The Secretary shall adopt and enforce a code of conduct for personnel of the Department. In General. Every private vendor or other person providing services to the Department shall adopt and enforce, as a condition of its contract, grant, or other arrangement with the Department, a code of conduct that is substantially similar to the one adopted by the Secretary under Regulation .01 of this chapter. Approval by Secretary. The code of conduct shall be submitted to and approved by the Secretary before the contract, grant, or other arrangement with the Department becomes effective. Each employee of the Department and of any public or private program shall: Comply with the code of conduct applicable to the employee; and As a condition of initial employment, acknowledge in writing that the employee has read and understands the code of conduct. Human Services Article, §9-207, Annotated Code of Maryland Effective date: June 18, 2007 (34:12 Md. R. 1067)