ETHICS TRAINING
ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE Course Descriptions
Protecting trade secrets is more important than ever today, as companies look for ways to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition. Prudent companies are recognizing the need not only to protect their own confidential business information as trade secrets, but also to guard against the misappropriation of others' trade secrets.
In most cases, it is an act or omission of a company's employees that leads to a loss, theft or misappropriation of trade secrets. More and more companies are taking steps to prevent the loss or misappropriation of their confidential business information.
Antitrust Law Training — Antitrust Basics
As the complexities of the business world multiply, so do potential antitrust problems for a company up and down its organizational chain. An intricate web of federal, state and international statutes and regulations poses significant dangers for both intentional and inadvertent antitrust violations — companies are fined, mergers and acquisitions are thwarted, enormous litigation costs pile up, people go to jail. As importantly, businesses and their employees become afraid to be inventive, aggressive and competitive in completely legitimate ways.
Accordingly, it is crucial that businesses train their employees on the what, why and how of antitrust enforcement: (1) what are the basic principles of antitrust law, what problems occur in the real world during formal and informal communication with colleagues, customers, competitors, suppliers and business partners, what special issues arise with e-mail, voice-mail, trade associations and websites, what rights of yours are being trampled on by your competitors; (2) why compliance with antitrust law is important to your business goals and the free-enterprise system in general, why avoiding violations and civil and criminal penalties is so important; and (3) how to recognize potential problems, how to deal with them, and how to compete creatively and legitimately. This applies to workplace ethics training.
HIPAA Online Training
The privacy and security of personal information is something everyone should be concerned about. This is especially true in the area of healthcare, where individuals share details of their health, personal lives and finances when they are at their most vulnerable. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") addresses these issues by imposing stringent record-keeping and security requirements on healthcare providers and related entities. The regulations require uniform coding for the electronic transmission of patient data.
In addition, the regulations require "covered entities" — healthcare providers, health insurance plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and those who contract with these entities — to create and implement privacy and security policies covering all patient data that is electronically transmitted or maintained (along with all paper counterparts). The work needed to comply with these regulations presents a tremendous challenge for all organizations that handle healthcare information.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990 with the goal of ending discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Title I of the ADA prohibits employers from discriminating in all aspects of the employment relationship, including application, testing, medical examinations, hiring, training, assignments, evaluations, disciplinary actions, promotions, layoffs and terminations, as well as compensation, leave and other benefits. Since the law went into effect, its enforcement by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has resulted in payments of over $300 million by businesses to more than 20,000 individuals. Recent cases resulting in jury awards of up to $13 million in punitive damages make the importance of understanding and complying the ADA clear.
Workplace Ethics is a subject that we have all heard of. In fact, the subject of Ethics in general is something that most people are familiar with. And, what is commonly understood about ethics is there are ethics and then there are workplace ethics. What most people don’t realize, however, is that there is no such thing as workplace ethics; ethics are the same, (or, should be) whether in the workplace or in personal life. Business ethics and compliance training.
Ethics in the Workplace
Penalty for Noncompliance
The Department of Fair Employment and Housing may issue an order requiring the employer to conduct the required training if the company is not in compliance. Failure to meet the minimum legal standards may affect the strength of an employer’s defense and could provide a basis for punitive damages in the event of a ethics lawsuit. Providing legally mandated training may serve as evidence that an employer took all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring.
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Ethics Training Statistics
Association executives typically want the answers to two key questions about ethics in the workplace offices: “How do workplace ethics apply to the practical goals of my organization and the work of my employees?” and “Can you show me reliable data that support your assertions?” We address those questions as we present findings from the Ethics Resource Center’s 2000 National Business Ethics Survey (2000 NBES) - a rigorous telephone survey of 1,500 U.S. employees - and discuss what these ethics in the workplace findings mean for association executives.
