Conflict of Interest Declaration For UC Suppliers

Important: Starting January 1, 2020, workers will be considered UC employees unless proven otherwise. Please read this UC Legal Advisory(link is external) to learn how it impacts you. Partner with Human Resources, Academic Personnel and Programs, Procurement, and/or UC Legal to review independent contractor relationships. For short-term employment relationships, consider utilizing University options such as contract appointments or limited appointments(link is external) for policy-covered staff positions. 

ATTENTION: If you are being vendored solely for a reimbursement OR if this involves a stipend/honoraria payment, STOP! DO NOT FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW.

Please visit the following Controller's Office websites for more information on:

A "Supplier" is a service provider, contractor, vendor, or other entity entering into a Purchase Contract or Purchase Order for providing goods and/or services to UC Berkeley. If you or your firm do not meet the definition of  "Supplier," and are not offering to provide or sell  goods or services to the University, and/or do not have any affiliations to the university as described in the A-F list below, STOP!, you do not need to complete a Conflict of Interest Declaration Form. 

Important Things to Know Before Getting Started

A Supplier offering to provide or sell  goods or services to the University must complete a Conflict of Interest Declaration Form if that Supplier meets any of the criteria below:

  1. is a current UC employee
  2. is a former UC employee, who has been separated for less than two (2) years (retired, dismissed, separated, or formerly employed) 
  3. is a current UC employee, who owns or controls ten percent (10%) or greater interest in a business that will provide goods or services to the University
  4. is a near relative of a current UC employee (spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and step-relatives in the same relationship)
  5. is a near relative of a current UC employee, when that near relative owns or controls ten percent (10%) or greater interest in a business that will provide goods or services to the University.
  6. Any UC employee will be paid by the proposed Supplier/company for the proposed transaction

Conflict of Interest Declaration Form

NOTE: Declared conflicts can take approximately 2 weeks to review once signed by the UC employee, former UC employee, or relative of a UC employee, AND the requesting department's head manager if hiring a current UC Employee. 

Conflict of Interest Policies

Additionally, Suppliers that work with the university must affirm that, to the best of the Supplier’s knowledge, no UC employee who has participated in UC’s decision-making concerning the award of a UC Purchase Order or Agreement has an “economic interest” in the Agreement or Supplier.

Disqualification Rule under the California Political Reform Act
Under the California Political Reform Act, ALL employees (staff and faculty) must disqualify themselves from any University decision involving entities that may affect their personal financial interests. The following are deemed to be economic interests from which conflicts of interest can arise:

  1. Any business in which the employee or immediate family member is a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee, or holds any position of management;
  2. Any business in which an employee or immediate family member has an investment worth $2,000 or more;
  3. Any real property in which an employee or immediate family member has an interest worth $2,000 or more;
  4. Any source of income worth $500 or more, received or promised 12 months or less before the decision;
  5. Personal finances of the employee or immediate family member if these personal expenses, income, assets or liabilities are likely to go up or down by $500 or more in a 12-month period as a result of the University decision; or,
  6. The employee or immediate family member received or has been promised $590 or more in gifts 12 months or less before the decision is made from any person or organization that may benefit from the University decision. Immediate family members include spouses, registered domestic partners, and dependent children.

Employees whose financial interests require them to disqualify themselves may not participate in any way in the decision, and may not influence any other person with respect to the decision. In the event of a change in these economic interests, Suppliers must provide written notice to UC within thirty (30) days after such change, noting such changes.

Resources:

BFB-BUS-43 Purchases of Goods and Services; Supply Chain Management

UC Compendium Of Conflict Of Interest And Integrity Policies – Guidance

Introduction to the Disqualification Rule