Ch. 2
Ethical Practice
Ethical Practice
BASK definition: The KSAOs needed to maintain high levels of personal and professional integrity, and to act as an ethical agent who promotes core values, integrity and accountability throughout the organization.
| Sub-competency | What it means |
|---|---|
| Personal Integrity | Shows high integrity in personal relationships and behaviors: honesty, keeping commitments, admitting mistakes |
| Professional Integrity | Shows high integrity in professional relationships and behaviors: avoiding conflicts of interest, protecting confidential information, following professional standards |
| Ethical Agent | Cultivates the organization's ethical environment and makes sure policies and practices reflect ethical values |
BASK Key Concepts
- Ethical business principles and practices: transparency, authenticity, conflicts of interest
- Privacy principles and policies: anonymity, confidentiality, opt-in/opt-out policies
- Internal ethics controls: protecting employee confidentiality, standards for employee investigations
Core Ethics Concepts
| Term | Meaning (BASK glossary where available) |
|---|---|
| Ethics | The behavioral guidelines an organization expects employees at all levels to follow to ensure appropriate moral and ethical business standards |
| Integrity | Following ethical standards that reflect strong moral principles, honesty and consistent behavior |
| Conflict of interest | A situation in which a person or organization could benefit, directly or indirectly, from undue influence because of outside activities, relationships or investments that conflict with the employment relationship. Even a perceived conflict must be disclosed. |
| Transparency | How far an organization's dealings, information and practices are open to disclosure and review by relevant people |
| Code of conduct | A document summarizing the organization's standards of business conduct: rules, values, ethical principles and vision |
| Anonymity vs. confidentiality | Anonymous: no one, not even the collector, knows who provided the information (for example, an anonymous survey or hotline). Confidential: the collector knows the source but limits disclosure to people with a need to know. |
| Opt-in / opt-out | Opt-in: data is collected or used only after the person actively consents. Opt-out: data is used unless the person declines. Opt-in is more privacy-protective. |
| Whistleblower | An employee who reports illegal or unethical conduct, internally or to authorities. Many laws protect whistleblowers from retaliation, including Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank and OSHA-enforced statutes. |
Building an Ethical Organization (Ethical Agent)
The elements of an effective ethics and compliance program:
- Written standards: a code of conduct and ethics policies, including conflicts of interest, gifts, confidentiality and anti-retaliation
- Leadership commitment: "tone at the top." Leaders model ethical behavior.
- Training and communication for all employees, repeated regularly
- Reporting channels: an open-door policy, an anonymous hotline and multiple avenues to report, so employees don't have to report to the person involved
- Investigation standards: prompt, impartial, consistent and documented
- Anti-retaliation protection for people who report in good faith
- Consistent discipline for violations, regardless of the person's rank
- Monitoring and auditing, with continuous improvement
Ethical Decision-Making
A typical ethical decision-making process: (1) recognize the ethical issue; (2) gather the facts; (3) identify the stakeholders and how each is affected; (4) consider the options against laws, policies and values; (5) decide and act; (6) reflect and learn.
Quick tests HR professionals use:
- Legality: Is it legal?
- Policy: Does it follow our policies and values?
- Transparency ("newspaper") test: Would I be comfortable if this appeared in the news?
- Fairness: Would I be comfortable if it were done to me?
HR-Specific Ethical Duties
- Confidentiality of employee information. This covers medical information (which must be kept separate from personnel files under the ADA and GINA), investigation details and compensation data. Share it only with people who need to know.
- Investigations. Never promise complete confidentiality, because information may need to be shared to investigate and fix the problem. Do promise discretion and protection from retaliation.
- Gifts from vendors. Follow the organization's gift policy. When in doubt, disclose and decline.
- Personal relationships. Disclose relationships with candidates or employees you would be evaluating, and remove yourself (recuse) from the decision.
- Data and AI ethics (2026 BASK emphasis). Use employee data only for legitimate purposes, be transparent about AI use, and check AI outputs for bias.
What Effective Ethical Practice Looks Like (Situational Judgment Cues)
- Disclose potential conflicts and recuse yourself.
- Report wrongdoing through proper channels, even when the wrongdoer is senior.
- Push back respectfully when leaders request something unethical or illegal, and propose a compliant alternative.
- Maintain confidentiality without misleading anyone.
- Apply policies consistently. Do not grant exceptions based on status.
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