On July 8 the Department of Defense Standards of Conduct Office (SOCO) issued an update to the Encyclopedia of Ethical Failures (EEF), its listing of violations of federal ethics law by government and contractor personnel. The encyclopedia, which is organized by type of violations, including conflicts of interest, misuse of Government equipment, violations of post-employment restrictions, and travel, is a valuable resource for contractors’ ethics/compliance officers as it provides insight into the types of violations on which DoD is currently focused. Further, the violations can serve as a reference for employee training and written policies and procedures for companies that sell to the government.

Further, the update announced that the new 2010 Ethics Counselor’s Deskbook is available on the SOCO website. The Deskbook includes outlines and instructor presentations for all subjects covered at the annual Ethics Counselor’s Course held at the Army JAG School in Charlottesville, VA, as well as valuable reference material. Like the EEF, the Deskbook is a valuable reference tool for contractors’ ethics/compliance officers. In other words, if government ethics attorneys think a topic is important, chances are that government contractors should be paying attention.