ERC Employee Policies
The Ethics Resource Center (ERC) is committed to providing an equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees in full compliance with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin, handicap or disability status.
All employees and applicants will be provided equal opportunity under applicable laws in all aspects of employment including recruitment, hiring, compensation, transfers, promotions and all other conditions and privileges of employment.
Harassment of any employee due to her/his race, religion, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin, handicap or disability status is strictly forbidden; any employee experiencing such harassment should report it immediately to her/his supervisor or any other member of the ERC’s Leadership Team.
The ERC is committed to maintaining a work environment that is free of harassment or intimidation. In keeping with this strong commitment, the ERC will not tolerate harassment of employees by anyone, including any supervisor, co-worker, vendor, client, customer or visitor of the ERC.
Harassment consists of unwelcome conduct, whether verbal, physical or visual, that is based upon an individual’s sex, race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, disability or other classification protected by law. The ERC will not tolerate harassing conduct that affects pay or benefits, that interferes with an individual’s work performance or that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
While all referenced types of harassment are prohibited, sexual harassment deserves special reference. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other physical, verbal or visual conduct based on sex constitute sexual harassment when:
a) Submission to such conduct is made either an explicit or implicit term, condition or requirement of an individual’s employment;
b) Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for an employment decision affecting the individual; and
c) Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
Any individual either experiencing or observing a suspected incident of harassment should report the incident to her/his supervisor or to any other member of the ERC’s Leadership Team or the Ethics Committee.
All complaints of sexual harassment will receive immediate attention. It is the ERC’s policy to investigate all such complaints thoroughly, promptly and in an impartial manner. If such an investigation reveals that the complaint is valid, the ERC will administer disciplinary and other corrective action as appropriate to stop the harassment and prevent its recurrence. Such disciplinary action shall include any corrective action deemed necessary, up to and including immediate termination of employment. Discipline will be based on the severity of the offense. To the fullest extent practical, the ERC will keep complaints, related investigations and the terms of their resolution confidential to the extent it is able within the context of the organization’s duty to investigate and comply with applicable laws. Retaliation against victims, complainants or witnesses is prohibited, and will be considered an independent violation of this policy.
All ERC employees are responsible for helping to ensure that the ERC successfully avoids harassment and its effects.
Your resume and application for employment at the ERC are considered a truthful and accurate representation of your background. These, along with any references and offer letters, become a regular part of your confidential personnel records. Any false, misleading, or materially incomplete statements in your application or resume may be grounds for immediate termination of your employment.
Only the employee and appropriately designated management employees may have access to his/her personnel records. Also included in these records are all personnel actions, including promotions, salary increases, performance reviews, disciplinary actions, etc. The employee may request a review of her/his personnel file by making an appointment with the President or Vice President of Administration.
Hiring of Relatives (or Other Employee Household Members) for Full-, Part-time or Temporary Help
Members of an employee’s immediate family will be considered based upon their qualifications. Immediate family may not be hired, however, if it would:
- Create a supervisor/subordinate relationship between family members;
- Have the potential for creating an adverse impact on work performance; or
- Create either an actual conflict of interest or the appearance of such a conflict.
This policy must also be considered when assigning, transferring or promoting an employee. For the purpose of this policy, immediate family includes mother, father, sister, brother, spouse or domestic partner, child, step-child or anyone else related by blood or by law. Employees who marry or become members of the same household may continue employment as long as it does not result in any of the above conflicts. If one of these conditions occurs, attempts will be made to find a suitable position within the organization for one of the employees. If accommodations of this nature are not feasible, one member must resign. In such a situation the ERC reserves the right to terminate either party if necessary.
Proof of Eligibility for Employment
In accordance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, ERC will hire only those individuals who are authorized to work in the
If you are authorized to work in the
The ERC will not exclude any qualified and eligible candidate because of his or her national origin or citizenship.
The ERC requires its staff, contractors, temporary employees and any other person or organization otherwise working on behalf of the ERC to affirm that the highest standards of professional conduct and integrity will be utilized while serving ERC clients and stakeholders.
