An employee code of conduct is a document which clearly establishes your company’s expectations for employee behaviour. Employee misconduct can be an exceptionally difficult and potentially costly area to navigate. An employee code of conduct can help you remove confusion around how to handle misconduct, and potentially avoid costly unfair dismissal claims by establishing a standard of acceptable behaviour and consequences for breaching these standards.

Document Overview

This document clearly defines standards of employee conduct with respect to specific areas, including standards of work ethic, workplace safety, personal conduct and absenteeism. Additionally, this document also sets out employee conduct expectations in relation to more complex areas such as confidentiality, use of company assets, conflicts of interest and obligations to disclose any relevant information. Furthermore, this code of conduct also links to and re-emphasises other policy documents that you may use, such as a dress code policy, working from home policy, diversity policy, equal opportunity practices or confidentiality agreement.

It is important to note that this document does not have the legally binding qualities of a formal contract or agreement. Instead, it is designed to provide employees with clear and transparent guidelines, and complement any formal policies or agreements you may already have.

Use a Code of Conduct if:

• You are a business owner who wishes to set out specific conduct guidelines for your employees.

• You wish to emphasise the importance of your company’s existing policies (such as a company-wide diversity policy).

What does a Code of Conduct provide?

• Conduct guidelines on acceptable standards of work ethic, safety, interpersonal relations, integrity, working environment, absenteeism, conflicts of interest, disclosure and more.

• Specific principles on sensitive subject areas such as conflicts of interest, use of company assets, employee assistance/counselling and confidentiality

Further Information:

• You might also be interested in: Employee Handbook

• Guide: What should an employee handbook include?