Conflict of Interest Checklist: 29 Top Questions You Need to Ask

Are you aware of your legal, financial and company reputation consequences that come from Conflicts of Interest? Are you tired of keeping track of emails and using excel to gather, record conflicts of interest in your workplace? How do you safeguard a fair and unbiased environment while avoiding potential ethical and legal problems? Then our Conflict of Interest Checklist is here to help. Our checklist comprises 29 essential questions that every employer should ask their new and existing employees. 

These questions cover financial relationships and personal connections, among other potential conflicts of interest, to ensure your board members, employees, or contractors are aware of possible issues before they become problematic. Keep in mind that you may need to tailor these questions to your specific company, industry, or region, and you may even consider listing competitors you’re concerned about. Conflicts of interest are no joke and can have far reaching legal and financial consequences. By identifying these potential conflicts of interests early, you can minimize your risks and help ensure your employees are acting in the best interests of your business and its stakeholders.

These questions should be included in all new hire packages and employee manuals they must approve.

Financial Conflicts:

When a person’s financial interests don’t align with their professional responsibilities, it leads to financial conflicts of interest. These conflicts can pose ethical challenges for organizations, but there are ways to address them. One effective method is to ask specific questions that help uncover any potential conflicts of interest among employees.

1. Financial Interests: “Do you or your family members have any financial interests, stocks in vendors, suppliers, or companies that could be considered a potential competitor or conflict of interest? 
2. Gifts and Gratuities: “Have you received any gifts or gratuities from any vendors, contractors or suppliers that could influence and/or create a biased perception on your decisions regarding their contracts or business dealings with our organization?”
3. Investment Activities: “Do you have any investment activities that may conflict with your duties or obligations to our organization?”
4. Intellectual Property: “Do you own or have partial interest in any intellectual properties, patents, licenses, or copyrights that could be relevant to your work at our organization?”
5. Insider Trading: “Do you have access or know any inside information about our organization or any of our customers that could be used for personal gain?”
6. Personal Investments: “Do you have any personal or planned future investments that could create conflicts of interest with your duties at our organization or influence your decision-making?”
7. Personal Loans: “Do you have any personal loans or financial obligations that could create conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”

Business Conflicts

In the business world, conflicts of interest can arise when an employee’s outside business interests conflict with their responsibilities to their employer. These conflicts can create ethical dilemmas and harm the organization’s reputation if left unchecked. To identify these potential risks, it’s important to ask the right questions.

8. Outside Employment: “Do you have any outside employment or consulting arrangements with any potential competitors or companies that may be perceived to conflict with your responsibilities at our organization?”
9. Sponsorship Relationships: “Have you ever received or potential future sponsorship or funding from organizations that could create conflicts of interest with your duties at our organization?”
10. Professional Relationships: “Do you have any professional relationships with individuals or organizations that could create the perception of conflicts of interest with your duties at our organization?”
11. Licensing Agreements: “Have you ever entered into any licensing agreements or other contracts that could create conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
12. Employee Benefits: “Do you receive any employee benefits or perks that could create percieved conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
13. Related Party Transactions: “Do you have any related party transactions, relationships or business dealings with any of the organization’s related parties, such as subsidiaries, affiliates, joint ventures or competitors?”
14. Consulting Relationships: “Do you have any consulting relationships with organizations that could create conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
15. Business Interests: “Do you have any other business interests or investments that could create conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
16. Board Memberships or Involvement: “Are you involved or serve on the board of directors or advisory board for any vendors, suppliers, or competitor companies that may have any current or potential business dealings with our organization?”
17. Confidential Information: “Have you ever been exposed or know any confidential information that may be perceived as conflicts and impact our organization’s operations or financial performance with your current or future work at our organization?”
18. Vendor Relationships: “Have you ever worked for or had any business relationships with vendors, contractors, or suppliers that could be perceived as a conflict of interest?”

Personal Conflicts

We all have personal interests outside of work, but sometimes they can clash with our professional responsibilities. These conflicts of interest can take many forms, from personal relationships to financial interests to hobbies. For businesses, identifying and addressing these conflicts is crucial for maintaining ethical standards and avoiding negative consequences.

19. Personal Relationships: “Do you have any personal relationships, such as friendships or family connections with vendors, contractors or competitors of this organization that could be perceived to lead you to provide preferential treatment or make bias decisions?
20. Family Relationships: “Do you have any family members who do business or work for competitors, vendors, or customers of our organization that could lead you to provide preferential treatment?
21. Family Businesses: “Do you have any family businesses or interests that could create conflicts of interest with your duties at our organization?”
22. Personal Activities: “Do you have any personal activities or hobbies that could create conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
23. Political Activities: “Do you have any political affiliations or activities that could create the appearance of potential conflicts or influence your decisions or actions for our organization?
24. Non-Profit Activities: “Do you participate in any non-profit organizations that could be related to our organization’s mission or activities that could be perceived to create conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
25. Legal Matters: “Are you currently involved or may have future involvement in any legal proceedings that could create conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
26. Public Statements: “Have you made any public statements that could create the perception of any conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
27. Educational Activities: “Do you participate in any educational activities that could create conflicts of interest with your work at our organization?”
28. Charitable Donations: “Do you make charitable donations to organizations that could create conflicts of interest with your duties at our organization?”
29. Other Conflicts of Interest: “Do you have any other conflicts of interest that you have not disclosed?”

Ask the Right Questions the Easy Way with ComplianceBridge

Are you tired of wrestling with complicated, time-consuming Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure processes? ComplianceBridge has got you covered! Our COI software simplifies conflicts of interest management. With our robust platform, you can easily create custom question sets and tailor your distribution to fit your various groups, departments, and locations, making the process as simple or complex as you like. Plus, with our clever system of weighing questions based on importance and including conditional follow-up questions, you’ll be able to collect detailed information and improve your reporting. Real-time monitoring helps you spot potential issues, minimizing your risks to your organization. And with our auto re-reminder feature the process will keep moving efficiently. 

Don’t let COI disclosures weigh you down and create more worries—let ComplianceBridge streamline the process for you! Request a demo today and discover just how easy COI compliance can be.