Company Code of Ethics
The purpose of your company’s Code of Ethics is to set forth your company values and important business conduct information for your employees. It is important that your code be straightforward, brief, understandable and useful tool for your employees. Many companies choose a relatively general employee code of ethics or handbook that provides brief descriptions of various company policies, with references to the more expansive policies for more detailed information on topics relevant to their specific work situations or issues.
Items you may want to include in your company code of conduct:
- A letter from the Chairman/Executive Office
- Statement of company values (if you selected one-word values, you may choose to add a phrase or sentence to expand upon and explain each value)
- Instructions to ask a question or report a concern related to ethics
- Your company’s policies on confidentiality, non-retaliation and approach to investigation of employee concerns
- Other resources employees may contact for advice on specific topics (such as employee benefits, legal problems, contract issues or safety concerns)
- Your company’s telephone line for asking questions or reporting concerns
- A list of questions to consider when approaching an ethical dilemma
- Answers to frequently asked questions
Many companies post their codes of ethics on their Web sites. We encourage you to visit those websites so you may review their codes and contact them if you have questions.