One of the focuses of the GFOA Ethics Advisory Group is making it easier for finance officers to resist pressure to act unethically. Research has shown that direction from authority figures can have a powerful influence over one’s behavior, including pushing people into behaviors they know are wrong. One strategy to counteract this is popularizing employment contracts for finance officers. A contract can provide protections like severance pay and guard against capricious termination. With these protections in place, finance officers may feel better supported in resisting suggestions to behave unethically from people in positions of power.
Therefore, GFOA has developed a model employment contract for finance officers. The contract is based on the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) model agreement for city managers.
- Publication date: December 2020
- Author: Shayne Kavanagh