We are obligated to preserve and protect confidential information about our clients and stakeholders, their businesses and the business of the ERC. Client and stakeholder information will be protected from direct or indirect disclosure to any person other than those engaged in the service of the client or stakeholder or who otherwise has a legitimate “need to know.”
Each employee will be required to read, sign and abide by the ERC Confidentiality Policy (Appendix A). Breach of this policy will be grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including immediate termination of employment.
Employment Reference Inquiries
Only the ERC Leadership Team may respond to employee reference inquiries from other employers. Responses to such inquiries will be limited to an official written letter of reference that shall be shared with the individual employee and become a part of the employee file. No information beyond the official letter will be given.
Punctuality and prompt, regular attendance are expected of all employees. If you are unable to report for work as scheduled because of illness or other emergency reasons beyond your control, it is your responsibility to:
1. Speak to in person or leave a message for your supervisor, and
2. Leave a message in the “General Mailbox” at 703-647-2185.
3. Change your email to ‘out of office’ and change your voicemail to reflect that you are not in the office
Excessive and unauthorized absences and tardiness will be considered grounds for administrative action or dismissal.
On occasion it is appropriate for an employee to work from home during a regular workday. Any employee wishing to work from home MUST receive approval from their supervisor in advance.
Employees may not notify staff independently via e-mail that they are working from home. Such communications can only occur following approval from the employee’s supervisor. In turn the supervisor will inform the staff of employee’s intentions to work from home. Electing to work from home without approval in advance will jeopardize that day’s compensation.
Employees who feel that they have a work-related problem or who would like to seek advice and counsel are encouraged to discuss problems with ERC’s Leadership Team or the Ethics Officer without fear of reprisal or recrimination. Problem Resolution at the ERC is a four-step process:
1. Employees should first attempt to resolve a problem by approaching each other directly.
2. If approaching each other is unsuccessful, employees experiencing a problem are urged to discuss the issues or concerns with her/his own supervisor.
3. If that does not resolve the problem, or if the problem is with the employee’s supervisor, contact the Office Manager, Vice President of Administration for assistance.
4. If the problem cannot be solved at this level, any of the employees involved may request a meeting with the President. After all affected employees have an opportunity to address the matter, the President’s decision will be final.
Unauthorized copying of any licensed software used to support the ERC’s activities is prohibited. Use of licensed software to support ERC activities and is not registered to the ERC or any of its employees is strictly illegal and prohibited. Individual employees will be held personally responsible if this policy is violated. Personal software is not permitted. Individual exceptions must be cleared through the Office Manager.
All ERC purchases of software must go through the Office Manager.
The ERC generally allows staff to download programs such as Real Player, Adobe Acrobat, Spybot, Anti-spyware, WinZip, and similar freeware that is appropriate and useful in the context of business.
Downloading games and other recreational material considered a distraction in the workplace is prohibited.
Staff members are permitted to utilize Instant Messaging for the primary purpose of maintaining professional relationships. Occasional personal messages are understandable and permissible as long as they do not distract the employee from completing all work assignments. Lengthy messaging sessions (more than 30 minutes over the course of the day) are considered an abuse of work time. ERC staff may not use profane language or express themselves in an unprofessional manner while instant messaging at work.
The ERC permits staff to access the Internet during office hours. We believe that it is vital for research and is integral to the future of our work and business in general.
As a professional staff, we do not seek to regulate usage, but urge good time management that ensures that the Internet does not become an obstacle to productivity. A good rule of thumb is that no more than 30 minutes per day should be spent on the Intranet in connection to non work activities. Anything more could become excessive.
Under no circumstances is staff permitted to view or download pornographic materials or to visit any sites not considered appropriate for general audiences on ERC computer equipment.
One should always remember that visiting a web site is not “secret.” Most sites have programs that track the “cookies” of computers that visit them.. It would not be a good thing for our domain name (ethics.org) to be associated with any inappropriate organizations or web sites. Please contact the Office Manager if you would like to have spyware installed on your computer. You will be responsible for maintaining spyware definitions up to date.
