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As another winter gives way to spring, the military begins its annual preparation for PCS season. Service members and civilian employees receive orders and ready themselves for the next chapter in their careers, while comrades who remain search for an appropriate gift to mark the occasion. There are some ethics rules that govern such gifts, and they can be traps for the unwary. This article will discuss the rules governing PCS gifts in the hopes
of keeping everyone out of trouble and preventing awkward social situations.
As a general rule, service members and civilian employees may not accept gifts from other service members or civilian employees who receive less pay. Additionally, they may not give a gift to an official superior, make a donation to a gift for an official superior, or solicit a contribution for a gift to an official superior. An official superior is anyone in his or her chain of command or supervision.
There are a few exceptions to this rule, however, and the biggest is for “special, infrequent occasions,” including the end of the superior-subordinate relationship by way of the PCS or other transfer of the superior. On such occasions, the Code of Federal Regulations allows a gift “appropriate to the occasion” to be presented to the superior by one or more subordinates or people receiving less pay. It also allows service members and civilian employees to solicit voluntary contributions from other service members and employees for such gifts.
Because reasonable people can disagree about what gifts may be “appropriate to the occasion,” the Department of Defense has added its own guidance. According to the Joint Ethics Regulation, if a group of service members and/or civilian employees want to buy a group gift for a departing superior, the gift may have a value of no more than $300. If a subordinate contributes to more than one group gift and the gift recipient knows or has reason to know of that fact, the value of the two gifts is combined. In other words, if the same employee or service member contributes to two different group gifts, and one group buys a $200 gift while the other buys a $150 gift, the superior will be considered to have received a $350 gift if he or she knows or has reason to know that a subordinate contributed to both gifts. In that case, the recipient would be faced with the choice of giving one of the gifts back to the donors or paying for it, either of which would be awkward for all involved.
The JER also clarifies solicitation rules. The CFR permits solicitation of “nominal amounts.” The JER specifically limits such solicitations to $10. While service members and civilian employees may contribute more than $10 if they wish, the solicitation may be for no more than $10. Such contributions must be truly voluntary, which means that commanders and other leaders should not be the ones to solicit contributions. A separate contribution may be solicited for food, refreshments, and entertainment at an event held to mark the occasion for which the group gift is given, and this solicitation is not subject to the $10 limit.
These rules do not apply to gifts from superiors to subordinates, because the rules are intended to prevent the purchase of influence or favors, or the perception of such, which is usually not an issue in the military when a gift is given by a superior to a subordinate. However, if any member of a gift-buying group is a subordinate or re-ceives less pay, the rules come into play.
Although this article covers the main issues involved with PCS gifts, it’s not comprehensive. For more information contact an ethics counselor at your local legal office.
