Code of Federal Regulations Title 5. Administrative Personnel § 5.1304.4604 Definitions

(a) Government Employee includes any officer or employee of the Executive Branch, those appointed or detailed under 5 U.S.C. 3374, and Special Government Employees. It does not include an individual performing services for the United States as an independent contractor under a personal service contract.

(b) Former Government Employee means one who was, and no longer is, a Government employee.

(c) Special Government Employee means an officer or employee of an agency who is retained, designated, appointed, or employed to perform temporary duties on a full-time or intermittent basis for not more than 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days. This applies whether the Special Government Employee is compensated or not.

(d) Senior Employee means an employee or officer as designated in the statute or by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. The Director of the Office of Government Ethics has designated civilians who have significant decision-making or supervisory responsibility and are paid at or equivalent to GS–17 or above as Senior Employees. Civilians paid at the Executive level are automatically designated by statute as Senior Employees. (A list of Senior Employee positions is found at 5 CFR 737.33.)