Effective March 2006, ERC has implemented a content filtering system that will monitor internet traffic by computer. ERC web traffic will be reviewed on a routine basis by ERC’s technical consultant and senior management as appropriate. This effort is not to constrict those who are actively utilizing the Internet in the course of their daily work, but to protect the organization vulnerability to potential risks. While this technology could allow ERC to deny access to certain types of sites, key words and instant messaging, it is not currently intended to be used in that fashion. Employees will continue to have open access unless that situation is perceived to be problematic to ERC’s productivity or reputation.
The ERC understands that blogs can be a positive tool professionally and personally. It is an interesting medium of self-expression and outreach.
At this time, ERC does not sponsor a professional blog. Any decisions to do so must be made by the President since the purpose and objectives for such a tool should be clear to ERC and all who might participate.
ERC understands that employees may elect to participate in personal blogs during non-work hours. ERC prohibits employees from discussing the name of the organization, work related activities, clients, confidential information to the organization’s research, survey activity, client work or other projects on blogs. Employees are also advised not to make veiled references to the organization or their work since a blog is a public space and sometimes even the best intentions to mask the organization can fail. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in immediate termination.
ERC understands that post a single blog entry during the work day can be therapeutic and relaxing. Posting several entries in a day, however, becomes a distraction in the work day and is considered an abuse of ERC work time and equipment. Abusing ERC work time and equipment is cause for termination.
Photocopying of Copyrighted Material
ERC employees are expected to comply completely with all applicable laws and regulations concerning copyright protection. Photocopying of materials that are covered by copyright protection must be limited to purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching and research, in conjunction with our non-profit, educational aims. In all other cases, written permission must be obtained from the copyright holder before copying the material.
Destruction of Confidential and Proprietary Materials
There are two designated bins to be used for the disposal of financial, survey drafts, any material that might be considered confidential. One is located in the work room and the second bin in the Small Conference room. Confidential and sensitive materials should not be placed in your personal waste bin. This also included the emailing of documents off site. Please use caution when sending email to Non – ERC persons who have not signed confidentiality agreements with ERC. Failure to do so could be grounds for dismissal. ERC’s success is directly related to keeping proprietary materials confidential.
Employees are expected to dress in business casual attire Monday through Friday. Business casual attire should be items of dress that are appropriate for an office environment and that communicate that this is a professional place of business. Denim or tennis shoes are never appropriate.
There are occasional “dress down” days. These may occur when ERC is not expecting guests in the office, on Dress Down days casual attire is permitted. Casual attire includes neat jeans and other items suitable for a business environment. Overly casual items such as sweat shirts and sweat pants are not appropriate. Casual should not mean a complete disregard for a professional image. Senior management will notify staff of any declared “dress down” days.
Staff will be notified of “Dress-Up Days” as they occur. A Dress-Up Day indicates that a guest is expected in the office and that all staff members should wear professional business dress for that day.
All employees meeting with clients or others outside the office should wear professional business dress while on appointments.
The ERC recognizes the right of its employees to spend their time away from the job as they please. It does, however, require that activities away from the job not compromise the ERC’s interests or adversely affect the employee’s job performance and ability to fulfill her/his professional responsibilities.
Outside employment for full-time employees is not encouraged, and the prior approval of your supervisor must be obtained before undertaking such a commitment. Approval will be withheld if it is deemed that the proposed employment will reduce the employee’s efficiency in working for the ERC or may adversely affect the ERC’s image or reputation.
Employees who accept outside employment will not be eligible for paid sick or personal absence when the absence is used to work on the outside job or is the result of an injury sustained on the outside job. Under no circumstances may the ERC assets be used for activities related to outside employment.
Substance Abuse and Possession
The ERC forbids the abuse of alcohol by any employee while on ERC property or while pursuing ERC business at other locations. We acknowledge that there are many circumstances where during a meal or while entertaining clients, the consumption of an alcoholic beverage by an employee of legal age is appropriate. Employees should always use careful judgment in these circumstances and avoid intoxication.
