What Does the Code of Ethics Cover - Example

FOREWORD As with any organization, ethical guidelines are necessary in order to ensure that the employees of the company are governed by fair laws and regulations that protects the integrity of all employees and does not exempt any violator from appropriate and just administrative punishments. This Ethical Handbook exists in order to guide all of the employees regarding their expected conduct and ethical guidelines during work time and within the workplace. We suggest that you contact the legal department or human resources for any questions and clarifications that you wish to address regarding the ethical standards of the company Use the following guidelines will help keep the organization running smoothly and ensure proper cooperation between employees and partner departments. Department of Ethics What Does the Code of Ethics Cover? The Code of Ethics guideliens are meant to assist the employees actions while conducting their office tasks and interacting with other employees during office hours, within company premises. The Code of Ethics suggests that an employee must: 1. Conduct himself with integrity while accomplishing work related tasks. 2. Provide an aura of dignity, self-respect, and competence at all times within office premises and whenever the employee represents company interests. 3. Avoid all possible situations that may find the employee caught in a conflict of interest position between his office, employer, and other outside forces / circumstances. Purpose Company X is engaged in the business of delivering the highest quality after sales service for all the company branded products. As such, Company X requires all of its employees to share the core committment and values of the company founders alongside their ethical conduct while undertaking company representive activities. This Standard of Ethical Conduct handbook serves as the company statement with regards to its belief in the ethical, legal, and professional behavior of all its employees. Application The Ethical Standards regulations strictly apply to all the employees of Company X regardless of department position. This means that the rules does not exempt anyone in a directorship, chairmanship, vice-president, or president position. It also applies to any outsourcing company and its employees that directly represent the interests of Company X. Ethical Principles As with any organization engaged in a similar undertaking, Company X requires its employees to conduct themselves in a professional and ethical manner at all times. When it doubt, an employee may refer to the following company ethical principles for guidance: 1. Respect for another in the workplace is the key to harmony. Therefore, employees should show the utmost of respect to one another regardless of his official position within the company heirarcy. 2. Those who work at Company X are seen as more than mere employees by the owners of the company. They are a part of the extended family and as such, are expected to work with one another withour prejudice, bias, and dishonesty. 3. Company X members are cognizant of the fact they are accountable for all their actions pertaining to company related concerns and as such, will always exercise due diligence in the use of the company facilities and when representing company interests in business settings. 4. Any employee who is found to be in violation of the company etical standards will submit himself with full cooperation and allow a company instigated investigation into the situation in question, accepting the outcome of the investigation and company decision as irreversible and final. Ethical Training Procedures Employees that come to be a member of Company X shall find themselves undergoing Ethical training and procedure familarization training and seminars. Depending upon his or her position in the company, the training will range from: 1. One on One Training - for new employees upon receipt of the ethical guidelines handbook. Conducted by the Human Resources Department on his or her first day of work. 2. Online Training Course - for supervisors and above. Although done at his own pace, a deadline shall be set for familarization with the expanded ethical program. The employee will then have to pass a written and verbal test conducted by HR and Internal Auditing in order to get a certification of compliance. 3. Noticeboards and Emails - covering all employees. Includes updated office conduct policies and reminders regarding ethical concerns of various employees. Monitoring Employee Misconduct For the benefit of company security and employee protection, all Company X employees are informed before they sign their employee contract that all their activites that include the use of company facilities shall be monitored and recorded. Activities that are monitored include, but are not limited to: a. Use of company landline and mobile phones; b. Use of company email accounts for incoming, outgoing, and storage of emails both business and personal in nature; b. CCTV cameras in the parking areas, elevators, and pantry area. Call monitoring shall be implemented on a random basis in order to ensure that all employees conduct themselves accordingly during business calls and follow company designated operating procedures. This will also help lessen the instances of personal phone calls during office hours. Calls shall be monitored and recorded during real time situations. All callers and employees shall be informed that the call is being monitored in order to comply with federal privacy laws. CCTV and other video and audio montoring devices shall be placed in parking areas, supply rooms, locker rooms, and break rooms in order to ensure that theft within company premises shall not occur. Having been informed about the possible violations that an employee may unwittingly commit, Company X reserves the legal right to watch, listen, and read workplace communications. Such preemptive actions on the part of the company will result in preventive rather than reactive actions being undertaken to protect its employees. Any employee found to be misusing the aforementioned facilities during and beyond office work hours will be subject to administrative suspension and action with repercussions ranging from suspension with or without pay, or dismissal from service. Employee misconduct is also defined at any action by an employee of Company X that results in theft, fraud, sexual harassment, and insubordination. Auditing Employee Misconduct An internal employee conduct auditor shall be on hand to review any claims filed regarding employee misconduct. Recorded telephone conversations, logs, computer logs, and video recordings shall be used to determine and verify the accuracy of action reports and employee behavior. An employee found to be in violation of the company ethical standards shall be called in to explain his actions as an audit is conducted. The employee audit will serve as his or her opportunity to explain his actions for consideration during the investigation. His explanation will also be considered once a decision for corrective action (if any) is reached. Reporting Employee Misconduct Company X is determined to create a confort, security, and openness in the workplace. The company is determined to maintain a strong committment to the prevention of employee misconduct. Whenever necessary, Company X will not hesitate to take action against offending employees. Any employee wishing to file a complaint is strongly advised to first seek the opinion of Internal Auditing department or Human Resources prior to complaint filing. All supervisors, department heads, HR officers, managers, and people in higher authority are encouraged to keep an open door policy with the employees, regardless of whether that employee is their direct subordinate or not. This is meant to encourage employees who suspect others of conduct unbecoming to come forward and present their greivance. Human Resources is also expected to look into anonymous complaints with the support of an internal auditor should a preliminary investigation prove to hold merit. Internal Auditing Procedures 1. Once a report is recieved, the internal auditor will be tasked to review the complaint and conduct a preliminary investigation in order to determine if the complaint has any basis. 2. Sufficient evidence will result in the suspension of the employee pending administrative investigation. 3. The internal auditor will then be given full access to all files pertaining to the employee concerned. This includes phone recordings, emails, and contracts signed. 4. An appropriate report with advised plan of action is submitted to the proper department for enaction. Evaluating The Effectiveness of the Ethics Program Not all Ethical Guidelines are effective nor useful in all company settings. This is a reality that Company X recognizes and as such, would like to have the cooperation of its employees in improving. This is done through the following methods: 1. An appropriate email account for ethical standards improvement 2. Yearly internal audit of all employees regarding workplace ethics 3. Appropriate interviews of employees who have filed ethical complaints in the past Suggestions on How to Improve Ethical Programs It is important that the Human Resources, Legal, and Internal Auditing departments remain abreast of the latest ethical standards and laws applicable to company ethics. As such, it behooves those in charge to attend ethical training seminars, interview employees, and notice any changes in employee behaviors that could affect the ethical policies of the company. These observations and information should be collated and used to further improve and enhance company ethical policies and guidelines. Read More