ETHICS Use of Official Status and Official Letterhead for Letters of

ETHICS

Use of Official Status and Official Letterhead for Letters of Recommendation

This is in response to your question about whether a Federal employee may write a letter of

recommendation using his or her official title (in the body of the letter and/or the signature block)

and using official letterhead for a college letter of recommendation for the daughter of a family

friend.

The Executive Branch ethics regulation (5 CFR § 2635.702(b) and Example 1) provides that an

Executive Branch employee may write a letter of recommendation for an individual, and may use

his or her official title, only if the following three conditions are met:

(1) The letter has been requested by the individual, or by a company or organization that is

considering the individual for some type of position;

(2) The recommending employee has personal knowledge of the ability or character of the

individual; and

(3) The recommending employee has dealt with the individual in the course of Federal

employment, or the employee is recommending the individual for Federal employment.

In writing the letter of recommendation for the relative of a personal friend, it may be acceptable

for the employee to refer to his official position in the body of the letter. For instance, the following

statement "as a regional director for the Air Force Recruiting Service, I review the applications of

hundreds of young adults each month and Ms. Smith—although she has not currently applied for

admittance into the Armed Forces—would rank in the top 5% of that pool based on her record of

academic achievement and commitment to personal goals" might be appropriate if the statement

is objectively credible and is based on the employee’s experienced judgment in reviewing the

records of young adults and is not motivated by his/her friendship with the requestor’s parent.

Presumably, the prospective college student has requested the letter of recommendation (condition

# 1) and the employee writing the recommendation has personal knowledge of the student's ability

and/or character (condition # 2). Whether or not the third condition is met depends on if that

knowledge of the individual came in the course of Federal employment (such as when the

individual was performing a Federal internship) or because the individual is seeking Federal

employment or education (such as a USAFA appointment or AFROTC scholarship). If neither of

these circumstances apply, it would not be appropriate for a Federal employee to use his/her

official title or official letterhead for the recommendation. If either or both of these circumstances

is met, the Federal employee may use his/her official title and letterhead.

Even if the use of official letterhead or official title is not permitted, using traditional forms of

address (i.e., The Honorable) and military ranks is still authorized. See 5 CFR § 2635.702(e).

OpJAGAF 2017/1 3 January 2017