The ERC also prohibits the illegal use, possession, sale or other distribution of any drugs. Violation of this policy will be grounds for immediate disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Receiving Gifts
All gifts received from clients, vendors or others by ERC employees in the context of their employment become the property of the ERC. All gifts should be turned into or will be collected by the Vice President of Administration or Office Manager, and saved for an employee raffle at some time throughout the year. If an employee would like to keep a particular gift, he/she may request a waiver of this policy by the ERC Leadership Team or the President.
Giving Gifts
As a rule the ERC does not give potential clients or donors “gifts.” It may however, become appropriate to offer a meal or some other item of nominal value (under $25). The purchase of meals or other nominal items should be approved by the department supervisor or the Vice President of Administration prior to the expenditure or immediately thereafter. In addition, it is the responsibility of the employee to ensure that such an offer is in compliance with the gift policy of the recipient.
Employees with life-threatening illnesses (such as cancer, heart disease and AIDS) often wish to continue their normal pursuits, including work, to the extent allowed by their condition. The ERC supports these endeavors as long as employees are able to meet acceptable performance standards. As in the case of other disabilities, the ERC will make reasonable accommodations in accordance with all legal requirements to allow qualified employees with life-threatening illnesses to perform the essential functions of their jobs.
Medical information on individual employees is treated confidentially. The ERC will take every reasonable precaution to protect such information from inappropriate disclosure. Directors and other employees have a responsibility to respect and maintain the confidentiality of employee medical information. Anyone inappropriately disclosing such information is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including immediate termination of employment.
Employees with questions or concerns about life-threatening illnesses are encouraged to contact the Vice President of Administration for information and referral to appropriate services and resources.
REIMBURSEMENT and TRAVEL POLICIES
The following section describes the various policies concerning traveling while on ERC business, allowable expenses and reimbursement procedures. This section serves as a reference for employees. The ERC reserves the right to change, amend or terminate any of these policies without prior notice. ERC management will attempt to make all changes, amendments and terminations generally known through staff meetings and email by supplementing this manual.
Travel Arrangements
All travel arrangements should be made through the ERC-approved travel service or appointed staff member. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by the Vice President or Vice President of Administration.
Air Travel
The ERC expects that all employees and independent contract consultants will secure travel fares that are reasonable.
All ERC employees and independent contract consultants will secure the most reasonable coach class ticket for all trips. Employees and independent contract consultants are permitted, however, to upgrade tickets through the use of frequent flyer miles available on their personal accounts.
The ERC allows staff traveling on ERC business to keep frequent flyer miles and other similar point systems associated with travel for their personal use.
Most fares in Economy/Coach class may have an airline-imposed penalty fee of $100 or more per passenger for changes and cancellations, plus any applicable increase in the fare. Some tickets are non-refundable, but can be applied (for a limited time) toward future travel, less any applicable penalties. Some tickets do not allow changes.
Penalties for changed tickets will be reimbursed if the changes were the result of a client change or other reasonable need on the part of the employee. The ERC expects that any penalties incurred due to carelessness or indecision will be paid by the employee or independent contractor.
International travel, due to the length of some destinations, may require special consideration. Please discuss such arrangements with the Office Manager or Vice President to determine an approach that considers the traveler as well as expense.
Frequent Flyer Miles and Other Benefit Programs
The ERC allows staff traveling on ERC business to keep frequent flyer miles and other similar point systems associated with travel for their personal use.
Lodging
Employees should stay in moderately-priced establishments (e.g.: Hilton, Marriott). Employees are encouraged to ask clients for hotel recommendations with corporate or discounted rates.
Meals
Meal expenses, including tip, must be limited as follows:
Breakfast $15.00
Lunch $20.00
Dinner $45.00
Host Gifts in lieu of Lodging
If you stay with friends or relatives, in lieu of a hotel, you may purchase a gift for your hosts not to exceed $25.00 in value and/or invite your hosts to a meal. The cost of the meal should not exceed $100.00 or one night’s lodging, whichever is lower.
Entertainment
Employees may not entertain current or prospective clients or donors without the explicit prior approval of their supervisor.
Receipts
All expenses over $20.00 must be accompanied by original receipts. Lost receipts over $25 need to be replaced by calling the vendor for a copy.
