Ethical Houston

As the framers of this website discussed what our mission was to be and what our goals were, we sometimes would interchange the word “moral” for the word “ethical”.  Even as we publicized the Ethically Speaking seminar in September we would sometimes interchange those words.  So, are they different?  The answer is, mostly yes.  Something may be ethical or legal, but it may be in conflict with our personal morals. 

One of the best examples of this is in the legal profession where an attorney is ethically bound to represent a client to the best of his/her ability even though the attorney may not agree with the morality of the client.  But ethically an attorney is bound to set aside personal moral belief to ensure that the client is well represented.  It can be argued that sometimes this does not happen.  We all know of instances where attorneys do not give their best effort or use questionably unethical means “just to win the case”.

Many professionals must deal with similar dichotomies.  The professional counselor who has a strong personal belief and commitment to marriage is often faced with issues of infidelity in a clients marriage by one partner or the other.  The ethics regulations of counselors will be a guide to the professional but cannot always satisfactorily mediate the ethical and moral issues presented by the client.

Today, there is some help available to us.  Most professions have strict guidelines for ethical behavior and require regular continuing education to help professionals know the latest in legislation and focus the professional on the importance of ethics. 

But what about businesses and organizations that do not have a stated set of ethical policies or that don’t enforce the policies that they have?  Issues such as dating of fellow employees, petty pilfering of office supplies, taking or giving gifts to suppliers and customers, all are everyday situations that may or may not be problematic.

And what about hours worked.  Wage and hour laws are quite explicit on hours worked and such things as overtime.  Some people believe that so called salaried employees are not subject to overtime laws when in fact they may be.  Many such questions then begin to blur themselves into the realm of the legal. 

In organizations that do not take ethics seriously there is usually a pervasive unethical or even immoral behavior that often begins at the top.  It usually starts small and begins to expand, when no consequences are imposed.  As time passes the behavior becomes more and more pronounced.   It may be years before the behaviors are exposed and consequences are meted out.  And it may be that no one will ever know the difference and there are no consequences. 

As individual employees that see unethical or immoral behavior on the work site, we are challenged as to what we should do.  Unless there is a strong corporate intolerance for unethical behavior where an employee can report such issues to superiors, without fear of retribution, actions may be limited.  At some point the only solution might be for the employee to move on.  This may be difficult particularly if the job market is tight and one has financial or family obligations to consider.

In summary, having some understanding of the difference between the ethical and the moral is important, since we tend to blur those differences.  If you are a person of faith the blurring of those issues become quite difficult.  As persons of faith, we may have to make decisions on our moral beliefs rather than what is considered ethical or legal.  On the other hand, we may need to reflect on our personal moral beliefs and realize that the ethical and legal positions of society take precedent over those personal beliefs.

Do you have ethical and moral issues that you’re dealing with?  Without naming names, let us hear from you on what you struggle with and let us consider alternative solutions together.