Dealing with conflicts of interest

Some situations will need to be the subject of discretionary judgements as and when they arise. There are two aspects to dealing with particular situations:

• identifying and disclosing the conflict of interest (primarily the responsibility of the employee); and
• deciding what action (if any) is necessary to best avoid or mitigate any effects of the conflict of interest (primarily the responsibility of the school or board).

Identifying and disclosing a conflict of interest

The employee with the conflict of interest is obliged to identify it, and disclose it to the relevant people in a timely and effective manner. It is better to err on the side of openness when deciding whether something should be disclosed.

If a matter in which an employee has an interest arises at a formal meeting, the employee should declare to the meeting that they have an interest in the matter before the matter is discussed. In other situations, the matter should be raised and discussed with a relevant person (such as the principal or chairperson of the board) as soon as the potential for a conflict of interest is identified.

Deciding on further action

The primary obligation to determine the appropriate next steps (and to direct the affected employee accordingly) lies with the school (or school board).

There may be scope for a range of options and the exercise of discretionary judgement. In these cases, the school needs to assess carefully:

• the seriousness of the conflict of interest; and
• the range of possible options to reduce or manage that risk.

The assessment is not primarily about the risk that misconduct will occur. It is about the seriousness of the connection between the interests, the risk that the school's capacity to make decisions lawfully and fairly may be compromised, and the risk that the school or the individual's reputation may be damaged. In making this assessment, the school needs to consider how the situation may reasonably appear to an outside observer.

Usually, managing a conflict of interest means that the employee withdraws or is excluded from being involved in the school's work on the particular matter. In the interests of openness and fairness (and to minimise the risk of the school having to defend itself against an allegation of impropriety), it is always safer to err on the side of caution.