IV.    Procedure:

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A. Keeping in mind that ethical decisions are usually not clear-cut, each

Company employee must adhere to the following guidelines regarding their

professional behavior:

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B. General:

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1. Each employee must act according to standards consistent with the

responsible, professional image that the company wishes to

maintain, which are congruent with the mission statement of The

Company.

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2. An employee neither claims, nor implies professional qualifications

exceeding those they possess.

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a. Therefore, an employee must perform within professional

qualifications.

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b. An employee must seek consultation with their supervisor if

a question of competence arises.

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3. Misrepresentation in the procurement of certification or

misrepresentation of professional qualifications, certifications,

accreditation’s, affiliations, or employment experiences constitute

unethical conduct.

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4. Conduct which involves fraud, deceit or misrepresentations, or

criminal activity punishable, as a criminal offence is contrary to the

goals of the company, and therefore is deemed as unethical.

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5. Each Company employee must behave ethically.

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6. When an employee possesses information that raises doubt about the

ethical behavior of a colleague, they must immediately advise their

supervisor of the situation.

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a. Failing an informal solution, employees should bring such

unethical activities to the offending employee’s Supervisor

and/or, if necessary, the company Human Resources

Department, in accordance with the procedure outlined

herein.

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7. An employee must uphold the public’s trust.

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a.     Any violation of public trust is also a violation of ethical

standards.

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b.     Violations include, but are not limited to, the following

instances:

​

01 Any effort to realize personal gain through

employment with the company, other than earned

compensation provided by the company.

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02 Any misuse or misappropriation of the company

property and/or funds.

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03 Any conduct that is criminal, of questionable nature,

and/or that may discredit the company and/or the

agencies the company contracts with.

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8. No employee should display favoritism or preferential treatment of

a client, group of clients or employee over another.

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9. No employees may deal with any client except in a professional

relationship that will support provided goals of the facilities

program. Specifically, staff members must never accept for

themselves or any member of their family any personal (tangible or

intangible) gift, favor or service from a client, client family member

or client friend. All staff are required to report to their supervisor

any violations or attempted violations of these restrictions.

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10. No employee shall enter into any business relationship with a client

or their families (e.g., selling, buying or trading personal property),

or personally employ them in any capacity.

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11. No employee shall have outside contact, other than incidental

contacts, with any client, former client, their family or close

associate, except for those activities which are part of the

employee’s job description.

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12. No employee shall give a client their home, cell or family member

phone number. No employee should be communicating via

telephone or cell phone with any client or clients’ family members

except for business necessity reasons. Non-adherence to this is a

serious violation of this policy.

​

13. Any violation or attempted violation of this policy that pertains to

clients must be reported via phone and in writing to the Regional

Director and/or to the corporate office.

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a. Failure to report a violation or to take appropriate

disciplinary action against an employee who has violated

this policy may result in disciplinary action, up to and

including termination.

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C. Confidentiality:

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1. All employees including direct and indirect service staff:

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a. All Company employees must maintain the integrity and

confidence of each Company client.

​

b. While in-group, employees must set a norm of

confidentiality regarding all group participants’ disclosures.

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c. When Company employees provide information to the

public, they have a responsibility to ensure that the content

is general and unidentifiable. The information must be

accurate, unbiased, and consist of objective factual data.

​

1. Employee’s operating within a government

environment or company facility bears the responsibility of

safeguarding government and/or client assets and any

sensitive or protected information, regardless of whether it

is in electronic or paper form. Comprehensive guidelines

regarding the handling and transmission of protected

documents can be found in our Handbook on delivering

Chaplaincy Services in a Correctional Environment.

​

2. Employee’s may not release any employee

information, including past employee information.

All requests for employee information must be

forwarded to Human Resources.

​

a. This includes business reference checks from

employers on current and/or past employees;

b. Wage verification on current and/or past

employees;

c. Current employment status of any

employees; or any other employee

information.

 

d. The use of data derived from a spiritual mentoring

relationship for purposes of professional training or research

shall be confined to content that can be disguised to ensure

full protection of the identity of the client and/or

participant(s).

​

e. Any information concerning clients, or the Company is

considered confidential and is not to be discussed outside the

Company.

​

f. All Company records and information relating to the

Company may not be removed from Company premises

without permission from the company.

​

01 Additionally, the contents of Company records or

information otherwise obtained in regards to

business, employees or clients may not be disclosed

to anyone, except where required for business

purposes.

