Each year, every state, county, and municipal employee must be given a summary of the conflict of interest law prepared by the Ethics Commission and, every two years, they must complete an online training program prepared by the Commission. All records of compliance with these requirements must be retained for 6 years. These requirements apply to all public employees, as defined by the conflict of interest law summarized on the preceding pages. Former public employees are not subject to these requirements.

For more information on Ethics you may visit the Commission’s website. There are separate training programs for municipal employees and for state and county employees.

Compliance Deadlines

Summaries:

• Every public employee must be provided with a summary of the law within 30 days of becoming such an employee, and annually thereafter. Employers must distribute the summaries to all current employees each year by the end of December.

• Each employee must provide to his or her employer, as defined herein, an acknowledgment of receipt within ten (10) business days of receipt of the summary.

Online Training Program:

• Employees need to complete the State Ethics Commission’s new conflict of interest law online training program within 30 days of employment and then again every two years.

Online Training Tips

The training programs can be completed on any work, home, or publicly available computer with internet access.

If you access the online program using the above link or through the Ethics Commission’s website, you will have to print out a completion certificate as evidence that you have complied with the online training requirement and return it to the Town Clerks office.

The programs were designed to work with the Internet Explorer web browser. While the programs will work with other browsers, such as Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome, some features may not work or display correctly.

Pop-up blockers should be disabled. Follow the instructions at the beginning of the program to disable pop-up blockers on your computer.

The programs include audio and video components. If headphones are available to you, you may wish to wear them while completing the training to minimize office noise and distraction.

The “Options” and “Help” menus appear on every page throughout the training and provide access to helpful resources, such as accessibility information, the programs’ scripts and a glossary of terms. They are located near the top right of the online training program screen.

If the video does not play on your computer, please verify that you have the Adobe Flash Player plug-in (version 10 or higher) downloaded to your computer. Please refer to the System Requirements document by clicking the “Help” menu tab, then clicking “System Requirements” located near the top right of the online training program screen.

The programs should take about an hour to complete. If at any time during the program your browser has trouble loading a page, use your refresh button. If you have to restart the program, use the table of contents on the left-hand column of the page and click on the “Lesson” to return to your place.

If you have difficulty following the audio portions of the program, you can click the “Script” menu tab, located next to the “Contents” menu tab, on the left column of the program screen. In addition, you may view and print the entire course script by clicking the “Options” menu tab and then clicking “View Script.”

At the end of each training program, there are two 10-question course assessments. You should choose the one appropriate course assessment depending on whether you are an:

• Elected Municipal Official/Board

• Commission member, or Appointed Municipal Employee

After you complete the appropriate course assessment, follow the prompts on the screen for instructions on printing your completion certificate or otherwise notifying your employer that you completed the program. Be sure to submit the completion certificate to your employer, and keep a copy for your records.