Public employees volunteering for their boss’s campaign, performing those tasks during work hours and receiving bonuses from campaign funds raise questions of conflicts of interest, according to a political scientist and campaign finance expert.

State labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state, paid two employees of the Bureau of Labor and Industries out of his campaign fund for “contract campaign services” in 2014 and 2015, state campaign finance records show.

Avakian’s spokesman, Brad Pyle, last week characterized the payments to the BOLI employees as “routine” holiday bonuses.

Those candidates also donated money to the campaign, records show.

Such arrangements are not uncommon in Oregon. Some of Gov. Kate Brown’s official staff also volunteer for her campaign.

In Oregon, public employees are restricted in terms of political activity they can engage in under law. They can’t do campaign work on the state’s dime.

For Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield, a scenario where a public employee is receiving a payment from and donating to the political campaign of an employer who is seeking public office presents a potential conflict of interest.

“….That immediately in my mind raises questions of conflicts of interest. Who are you working for?” Redfield asked. “Where is your loyalty? Is it to the political candidate, the political campaign, (or) your job as a state employee?”

Even if the intentions of the campaign or candidate are pure, Redfield says, the mere appearance of impropriety can also complicate the political environment by eroding trust in public officials.

“Fairly or unfairly, people are going to connect the dots if you leave things out there that are ambiguous,” Redfield said.