Revised Code of Ethics for employees

Concordia University’s Code of Ethics and Safe Disclosure Policy replaces ethical guidelines that were, in the words of Vice-President, Institutional Relations and Secretary-General Bram Freedman, useful but lacking the specific directives of a formal code of ethics.

“The previous ethical guidelines were written in a narrative form, and talked about how as university members we ought to do this, and we should do that,” he explains. “While there were some mechanisms for dealing with complaints or problems they were really quite general.”

The revised Code of Ethics and Safe Disclosure Policy provides clear definitions of the ethical behaviour expected of the university’s employees at all levels. It also outlines what may be considered conflicts of interest and how to deal with them.

The code encourages employers to notify their supervisors of any conflict of interest or anything that might be perceived as a conflict of interest. “Even if the employee thinks there is no conflict of interest, they have to ask themselves, if someone else were looking at this would they think that maybe it’s a conflict of interest?” Freedman says.

To illustrate his point, the secretary-general provided one example of a conflict of interest situation in which an employee might stand to benefit indirectly from a contract that the university is entering into.

“If the university entered into a consulting agreement with my wife, I would have to disclose that,” he says. “It doesn’t mean that it would be forbidden, but it has to be disclosed first and discussed.”

Another section of the code deals with hiring and supervising immediate relatives. According to the code it is forbidden, but there are some exceptional situations when it could be authorized.

“The key message is, just disclose these issues so they can be properly discussed and documented,” Freedman says. “The employee should want to disclose it in order to protect themselves from any perception that there’s funny business going on.”

Whistleblowing
The second part of the policy deals with safe disclosure. “The policy provides a confidential mechanism for any employee or director at the university to report incidents where they think that the Code of Ethics has not been followed,” Freedman explains.

Employees can submit a confidential report to the university’s president, the secretary-general, or the current chair of the Audit Committee of the Board of Governors either in writing or by calling 514-848-2424, ext. 2383. The number will not disclose caller identification, and callers are given directions for leaving a message for whichever one of the three individuals they are most comfortable contacting.

This method of safe disclosure is only for complaints about behaviour covered by the Code of Ethics. If someone’s behaviour on campus is somehow threatening, it should be reported to the Office of Rights and Responsibilities.

“All these services talk to each other,” Freedman explains. “We recognize that the university is big and complicated, and people don’t always know the right place to go. The key from my perspective is to make sure people get referred to the right place to go quickly, and that they get the right information.”

Related link:
•    Code of Ethics and Safe Disclosure Policy