Code of Conduct

An organization's code of conduct is often defined as an established set of legal and ethical guidelines and communicates expected standards of behaviour and procedures to all employees and other agents. 

It's widely agreed that every company needs to have a policy statement on ethics in business and legalities stipulated in code of conduct. In some countries, like the U.S., companies can mitigate potential penalties by adopting an effective Code of Conduct training program. For example, the U.S., has Organizational Sentencing Guidelines that require a company to "have taken steps to communicate effectively its standards and procedures to all employees and other agents, e.g., by requiring participation in Code of Conduct training courses or by disseminating publications that explain in a practical manner what is required." Thus, if a company hopes to qualify for more lenient treatment under the Guidelines in the event of employee or corporate misconduct, having, disseminating, and enforcing a Code of Conduct is essential.

The topics covered in the course include:

• Fair dealing
• Preventing discrimination and harassment
• Conflicts of interest
• Business courtesies
• Information security
• Business records
• Accurate accounting
• Protecting company assets
• Health, safety and the environment
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Workplace violence
• Political activity
• Insider trading
• Anti-competitive conduct
• Bribery and kickbacks
• Sanctions and trade embargoes
• Working with integrity
• Reporting violations
• Acknowledgement
• Code of Conduct policy