Workplace Ethics Advice Answers Your Questions

I have started a new blog on “Workplace Ethics Advice.” This blog expands on the Ethics Sage website to provide reasoned advice how best to deal with workplace ethics issues. Workplace ethics issues may include:

• What to do when you suspect financial wrongdoing by a supervisor or top management
• What to so when you have been told to do something you feel is inappropriate
• What to so when you have been asked to do something you feel is inappropriate
• What to do when you have been ordered to keep quiet about a company action
• How to handle workplace stress issues including: perceived sexual harassment; discrimination; excessive expectations; difficult-to-deal-with bosses; other employees taking credit for your work; sabotage by fellow employees; insensitivity to personal issues inside and outside the workplace; unfair performance evaluation reviews    
• Work-family issues 

These are just examples of conflicts that may test your commitment to act ethically in the workplace. When faced with a dilemma the first step should always be to clarify your organization’s policy on handling such matters. For example, some companies have an ethics hotline where you can report issues of concern on an anonymous basis. Some have an ombudsperson to provide guidance on ethics issues. Also, be sure you are aware of the code of conduct in your organization because you don’t want to deal with someone else’s possible code violation while creating your own violation.

YOU CAN CONTACT THE ETHICS SAGE, aka Steven Mintz, AT ANY TIME DURING THE DILEMMA. Sometimes it’s best to contact me for advice immediately after the conflict arises and tell me about any company policy so that I can best understand the context of your situation and outline steps to take right away. 

Once I receive an inquiry from you I will examine all possible alternative courses of action and respond to you within 24 hours. You can then send me a follow-up question to further clarify my advice. In order to help others, if I believe your question has general applicability in the workplace then I may decide to post your question and my answer on the website. I WILL NOT RELEASE YOUR NAME UNLESS YOU EXPLICITLY REQUEST IT OR INDICATE YOU DON’T MIND IF I DO SO. ALL OUR COMMUNICATIONS ARE COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL UNLESS YOU WAIVE THAT PRIVILEGE!

Let me help you to navigate the sometimes rough waters of trying to be a loyal, ethical employee in the face of pressures to do otherwise.

Workplace Ethics Advice post Ethics Sage on July 8, 2011