 

g. Employee and client information is considered

confidential and is not to be discussed with any

unauthorized individuals.

​

01 Always consult your supervisor for the definition of

who is an authorized or unauthorized individual.

​

h. Employees are strictly prohibited from discussing employee

or client information that they receive as part of their job

duties or that is overheard with anyone except authorized

individuals. This includes passing along information in the

form of gossip.

​

i. Confidential information includes but is not limited to the

following examples:

​

01 Documents;

02 Notes;

03 Files;

04 Records;

05 Oral Information;

06 Computer files;

07 Compensation data;

08 Client lists and confidential information;

09 Financial information;

10 New Materials research;

11 Employee personnel, confidential or medical file

information;

12 Employee information obtained from a file or

verbally;

13 Pending projects and proposals; and/or

14 Research and development strategies

 

j. Employees must not disclose any confidential information,

purposefully or inadvertently (through casual conversation),

to any unauthorized person inside or outside the company.

​

k. Any employee who knowingly or unknowingly reveals

information of a confidential nature will be subject to

disciplinary action, up to and including termination and/or

legal action, even if they do not actually benefit from the

disclosed information.

​

l. Employees who are unsure about the confidential nature of

specific information must ask their supervisor for

clarification

​

2. Employee and Client Relationship:

​

a. A Company employee’s primary obligation is to respect the

integrity and to promote the welfare of the client.

​

b. In a group setting, the employee is also responsible for

taking reasonable precautions to protect individuals from

physical and/or psychological trauma resulting from

interaction within the group.

​

c. A Company employee must recognize the power of the

client relationship and maintain clear boundaries for the

client by not engaging in any activities that seek to meet the

employee’s personal needs, at the expense of the client.

​

d. Dual relationships with a client may impair the employee’s

objectivity and judgment (i.e., establishing a therapeutic

relationship with a friend, co-worker, or relative) must be

avoided.

​

e. Engaging in a personal relationship, or any sexual conduct,

not limited to sexual intercourse, between an employee and

a client, is specifically a violation of the code of ethics and

conduct.

​

01 Any employee found guilty of sexual misconduct

will be dismissed from employment and prohibited

from future employment in any capacity with the

company.

​

02 Employees who witness or who can provide

evidence of sexual misconduct are required to make

a report within 72 hours to their Supervisor, Human

Resources or the Vice President of the company.

​

03 No such activity as mentioned above shall ever be

considered appropriate.

​

g. It is recognized that the client relationship goes on in

perpetuity; in other words, once a person becomes a client,

that person remains a client, even after their release from a

Company Program.

​

h. Through the awareness of the negative impact of racial,

sexual, religious, gender, marital status, nationality or

physical stereotyping and discrimination, the employee

guards the individual rights and personal dignity of the

client.

​

i. When clients possess diverse or non-familiar cultural and/or

ethnic backgrounds, employees are motivated to learn about

cultural and ethnic sensitivities in order to provide the

highest level of care.

​

j. While offering dignified and reasonable support, employees

must be cautious in prognosis and may not exaggerate the

outcome of services to the client.

​

k. If a client is already in an employee-client relationship with

another professional person, the employee does not enter

into a professional relationship without first contacting that

other professional.

​

l. If the employee discovers the client is in another

professional relationship after this relationship begins, the

employee will contact the other professional providing

services.

​

m. Employees must recognize the need for clients’ freedom of

choice. Services must be client led and client driven.

​

n. Under those circumstances where this is not possible, the

employee must apprise the client of restrictions that may

limit their freedom of choice.

 

o. Employees must notify their supervisor and the appropriate

governmental agency if a client is in any way engaging in

what may be criminal conduct, including but not limited to

in any way abusing a child.

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D. Employee to Employee Relationship:

​

1. Supervisors are strictly prohibited from engaging in relationships,

other than professional, with subordinates.

​

2. Employees involved in personal relationships with peers understand

that they have entered into these relationships voluntarily and do not

hold the company liable or responsible for any issues that arise from

such relationships that are beyond the company’s control.

​

a. Employees may not disrupt other employees or their own job

duties for matters relating to personal relationships.

​

3. Employees are obligated to disclose any personal relationships of a

romantic nature with a peer to the Company immediately.

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E. Professional Competency:

​

1. Company employees must maintain a certain level of knowledge

and skills and to strive to achieve and maintain the highest level of

professional competence.

