Module 1.3A: Ethics & Compliance

Question 1

What is Governance?

Answer 1

Organizational rules and guidelines designed to ensure organizational compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Question 2

What is Compliance?

Answer 2

Behaving in accordance with established regulations, laws, or guidelines.

Question 3

What is Ethics?

Answer 3

Involves doing what is right, whether it is required by law or not.

Question 4

What is the best approach to modeling?

Answer 4

The best way to demonstrate behavioral expectations is through example.

Management must embody organizational values and demonstrate ethical behavior or risk losing credibility both internally and externally.

Rewarding or recognizing employees who exhibit organizational values both reinforces organizational commitment and encourages engagement.

Question 5

What is the best approach to communication?

Answer 5

Organizations can clearly establish behavioral expectations by developing a code of conduct and/or code of ethics.

Values should be incorporated into new hire orientations. Mandatory ethics trainings assigned for all employees to reinforce guidelines.

Question 6

What is the best approach to coaching?

Answer 6

Integrating the organization’s core values into performance reviews ensures all employees are coached regularly on ethical expectations.

Positive reinforcement coaching - recognizing or rewarding employees.

Question 7

What is Integrity?

Answer 7

Behaving in accordance with one’s beliefs and values. It is the foundation of strong relationships between HR, employees, and leadership.

Question 8

What is Legality?

Answer 8

Behaving in accordance with the law. HR is responsible for ensuring organizational legality and legal compliance.

Question 9

What is Proficiency?

Answer 9

Having an expert level of knowledge. HR professionals must be proficient in all applicable laws and regulations to ensure legality.

Question 10

What is Confidentiality?

Answer 10

Refers to maintaining privacy. HR professionals work with large amounts of sensitive data. Commitment to confidentiality is essential.

Question 11

An organization concerned with culture management should focus on:

Answer 11

appropriate behaviors

• core values ethical and behavioral expectations through modeling, communication, and coaching.

Question 12

The primary way HR develops an employee’s ability to make ethical decisions is by:

Answer 12

identifying ethical issues employees encounter

Question 13

What is a Whistleblower?

Answer 13

An employee who reports ethical or safety violations.

Question 14

What is a Fiduciary?

Answer 14

An organization’s board of directors has two specific fiduciary responsibilities: a duty of loyalty and a duty of care.

A duty of loyalty requires board members to put the interests of the organization first, without concern for personal gain.

A duty of care requires board members to make rational and informed decisions regarding the organization.

Question 15

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Answer 15

Aka Corporate citizenship refers to the idea that organizations have an obligation to society as well as their shareholders. Ex) poverty, access, clean water, and more.

Question 16

What is Environmental Responsibility?

Answer 16

Environmental responsibilities refer to an organization considering the environmental impact of its products and processes.

It is required by law and regulations such as hazardous waste disposal.

Ex) creating environmentally friendly products and packaging, sourcing from sustainable suppliers, and reducing operating waste.

Question 17

What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)?

Answer 17

Protects employees who blow the whistle on organizations involved in corrupt business practices or SEC violations.

Question 18

What is the Security & Exchange Commission (SEC)?

Answer 18

An independent agency of the US federal government that is responsible for enforcing federal securities laws.

Question 19

What is the best approach to ensure organizational compliance?

Answer 19

Take a multi-faceted approach that focuses on preventing violations, verifying compliance, and updating guidelines as needed.

Question 20

How to Prevent Violations?

Answer 20

HR encourages organizational compliance is through the creation of policies and procedures that align with applicable laws and regulations.

Ex) organizational policy regarding employee leave and time off requests must consider requirements set by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Question 21

How to Verify Compliance?

Answer 21

HR can conduct an audit to determine organizational compliance and allow the opportunity to identify and correct potential concerns before they result in problems.

Audits are a great way to determine if policies and procedures in place are working or need adjustments.

Question 22

How to Update Guidelines?

Answer 22

Any updates to applicable laws and regulations should result in an immediate review of policies and procedures to ensure compliance.

HR should review all policies and procedures on a regular basis.

Question 23

Changes in the FLSA likely to affect staffing strategies and workforce composition are best identified initially by:

Answer 23

monitoring the legislative environment

Question 24

Which of the following has typically been the most popular and most successful strategy for supporting, modifying, or stopping proposed political action?

Answer 24

Direct lobbying - approaching governmental representatives to gain support for political concern.

Question 25

What is Document Retention?

Answer 25

The maintenance and management of employee records and other data in accordance with established regulations, laws or guidelines.

Question 26

What is Data Protection?

Answer 26

HR is entrusted with sensitive data from employees, customers, vendors, and the organization.

Question 27

What is Record Retention?

Answer 27

Organizations begin accruing employee data during recruitment and continue until or beyond termination.

Organizations are required to retain most data for a specified time period before disposal.

Question 28

To achieve maximum impact, an organization’s ethics training program should:

Answer 28

include the organization’s executive management and board of directors.

Question 29

An employer cannot search an employee locker if the employee has secured it with a personal lock.

Answer 29

False

Question 30

A whistleblower who files a complaint of securities fraud must provide proof to be protected from retaliation.

Answer 30

False

Question 31

The culture of an organization is most impacted by:

Answer 31

the behavior of its leaders.