The Code of Ethics of Aflac and its Analysis
One of the largest insurance companies in America is Aflac. It is one of the family life assurance companies in America. Financial protection against income losses and asset losses are one of the areas that the company covers. Aflac has a code of ethics that controls various operations in the company including the behavior of employers and employees. This company is ranked among the ethical ones in the United States. The code of ethics and conduct of Aflac revolve around values such as honesty, integrity, respect, responsibility, and teamwork. All the directors and employees are required to carry out the business about these values (Forster, Loughran & McDonald, 2009).
Cooperate social responsibility is the duty of a company to the environment and community in which it is situated. In Aflac, code of ethics is evident in the sector of corporate social responsibility (Rupp et al., 2015). The code of ethics of the company insists on its role to the community. Aflac has a center for blood disorders and cancer for Children situated in Atalanta. Most of the funds that are used to run this center are obtained from the sales agents of Aflac who contribute via deductions that are gotten from the commissions they earn monthly. The other employees of Aflac contribute through deductions that are made on their pay which is reflected on their payrolls. This company often holds fundraising also intended to raise capital that is required to support the kids who have cancer. James Mailman of Aflac usually guides efforts to fundraise intended to aid a nonprofit organization referred to as Beads of Courage which is common for its support to the children undergoing troubled moments due to cancer.
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View of the Legal Mandates of the Code of Ethics
About legal mandates, Aflac's code of ethics is not lacking. Aflac policy insists on having fair purchases. These are made based on efficiency, service, quality, and suitability. The suppliers of Aflac are treated equally and fairly. No orders are awarded if the suppliers have not merited. The agreements and contracts that Aflac engages in comply with the laws and regulations. One such law is the business associate provisions of the privacy regulations that were put into place by the United States. If Aflac is found to violate the legal mandates in the code of ethics, the court that finds the company guilty will have to put in place a compliance monitor which is a regulation for probation (Forster, Loughran & McDonald, 2009). The company will have to pay to put in place and maintain the program of compliance. The company will also be required to pay all the costs that are related to the tenure of the compliance monitor. This probation of the company can last for a period of even five years.
To prevent such, Aflac has put in place a corporate compliance program. It has established detailed policy statements such as the code of conduct. It has also put in place training programs that pave the way for the employees to air their queries, provide their feedback and in case of violations, report the violations (Schwartz, 2005). Aflac also has policies in other areas such as managing the environment and billing health care, which has aided the employees in the company to comprehend the standards of the company thus enabling the employees to carry out their duties effectively.
The code of ethics leads to the development of an ethical culture in the company. This is because Aflac's code of ethics lays out values that are key in the organization which must be followed by the employers and employees of the organization. These values such as honesty, integrity, fairness, responsibility, and teamwork are followed to the core. Through the code of this being followed to the core, the ethical culture is enhanced in the company.
Code of Ethics and its Relation to Ethical Culture
In case the employees feel that the code of ethics is being violated, they can report the violation to the coordinator of compliance in some ways. The employs can call the Aflac helpline; they can send a fax to the coordinator, they can air their grievances through the web intake site of Aflac. The resources that I would likely use is calling the legal department and also the Aflac's helpline since the response is relatively fast. The employees can also opt to speak with the supervisors of their various departments.
Raising of Concern by Employees
Employees should report issues of unethical behavior in a prompt way. Employees should consider whether what they view as unethical practice is against the code of ethics and conduct of the company. If levels of dishonesty, lack of integrity, lack of responsibility, inequality and no ethics in corporate social responsibility are observed by an employee, then the employee is just to report the issue (Shwartz, 2005). Upon discovery of such unethical behavior, the employee should approach the immediate supervisor, the compliance coordinator, the management or the general counsel. If the employer does not want to disclose the identity, then the employer can report through calling the Aflac helpline, sending a fax to Aflac or calling the coordinator of compliance.
Benefits and Disadvantages of Paying Whistleblowers
It is important for a company to pay a whistleblower. Section 922 gives the court authority to award the whistleblower with full compensation from the company; it may demand that the company pays the whistleblower double pay including interest and also requires the company to pay other costs that include the fees for the attorney. A disadvantage of paying whistleblowers, due to lack of whistleblowing policy, is that the company will use funds of the company is seen as a loss to the stakeholders and incentives.
Effect of US Sentencing Guidelines on Organisations
The United States sentencing commission might require the various boards of directors and executive to take full responsibility for the implementation of programs dealing with ethics. The amendments might require companies to point out areas where the occurrence of criminal violation may be necessary. The companies might, therefore, be required to train employees and other personnel in matters dealing with legislation. Companies shall have to provide resources for their ethics officers with and also compliance officers so that they can do their responsibilities smoothly (Murphy, 2001). The companies must therefore even try to create an environment that favors ethics and compliance. This positive environment can only be created if the compliance officers, officers, and the human resource team work together.
Under the United States sentencing guidelines, various factors are used in the determination of fines. These include whether the company was directly involved in the offense, whether there was any collateral damage of conviction that resulted from the conduct of the organization and whether there was a nonpecuniary loss that was caused or threatened by the particular organization. In the determination of these fines, the court should also consider whether there is any previous criminal record of someone in the management of the company (Murphy, 2001). The prior misconduct or criminal records by the organization should also be taken into account when determining the fine that the organization is supposed to pay.
References
Forster, M., Loughran, T., & McDonald, B. (2009). Commonality in codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics , 90 , 129-139.
Murphy, D. E. (2001). The federal sentencing guidelines for organizations: A decade of promoting compliance and ethics. Iowa L. Rev. , 87 , 697.
Rupp, D. E., Wright, P. M., Aryee, S., & Luo, Y. (2015). Organizational justice, behavioral ethics, and corporate social responsibility: Finally, the three shall merge. Management and Organization Review , 11 (1), 15-24.
Schwartz, M. S. (2005). Universal moral values for corporate codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics , 59 (1-2), 27-44.
