Outside Interest Committee

As employees of international organizations, staff members have a special responsibility to avoid situations and activities that might reflect adversely on the Organizations, compromise their operations, or lead to real or apparent conflicts of interest.

(Principle 3 under the Principles of Staff Employment)        

Many outside activities engaged in by staff members, in a private capacity, require the notification to and/or prior written approval of the Outside Interest Committee:

• Activities Requiring Committee Approval
• Medals, Honors, Board Membership
• Public Office
• Employment Activities Requiring Managerial Approval
• Outside Employment for Staff at level GE or below
• Procedures - Requesting Approval
• Membership of the Outside Interest Committee

Activities Requiring Committee Approval

Medals, Honors, Board Membership

 

Staff members may accept medals, decorations or similar honors from any external source for service not connected with Bank Group employment with the prior approval of the Outside Interest Committee.

 

Public Office

 

Staff members may not be a candidate for, or accept appointment to, any other public office without the prior approval of the Outside Interest Committee

 

See Public Office (Outside Public Activities) for more information.

 

Employment Activities Requiring Committee Approval

 

Staff members at level GF and above cannot be employed outside the Bank or self-employed.

• Staff members at this level have more responsibility and therefore there is more potential for conflict of interest issues to arise.
• Such approval will generally not be provided to a staff member holding an appointment at level GF or above who is providing full time service to the World Bank Group. 

 

 

  Employment Activities Requiring Managerial Approval

Outside Employment for Staff at level GE or below

• Staff members at level GE or below, who are not on a G4 visa (in the US), may perform duties for an outside entity, or engage in self-employment for profit, with the written approval of their senior manager;
• The senior manager is responsible for ensuring that the activity is consistent with the Principles of Staff Employment;
• The senior manager's approval shall be included in the staff member's career record and copied to the Outside Interest Committee.

Procedures

 

Staff members must first submit requests to the supervising manager indicating in writing the nature of the proposed activity, its expected duration, and the remuneration expected, if any.

 

The staff member's manager shall refer the request to the Chair, Outside Interest Committee including the following:

• the manager’s opinion as to whether granting the request would be consistent with paragraph 3.1 of the Principles of Staff Employment and the applicable Rule
• the manager’s statement either supporting the request or not

A staff member whose immediate supervisor is the President may submit a request directly to the Committee.

 

Membership of the Outside Interest Committee

The membership of the Committee is comprised of a chair from the Office of Ethics and Business Conduct, and representatives from Legal, Human Resources, the Staff Association, and other staff at large.