Employment Law
A guide to corporate ethics
By Scott Campanella
Every business should have a standard code of ethics. This should be a written statement documenting the company’s intended compliance with laws and regulations, business ethics and social values. Failure to consistently follow a code of ethics can lead to disputes among employees, management or both, not to mention the possibility of legal action from outside the company or from within. This ethics statement should be available to employees, customers and anyone else who might be concerned with corporate responsibility.
Employment Law
The first area with which every company should concern itself is employment law. The employee hiring process must proceed without discrimination regarding a person’s race, age, skin color, religion, sex, marital status and other characteristics.
Once a person becomes an employee, the company must foster an environment which complies with employment regulations. This includes maintaining strict adherence to child labor laws, wage and benefit laws, restrictions on working hours, health and safety standards, and employee privacy laws.
Each company should have a management presence that understands the employment code of ethics, and how it is implemented in the workplace.
In addition to following employment laws, a company should foster a working environment that is conducive to the most efficient and productive operation of the business. A code of employee relations must be instituted at the corporate and individual level.
Promoting this type of environment ensures every employee will have the opportunity to contribute a high level of service to the corporation. Areas that should be addressed include guidelines for proper appearance, language and mannerisms that all employees should follow.
Procedures regarding employee communication, grievances, discipline and termination should also be outlined in detail. A good method for communicating this type of information is through an employee manual.
Employee Relations
Another important area of corporate ethics is professional employee relations. This can include interactions between the company as a whole or any employee of the company, and also anyone outside the company, including customers, vendors and other entities. Professionalism and respect should be emphasized when representing the company with outside parties. Management should be willing to demonstrate examples of proper conduct, or role-play difficult situations, so that employees have a clear understanding of what is acceptable.
Communication is important in promoting a company’s values and ethics throughout the workplace. A hands-on management team is essential in providing employees with the proper guidance to attain these ethics goals. By being involved in the day-to-day functions of its employees, a company can be proactive in situations where ethical questions might be raised.
In all such situations, it’s beneficial to each party if there are open lines of communication between employees and management. This will help provide everyone with a clear understanding of the company’s values, ethics and regulations which must be followed.