Ethics Trends
Studies show that formal ethics training programs are becoming increasingly common in U.S. organizations across the nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors. Compared to the 1994 survey, the 2000 NBES finds dramatic increases in the percentage of employees who report that their organizations have ethics training programs. In the nonprofit sector specifically, the 2000 NBES finds that nearly 90 percent of employees say their organizations have written standards of ethics in the workplace. In addition, 65 percent say their organizations provide some form of ethics training about these standards, and more than 40 percent say a dedicated telephone line or office is available for ethics in the workplace advice. Not surprisingly, the percentages are consistently higher among larger nonprofits - those with more than 500 employees - as compared to smaller ones
Ethics Training - States Served:
Alabama Ala. AL
Alaska Alaska AK
American Samoa AS
Arizona Ariz. AZ
Arkansas Ark. AR
California Calif. CA
Colorado Colo. CO
Connecticut Conn. CT
Delaware Del. DE
Dist. of Columbia D.C. DC
Florida Fla. FL
Georgia Ga. GA
Guam Guam GU
Hawaii Hawaii HI
Idaho Idaho ID
Illinois Ill. IL
Indiana Ind. IN
Iowa Iowa IA
Kansas Kans. KS
Kentucky Ky. KY
Louisiana La. LA
Maine Maine ME
Maryland Md. MD
Marshall Islands MH
Massachusetts Mass. MA
Michigan Mich. MI
Micronesia FM
Minnesota Minn. MN
Mississippi Miss. MS
Missouri Mo. MO
Montana Mont. MT
Nebraska Nebr. NE
Nevada Nev. NV
New Hampshire N.H. NH
New Jersey N.J. NJ
New Mexico N.M. NM
New York N.Y. NY
North Carolina N.C. NC
North Dakota N.D. ND
Northern Marianas MP
Ohio Ohio OH
Oklahoma Okla. OK
Oregon Ore. OR
Palau PW
Pennsylvania Pa. PA
Puerto Rico P.R. PR
Rhode Island R.I. RI
South Carolina S.C. SC
South Dakota S.D. SD
Tennessee Tenn. TN
Texas Tex. TX
Utah Utah UT
Vermont Vt. VT
Virginia Va. VA
Virgin Islands V.I. VI
Washington Wash. WA
West Virginia W.Va. WV
Wisconsin Wis. WI
Wyoming Wyo. WY
ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE AND ETHICS TRAINING -
Preventing Discrimination and Harrassment for Employees
Dating back to the late 1800s, common law in the United States defined the employment relationship as "at will," meaning that employers were free to hire and fire at will. Employers could, for example, refuse to hire minorities, segregate the work force, assign unpleasant work to women, and deny such groups opportunities for advancement. That's all changed. Federal and state laws now prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace on the basis of age, sex, race, religion, national origin, disability or pregnancy.
Training employees in ethics in the workplace and workplace discrimination and harassment is nothing less than essential. Not only can workplace discrimination and harassment affect employee productivity, it can divert resources from the company's real business. Improper conduct can also lead to company liability for workplace discrimination and harassment. The U.S. Supreme Court has recently established legal standards that employers must meet to avoid — or at least minimize — incidents of discrimination and harassment and avoid liability for punitive damages.
Workplace Diversity
Workplace Diversity Training
Dramatic cultural and social changes in the mid-twentieth century altered Western society in a way that affected the workforce and the customer base that companies serve. The emergence of a global economy and revolutionary advances in telecommunications later in the century made the world a much "smaller" place.
In the new millennium, the corporate world finds itself in an environment in which people of a wide variety of races, cultures, religions, ages and lifestyles interact regularly on the same level both within and outside the workplace. The norms that dictated behavior between men and women a half-century ago are transforming, as well.
Diversity is evermore apparent in everything from our names to the types of food we eat, and long-taboo subjects are now discussed freely. People in wheelchairs work alongside openly gay co-workers, and a variety of languages is spoken by employees and customers alike. Human conditions from obesity and dwarfism to mental illness and alcoholism are treated with increasing sensitivity and openness.
Our laws on the federal, state and local level have added a level of legal protection in the workplace that all employees need to be aware of. Diversity-awareness training covers these protections, and it goes on to (1) emphasize the importance of treating everyone with respect and dignity and (2) demonstrate how embracing diversity can be a sound business strategy.
Guide to Working with Business Ethics
Working with business ethics teaches your staff to focus on ethical practices - workplace ethics training
By Angela Roe
Corporate social responsibility is important to everyone, and in many instances, a minimum in ethical practices has been mandated by federal, state and local law. Educate yourself on the legal compliance with ethical business practice that you need to maintain to remain well within those legal boundaries.
Create a comprehensive policy of workplace ethics and responsibility, and make sure it's easily accessed by everyone in your business. Spell out not only the behavioral expectations but also the consequences one can expect when those expectations are not met.
- 1. Hire a consultant to help you design an ethics training program.
- 2. Use ethics courses to foster corporate social responsibility.
- 3. Allow your employees to train at their own pace on ethics using business webinars and DVDs.
Action Steps to Fostering Ethics in Business
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Hire professionals to coach you and your staff on workplace ethics and responsibility Depend on the expertise of ethics coaches and consultants to help you design an official policy that covers the ethical behaviors in your business.
Make routine business ethics training mandatory Look for ethics courses and classes that will keep your staff members trained in ethical business practices. Evaluate the various types of ethics courses offered and create a curriculum that suits your type of business.
Use webinars and DVDs to convey information about business ethics to your staff Opt for webinars or DVDs that your employees can view as time permits to help them learn more about working with business ethics. Many webinars can be attended live and recorded for later so your entire staff isn't tied up or unavailable at one time. DVDs allow your staff members to keep up with ethics training on their own time.
Tips & Tactics to Maintain a Climate of Corporate Social Responsibility
Make sure that your corporate ethics training meets all the legal standards of compliance required for your type of business. Also consider how frequently your employees need to participate in ethics training programs to remain in compliance.
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