​

2. Company employees must have a continuing commitment to assess

personal strengths, limitations, biases, and effectiveness.

​

3. Whenever possible, employees should strive for self-improvement

by using this self-assessment to procure appropriate continuing

education.

​

4. Company employees must recognize that other spiritual

professionals may be valuable to the welfare of the client.

​

5. If it is in the best interest of the client, the employee should seek the

advice and counsel of colleagues and supervisors or refer the client

to another professional who can provide the appropriate services for

that individual.

​

6. When a Company employee demonstrates multiple failures in

recognized care functions or when an employee’s behavior

evidences a willful or gross neglect of a client’s rights and needs, a

finding of incompetence may be warranted, and disciplinary action

imposed.

​

7. Company employees who function as trainers or supervisors assume

unique ethical responsibilities that frequently go beyond that of the

employee who does not function in a training capacity.

​

8. At a minimum, these ethical responsibilities, as described above,

include, but are not limited to, the following:

​

a. Orientation of trainees/supervisees to program expectations,

basic skills development, and employment prospects at the

beginning of the training or supervision;

​

b. Presentation of an established program directed toward

developing students’ skills, knowledge and self-understanding,

stated whenever possible in competency or performance terms;

​

c. Methodical and thorough evaluation of the students’

progress;

​

d. Presentation and modeling of the ethical responsibilities and

standards of the profession;

​

e. Presentation of varied theoretical positions so that students

may make comparisons and has the opportunity to select a

position;

​

f. Conformance to any other expectations and standards set

forth by the company to assure competent training and

supervision.

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F. Professional Responsibility in Public and Professional Relations:

​

1. Company employees are to respect and enhance the work field,

other professionals, and their place of employment by exhibiting

high standards of ethical conduct.

​

2. These standards include, but are not limited to, the following

examples:

​

a. Awareness of the prevailing community standards and of the

possible impact upon the quality of professional services

provided by their conformance to or deviation from these

standards.

 

3. Mutual progress toward the goals of the company requires that both

the employee and the company:

​

a. Make the company’s goals explicit and public.

b. Make the employee’s contribution to the organization goal

specific; and

c. Foster mutual responsibility for goal achievement.

​

4. To accomplish this, the employee and the company must share

responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of personnel

policies, including the development of the following:

​

a. A definition and parameters of professional competence for

each employee.

​

b. Regular review and evaluation, with an opportunity for

employees to inform the company of conditions that may

limit their effectiveness; and

​

c. In-service development for self and staff.

​

5. It is unethical for employees to use the company to recruit clients

for one’s private practice.

​

6. Employees must represent accurately and objectively their

professional qualifications, affiliations, and functions, as well as

those of the company when making public statements or

announcements.

​

7. Employees must know and consider the traditions and practices of

other professional groups with whom they work and cooperate fully

with such groups.

​

8. Employees may make full use of all the professional, technical, and

administrative resources that serve the best interests of the clients.

This includes an awareness of related services within the community,

working agreements and referrals, without charge, for such referrals,

when appropriate.

​

9. Any discriminatory conduct toward clients, colleagues, supervisors,

or others, with whom the employee interacts, in the course of

professional duties, is considered unethical behavior.

​

G. Controlled Substances:

​

1. The company strictly prohibits the possession, use, and/or

distribution of any illegal controlled substances on any Company

and/or Contracted property, vehicle, or site.

​

2. The company strictly prohibits the use of alcohol and cannabis or

illegal controlled substances by an employee on duty or on

Company and/or Contracted property.

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H. Conflicts of Interest:

​

1. Responsibility to the Employer:

​

a. All Company employees must adhere to their

commitment(s) to the company.

​

b. Company employees are prohibited from participating in

decision-making activities for the company when it involves

any entity in which the employee and/or any member of his

or her family have an interest, financial or otherwise.

 

c. A Company employee who engages in work for pay with

any agency (that may be in direct or indirect competition

with Company interest) must disclose such a relationship to

his or her supervisor immediately.

 

2. Responsibility to Clients:

​

a. A Company employee’s primary responsibility is to

Company clients.

​

b. A Company employee does not treat a client in a cruel or

inhumane manner, and they do not use profane and/or

abusive language when dealing with a client.

​

c. The company will not place any client in a company program

where pre-existing or continuous relationships exist between

the client and a Company employee.

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