Conflict of Interest Policy

Conflict of interest policies address situations and circumstances in which an employee’s personal interests are – or can appear to be – in conflict with the organization’s interest. There are many ways to define conflict of interest. Often, definitions focus on opportunities an employee may have to use their position in the organization to their personal advantage or to the advantage of friends or family members.

Your policy needs to have a clear statement defining conflict of interest that suits your organization’s purposes. It should also assign responsibility for identifying and resolving actual and potential conflicts. While some policies do not spell out the consequences for an employee if a conflict cannot be resolved, others state that failure to resolve a conflict of interest will result in discipline or termination.