Reporting Expenses
Reimbursable expenses include:
- Meals (may include reasonable consumption of alcoholic beverages as long as total meal expense remains within per diem)
- Lodging
- Taxis
- Car Rentals
- Auto Mileage on use of personal vehicle
- Parking
- Laundry, if the engagement requires 4 or more consecutive days of travel
- Telephone – business calls and one 10-minute personal call a night
- Tips for meals, transportation, etc.
The following items are not reimbursable:
Expenses of over $25.00 not accompanied by a receipt
- Air travel upgrades, other than within the guidelines described above
- Personal entertainment, such as movie rental, night clubs, health clubs
- Travel expenses for family members traveling with you
- Personal sundries
Expense Reports and Reimbursements
All expenses should be submitted on the ERC Travel Expense Form. All original receipts should be taped to white paper to facilitate photocopying. Please include the receipts for airfare, even though it has been charged to the ERC.
All expense reports are to be submitted to your supervisor for approval within seven days of return from travel. Finance must receive the approved expense reports within ten days of return from travel to facilitate client billing.
The ERC reserves the right to withhold a paycheck of any employee that does not process expenses in a timely manner since the employee’s delay negatively impacts the organization’s cash flow position. Faxed, emailed or express delivery of such reports is acceptable until the original receipts can be received by Finance.
Employees are required to provide three copies of the signed expense report and receipts. We recommend making a fourth copy for your records.
- Original – To finance to be processed for your reimbursement
- Copy 1 and 2 – To finance to be sent to the client as back up with a copy for our invoice files.
- Copy 3 – For your records
Corporate Credit Cards
ERC staff members whose job responsibilities include travel on behalf of the organization will be issued a Corporate Credit Card with the approval of their department director. The use of this card is a privilege, and may be revoked if mismanaged or abused.
Anyone accepting a corporate card agrees to:
- Take responsibility for all charges to the account number issued, such that receipts for all purchases are provided and the account is reconciled on a monthly basis.
- Reconcile their statement such that each charge to the assigned account number is properly coded according to the ERC Chart of Accounts, supported by a receipt and has necessary signatures of approval. Failure to provide complete reconciliation or the attachments will result in personal liability for the charges.
- Use the card for business-related travel, meals, hotels, car rentals and other expenses in accordance with the Employee Manual Section 6 – Reimbursement and Travel.
- Not charge personal expenses.
- Turn in the card when the employment relationship ends, or when asked to do so by ERC leadership.
- Be personally responsible for any unauthorized or unsubstantiated charges.
Mileage
Employees will be reimbursed for the use of their personal vehicles while on ERC business at the rate established by the IRS. Business travel is defined as travel from your home to a business location (not ERC offices) that exceeds the number of miles you would normally travel to work or trips driven from ERC to a client location and back. ERC does not reimburse for usual travel to and from work.
The current IRS rate is 55 cents per mile.
Travel for Non-exempt Staff
Non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 hours per week. This requirement is clear when one’s work is confined to the office environment, where start and end times are more defined. However, the situation quickly becomes blurred when non-exempt staff members travel away from home on ERC business. For this reason, we have developed the following guidelines:
- Non-exempt staff members are not eligible for overtime pay when business travel (i.e. time in a plane, train or car) extends beyond the normal workday. The Department of Labor does not count this as work time for overtime purposes.
- Non-exempt staff members are eligible for overtime pay if they are required to travel during normal working hours on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday.
- Non-exempt staff members are eligible for overtime pay when business requires that they work beyond 40 hours in a week (less any time for meals), or when work is required on a Saturday, Sunday or ERC holiday. Essentially, the same rules apply to non-exempt employees working off-site as in the office. See Section 3 - 4 of the Employee Manual.
- The number of overtime hours can vary depending upon actual circumstances and should be determined and approved by the department director in advance.
- When an employee is required to work overtime on any particular day, the department director may provide time off during the same work week in lieu of overtime pay. If this cannot be scheduled due to the press of work or because the overtime occurs late in the week, the employee will be paid overtime for all hours in excess of 40 hours per week.
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