If you declare a conflict of interest on your organisation’s conflict of interest – declaration and management plan form, your manager will:
- develop a conflict of interest management plan in consultation with you
- record it on the form.
Many organisations use or adapt our model declaration and management plan form.
We also offer a guide for managers on how to develop a management plan.
Key action
You must:
- Participate in the development of a conflict of interest plan to the extent set by your manager. In some organisations you may be asked to prepare an initial draft of the plan.
- Follow the plan with oversight from your manager.
- notify your manager of any changes that may affect the plan or its risk level. Your organisation’s policy will set a time limit for this to occur. For example, 5 working days.
Consultation and drafting of plan
Your manager decides the contents of the plan. They consult you when doing so. The plan is recorded on your organisation’s conflict of interest – declaration and management plan form, or similar name.
As part of the consultation process, sometimes your manager may ask you to collaborate with them on the development of the plan.
Alternatively, sometimes they may instruct you to prepare the initial draft of the plan. If this occurs, your manager will either:
- approve the draft plan (with or without amendments), or
- take it into account, then develop and finalise a plan.
More information
We offer a guide for managers on how to develop a conflict of interest management plan.
Official record
After your manager finalises and approves the management plan:
- you both keep a copy
- your manager files a copy with the manager of human resources (or other person nominated in your organisation’s policy) as the official record of the plan.
Review of the plan
Your manager will review the plan in consultation with you:
- at the times set out in the plan
- if any change occurs that may affect the plan or its risk level.
You must advise your manager of any such change you are aware of.
What the plan will contain
A conflict of interest management plan is a risk mitigation strategy. It balances the nature and seriousness of the conflict with the public benefit of you being involved in the matter.
The plan will usually be based on the key risk mitigation strategies below in this guidance or a combination of them.
The approach taken will be proportionate to the risk.
Useful questions to ask: Choosing a strategy proportionate to the risk level
If you have a conflict of interest some useful questions for you and your manager to discuss to help identify which key risk mitigation strategy is proportionate to the risk level include:
- Authority and influence: To what extent are you involved in the activity or the decision which the conflict relates to? What influence do you have in decision-making?
- Work responsibilities: Which, if any, of your work responsibilities could be influenced or affected by the conflict?
- Private interest: What is the conflicted interest? What stake do you have in this private interest?
- Nature and severity of the conflict: what is the nature and severity of the conflict?
- Duration: How often will the conflict arise in the employee’s work duties and for how long? For example, regularly, for the duration of a particular project, short term, long term or ongoing? This question will also help to determine how often to review the plan.
- Consequences: What are the possible effects if the conflict is not suitably managed?
- Public perception: What would a fair-minded member of the public think of the situation? Would they think the proposed risk mitigation strategy alleviates any doubts about your integrity or that of the organisation?
Key risk mitigation strategies
The management plan for a conflict of interest will usually be based on one of the following key risk mitigation strategies, or a suitable combination of these ‘5 Rs’:
- Record and monitor
- Restrict
- Remove
- Recruit
- Relinquish or resolve
These strategies are listed from lowest to highest response level.
The approach taken will be proportionate to the risk.
Check your organisation’s policy in case it differs.