§19313 National Laboratory Non-federal Employee Outside Employment Authority

Summary

The Secretary must give National Laboratory directors the power to let non-Federal lab workers take outside jobs, including starting companies based on lab technology or doing paid consulting. Directors can also let those workers do outside work at the lab and let them use the same lab access and contracting routes that outside partners use, if conflict-of-interest rules are followed. If a Director uses this power, the Director or someone they pick must make workers tell them and get approval before taking outside work, set up and enforce conflict-of-interest rules, keep the right to fire workers who break those rules, and make sure the program follows the Department’s research security policies, including DOE Order 486.1. Workers must not let outside work interfere with lab duties, use lab tools or property for outside jobs unless done under official lab contracts like Cooperative Research and Development Agreements or Strategic Partnership Projects with the conflict rules applied, or use their lab role to give an outside employer an unfair advantage. Federal ethics rules for government employees still apply.