A clearly stated and published policy of required and prohibited employee activity will create a stable working environment for your employees and at the same time will provide protection for your business against claims of workplace ethics violations.
The term "workplace ethics" addresses a variety of topics. From sexual harassment, to civil rights infractions, to privacy concerns, the term is a catch-all for describing appropriate workplace behavior. Simply put, workplace ethics are the standards by which you dictate how your employees should treat each other and your business. A clearly stated and published policy of required and prohibited employee activity will create a stable working environment for your employees and at the same time will provide protection for your business against claims of workplace ethics violations. Furthermore, depending on where your business resides, state laws may require you to have certain ethics policies in writing.
Traditionally, ethics policies have been inserted into employee handbooks or presented as a separate document to new employees on their first day of work. The most important thing you can do if you decide to write and institute an ethics policy is to make sure that every employee receives and reads the policy thoroughly and signs an acknowledgment statement declaring that her or she has read and understood the policy. An ethics policy does you absolutely no good if it is never presented to your workers and is never enforced.