Can a reserve officer hire one of the soldiers in his unit to work temporarily at his business? Does this rule differ for active duty member?

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 18:33:42 -0500

I own a small business, and am also an IMA reservist. I am short handed with workers and wanted to hire one of the soldiers short term to work one weekend to fill out the gap. Someone said that its against regulations however, i cant find a regulation that prohibits this. Does anyone know? Does anyone know the regulation?

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 5 at 2019 6:49 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 18:49:03 -0500

On my deployment this past year our ARNG partner unit had a ARNG MAJ who did the financial records for his subordinate SGT's business in the civilian world. It was wild to me but apparently it's worked for years with them. I'm not sure of the legality of the situation but it happens.

Response by SFC Marc W. made Dec 5 at 2019 7:07 PM

SFC Marc W. — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 19:07:58 -0500

I think this is going to fall under the idea of do you provide special considerations for this soldier OR (more importantly) appear to provide special considerations to this soldier.

I'm sorry I don't have a regulatory answer for you.

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Dec 5 at 2019 7:13 PM

MAJ Javier Rivera — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 19:13:49 -0500

See AR 600-20, para 4-14, c (1).

“ c. Certain types of personal relationships between officers and enlisted Soldiers, or NCOs and junior enlisted Soldiers, are prohibited. Prohibited relationships include the following:
(1) Ongoing business relationships between officers and enlisted personnel, or NCOs and junior enlisted Soldiers. This prohibition does not apply to landlord/tenant relationships or to one-time transactions such as the sale of an automobile or house, but does apply to borrowing or lending money, commercial solicitation, and any other type of ongoing financial or business relationship. Business relationships between NCOs and junior enlisted Soldiers that exist at the time this policy becomes effective and that were authorized under previously existing rules and regulations, are exempt provided the individuals are not in the same unit or chain of command and the relationship does not meet the criteria listed in paragraph 4–14b(1 through 5). In the case of ARNG or U.S. Army Reserve personnel, this prohibition does not apply to relationships that exist due to their civilian occupation or employment.”

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Dec 5 at 2019 8:57 PM

MAJ Javier Rivera — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 20:57:02 -0500

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member meaning: Yes, you can!!!!!

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 6 at 2019 3:19 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 03:19:23 -0500

This would not be okay for regular army or AGR troops but reservists are allowed, and I would even encourage hiring people from within the force.

Response by CPL Gary Pifer made Dec 6 at 2019 3:49 AM

CPL Gary Pifer — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 03:49:58 -0500

Know of Many..One owned a security guard company.

Response by CPL Steve Freeman made Dec 6 at 2019 9:56 AM

CPL Steve Freeman — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:56:49 -0500

Why dont you ask a Jag guy?

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Dec 6 at 2019 10:42 AM

SGT Dave Tracy — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 10:42:13 -0500

I think for me personally MAJ Private RallyPoint Member, it would be weird to have such a relationship, even outside of Reserve drills which only occupy a small percentage of a normal month, but I can understand why its permissible; kudos to MAJ Javier Rivera for finding the reg. From 1st hand experience however, I know why such prohibitions should and do exist for AD! Fun story.

When I was Active Duty, our PL pulled his platoon aside one day and offered us the "opportunity of a lifetime" as he was looking for investors for his--I kid you not--"video game theme park" in Arizona! Huzzah! The heavens opened up and bestowed upon us riches beyond our own avarice!

For most investors, the buy-in was 20k but we were offered a "deal" at $500 minimum to invest in his scheme...ya know, $500 may buy you a needed 25 year old Donkey Kong machine for the "video game theme park" after all. He was really working it too, talking about the tens of thousands of visitors his "market research" told him would come, and some crazy high ROI of like 200% or more per year! Golly gee, what a deal!

Basically he was raising every red flag you could possibly imagine.

I happened to have had a (specialized) finance degree and worked in the finance sector prior to the Army, so I started pulling Joes aside who seemed to be interested in this odd little hustle, and tried to disabuse them of the idea this was ANYTHING but an exercise in throwing away their money. One shouldn't need such education or experience to sniff out something so ludicrous, but there were guys who seemed genuinely excited to invest in this crackpot idea based on an absurd sales pitch from our PL.

I can only hope LT genuinely believed his own B.S., and that he wasn't literally trying to scam his own men, but he was real piece of work to begin with, and with such an over-the-top sales pitch, I just don't know. I also don't know if anyone actually did "invest", but I have periodically checked Google for an actual "video game theme park" in Arizona over the last few years, and guess what I just haven't found yet???

In retrospect, I probably should have raised my concerns through proper channels, but I didn't think to do that at the time. I was just blown away by the sheer audacity of it all.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 6 at 2019 11:48 AM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 11:48:05 -0500

Im AD and i regularly do one offs for people on base. Rank never comes into the equation when it’s a matter of “Hey Chris I saw your facebook ad, can you build me a computer?”

Also I don’t advertise that I’m in the military on my listing, just the area I’m willing to deliver in.