits this type of solicitation. I would direct him to stop his sales through the county’s e-mail account and advise him not to person- ally solicit any employees during work hours or his free time during his working hours. Although the cause may seem worthy, the fact is he is personally selling his calendars and making a profit. The organization has no control on whether or not those profits go to the “worthy cause.” His “worthy cause” is in fact a person, not a private nonprofit organization. Besides, how would an individual know that his profits go to that person or when he would start pocketing the proceeds?

Does the good of helping the fellow employee outweigh the personal profit motive? To me, that is a philosophical question, and not one for the workplace.

Are solicitations by a soccer mom to raise funds for her son’s team the same thing? No, the soccer team is a nonprofit entity (at least I hope it is) and the funds are not going directly to the child, but to the team. Again, the soccer mom would need to follow county policies and procedures.

Ethics in the Workplace ◾ 189

You raise the issue of a “well-liked and financially troubled employee.” Our duty is to all—not just those who are “well-liked.” This could lead to perceptions that the organization is biased based on race, ethnicity, religion, or even political affinity. In turn, such perceptions could lead to legal actions on the part of those who see disparate treatment because they are not “well liked.” I won’t even get into the “financially troubled employee” part of this question.

And when does solicitation for charities cross the line from volun- tary to involuntary? That’s another question. Is the solicitation in this case unethical? Well, according to the Hillsborough County Code of Ethics, the calendar sale probably is especially since there are already county policies that prohibit this activity. The Girl Scout cookie sale is another matter. The Girl Scouts are a bona fide nonprofit organization and nondiscriminatory. In fact, it receives funds from the local United Way campaign. The United Way is authorized for payroll deduction. (Ethically I must disclose that I was an active Girl Scout from seven years old until a sophomore in college.

I was an assistant troop leader for my daughter’s troop for five years. I sold lots of cookies to coworkers, but always followed the county’s poli- cies. I still support the organization through personal donations and cookie purchases. I still have four boxes of Thin Mints in the freezer.)

Do we turn our heads and shrug? Well, I can’t if I am a supervisor of someone soliciting. Then it is my obligation to enforce county policies and procedures. If I’m not, then it is my obligation to notify the Human Resources Department of my concern about the possible violation. If the person selling the calendar is a coworker, I might personally advise him to stop if I knew him well. Otherwise, I would notify my depart- ment director of my concerns. I would not purchase the calendar.

Do any of the Hillsborough County’s policies and procedures and codes stop the solicitations? A very large percentage of them are stopped, but some still get out on e-mail or on bulletin boards or through direct transactions. Just this week, there was an e-mail soliciting contributions to pay funeral expenses of a county employee’s son. The young man was killed during a robbery he committed the past weekend.

Victoria Reinhardt, Commissioner, Ramsey County, Minnesota:

I believe that it is one of the better parts of human nature to want to help the people we care about. It may be an adult wanting to help a child raise funds for school or recreation, or individuals wanting to ease the pain of a coworker who has to face an unexpected medical or financial challenge. Recently my sister’s coworkers chipped in to buy meals for her family while she recovered from surgery and got

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through chemotherapy. When it came to selling Girl Scout cookies, I envied the girls whose parents worked in an office because they didn’t have to go door-to-door, although that experience did pay off years

later. Finally, if you are on the receiving end of a card or gift through the sunshine fund, you know how important the little things can be.

I believe these are all good things that help improve the quality of life in the workplace. With all of that said, I also believe there must be clear parameters about solicitations in the workplace, especially about how they are made. No one should feel pressured to buy or give based on who is asking. Therefore, solicitations should not be done person to person. However, use of the employee break area for products, or sign-up sheets for products that will be delivered at a later date, allow an individual to make a decision about whether they want to participate. For helping an individual with health or personal difficulties, a respectful e-mail letting people know the situation and how they can help, if they so choose, or an envelope that is simply passed from staff to staff, can work very well.