A potential or actual conflict of interest exists when an employee's commitments or obligations to I-CAR may be compromised by his/her other interests or commitments (especially economic), particularly if those interests or commitments are not disclosed. Although not all conflicting interests are impermissible, those involving the employee’s self-gain or gain by a third party to whom the employee is related may serve to compromise the employee’s primary obligation to I-CAR.

Any instructor who is employed elsewhere in the collision repair industry, besides I-CAR, may have a conflict of interest. This includes but is not limited to:

• Instructors conducting I-CAR training to an organization where they are employed or to their own personal business;
• Bringing equipment / tools to I-CAR training that the Instructor sells or provides services on behalf of another employer;
• Bringing personal equipment owned by the Instructor to I-CAR training used for purposes other than the Instructor delivering training and/or validating equipment for the training event;
• Delivering I-CAR training to technicians/shops where the Instructor is also providing coaching and/or equipment or repair process validations on behalf of another employer;
• Delivering training where bonuses or any other gifts, monetary or otherwise, is awarded for training completions by customer or other employer.

Any Instructor who may have a conflict of interest will disclose this potential conflict at the beginning of the training event.

No employee shall, for personal gain or for the gain of others, use any information not available to the public that was obtained as a result of service to I-CAR (e.g., customer lists; personal information of students, volunteers and/or instructors; technical facts and research information; financial facts and figures; business operations; and any other related information).

No employee shall solicit or accept for personal use, or for the use of others, any gift, favor, loan, gratuity, reward, promise of employment or any other thing of monetary value that might influence or appear to influence the judgment or conduct of the employee regarding I-CAR business or policy. Employees may accept occasional unsolicited gifts or favors (e.g., business lunches, Christmas baskets, etc.) provided the gifts or favors have a cumulative market value of under $250, are customary in the industry, and will not influence or appear to influence the judgment or conduct of the employee.

Full and timely disclosure of potential or actual conflicts of interest will sensitize the entire organization to these issues and will promote resolution of actual conflicts. Each employee is expected to discuss with his/her supervisor any affiliation, interest or other matter that presents a real, apparent or potential conflict of interest.

The full Conflict of Interest policy and all related procedures can be found in the I-CAR Employee Handbook.