MenuHaving an effective compliance program is crucial to promoting ethics in the workplace and protecting your company from non-compliant behavior. To successfully foster a culture of compliance and ethics, one of the most important pieces of your compliance program is a well-publicized, well-understood and well-lived Code of Conduct.
If, however, your company has multiple locations across the globe, creating a single Code of Conduct that’s understood by everyone poses somewhat of a unique challenge.
For most compliance professionals, the main concern is the amount of variation in the regulatory environments of different countries. It may seem nearly impossible to have just one Code to which all employees worldwide are subject. The truth is: Not only is an all-encompassing Code of Conduct possible, but in some ways, it’s actually much more desirable.
The Importance Of A Singular Code Of Conduct
It may surprise you, but you don’t actually need a different Code of Conduct for each country in which you have an office located. A compelling and informative Code is a powerful tool for unifying the corporate culture, and issuing different Codes or even Code supplements to employees in differing geographies can interfere with that unity. It may also create confusion in terms of who is subject to which provisions of the Code, who has certified to what Code and so on.
Keep in mind, however, that if all staff members are subject to one Code, it is essential for that Code to be written in a manner that’s relevant to everyone. Understandably, companies headquartered in the U.S. will have Codes that are heavily influenced by U.S. law, and the same holds true for companies headquartered in Germany, Japan, etc. These Codes can still be very sensitive to the fact that there are additional compliance risks in the international environment.
Depending on the subject matter specific to your company, there are a number of ways to be all-encompassing. As an example, U.S. companies are subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act, which comprises antitrust rules governing certain activities with respect to competitors and customers. While EU Competition rules are not identical to the Sherman Act, they are based more or less on the same fundamental principles.
If you’re a U.S. company with sales operations in the EU, your Code of Conduct may include a chapter on anti-competition laws, explain the general principles and focus any granular comments on the specifics of U.S. law, explaining clearly that this is where they are coming from. It’s important to communicate that there may be additional local details that differ depending on the staff’s locations, and encourage those people to seek guidance from their company’s local branch of compliance professionals. It would also be beneficial to provide training and communications support to the EU group talking about the specifics of the local environment. Ultimately, though, all employees would be held to the same Code of Conduct.
Achieving A Unified Language With Appropriate Lexicons
You must examine the language in your Code of Conduct from the perspective of each culture to which the document will be introduced. This helps to ensure that all of the concepts contained in the Code are as clear and meaningful to its readers as they are to the compliance professionals at company headquarters. By including representatives of each of the cultures in the content approval process, as well as approvals in the translation and localization phase (if different languages are necessary), you are able to avoid significant miscommunication down the line.
Additionally, you always want to be certain that the information you provide about Reporting and Whistleblower hotlines in a global Code is acceptable, given differences in global privacy laws, no matter where you are doing business. Be sure to check with your company’s attorneys on this matter prior to publishing your Code of Conduct.
A Code of Conduct, especially one that is intended to be used globally, is an important asset to your company. It is a vital piece to your compliance program – one that needs to be communicated clearly and understood universally. In the end, it’s crucial for protecting your company from liability and maintaining a culture of ethics.
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