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The Hatch Act
In 1939, the enactment of The Hatch Act was hailed as a critical step
toward cleaning up government and ending political patronage. Its goal
was to ensure a qualified, stable work force free from coercion and
the constant threat of job loss for no reason.
Since that
time, the federal workplace has changed a great deal and in 1993, The
Hatch Act was reformed to reflect these changes. The law officially
changed on February 3, 1994. Listed below you will find the guidelines
for activities allowed and prohibited under the current Hatch Act law.
If you are ever concerned about the legality of an activity, please
contact NTEU's Legislative Office. You can call (202) 572-5500 or
write to the NTEU Legislative Office at: NTEU Legislation Department,
1750 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20006.
Hatch
Act
DO's and
DONT's
Employees
May:
 | Register
and vote as they choose;
|
| Assist in
voter registration drives;
|
| Express
opinions about all candidates and issues, privately and publicly;
|
| Run for
election to a non-partisan office;
|
| Contribute
money to political organizations or attend a political fund raising
function;
|
| Sign
petitions, including nominating petitions;
|
| Wear
political badges, buttons (except in government owned, leased or
controlled buildings);
|
| Run for
office within party organizations and affiliate groups;
|
| Attend
political conventions, rallies and meetings as an elected
representative of a partisan organization;
|
| Take an
active part in political management of campaigns;
|
| Solicit
contributions to the political action committee of the organization
to which both employees belong provided that the contributor is not
a subordinate employee;
|
| Spouses
and other members of an employees' family may engage in all forms of
partisan political activities.
|
Employees
May Not:
|
Be
candidates for public office in partisan politics;
|
|
Use
their official position to influence or coerce colleagues and
election results;
|
|
Wear
political buttons in government owned, leased or controlled buildings;
|
|
Collect, solicit, receive, handle, disburse or account for
contributions from the general public;
|
|
Wear a
government uniform or government insignia while engaged in political
activities;
|
|
Sell
tickets to a political fund raising function to the general public.
|
| Recent
decisions also prohibit posting signs in government owned or leased
or controlled building and locations and sending political emails
from government owned, leased or controlled computers regardless of
their location. |
If you have a question about a specific activity that is not covered
in this guidance, contact Chapter President
Charlie Turek.
You may also wish to visit:
Click here to visit
their web site |
