Table of Contents
Introduction ix
Part 1 Our History, Our Laws, and Our Evolving Workplace 1
1 What Is Workplace Ethics All About and Why This Book? 3
2 The Foundation: Legal Versus Ethical Standards 6
3 Gaining an Understanding of the Ethical Challenges You May Face on a Practical Basis as a Business Professional 9
4 A Brief Overview of the Study of Ethics: A Starting Place 14
5 Ethics Programs Available in Today's Workplace: Not Nearly Enough to Solve All Your Problems-Unless You Make It Personal 18
6 Ethics and Culture: The Core Component of Your Human Capital Strategy 24
Part 2 Sox Compliance, Antiharassment, and Effective Internal Investigations 29
7 The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: Where the Rubber Meets the Road 31
8 Your Key Sox Obligation: Disclose Potential Conflicts of Interest 36
9 Sox Obligations and Protections: Antidiscrimination and Disclosures of Personal Relationships 39
10 Sox Obligations and Protections: Company Property, Whistleblower Protection, Safety, Privacy, and Intellectual Property 42
11 Whistleblowers Versus Character Assassins: Dealing with Anonymous and Mean-Spirited Complaints 47
12 Internal Workplace Investigations: Your First Line of Defense 53
13 Policies (the Letter of the Law), Codes of Conduct (the Spirit of the Law), and Past Practices 59
Part 3 Avoiding Litigation Land Mines 65
14 He's Employed at Will: Can't We Just Fire Him? 67
15 The Absolute Rule of "Document, Document, Document" and Its Significant Limitations 71
16 Properly Invoking the Attorney-Client Privilege in Your Email and Written Correspondence 76
17 Not All Harassment Is Sexual 81
18 Performance Versus Conduct: A Critical Employment Law Distinction 87
19 Sameness Versus Consistency: A Potential Ethical Quagmire 91
20 Acting Outside the Course and Scope of Your Employment: Derailing an Otherwise Brilliant Career Trajectory 94
Part 4 Ethical Leadership and Sustaining a Moral Workplace: A New Way Forward 103
21 Lessons from the HR Trenches and Wisdom for the Ages 105
22 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Mission-Critical Business Imperative 111
23 Educating Entry-Level and Nonexempt Workers on Ethical Issues They May Otherwise Miss 116
24 Ethics Is Personal: A Sample Hollywood Script to Live By 123
25 There's So Much More to Ethics: You Won't Want to Miss This! 128
26 The Future of Workplace Ethics 134
Acknowledgments 140
Index 141
About the Author 147