Discussion on question by J. Doe: Disagreeing with company's code of conduct

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00:35

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Q: Disagreeing with company's code of conduct

I got new job. This is first time I am working in big corporate so some things are bit new for me. Right now, I am supposed to study company's internal code of conduct and then sign that I have read and acknowledge it. However, I have objections to certain parts of it and assumptions they make. A...

Justin Cave

Can you explain a bit about the nature of your objections? Is it the case, for example, that you would be unable to comply with the code of conduct because of these objections? Or, say, do you find that you object to the code of conduct because you find that it doesn't go far enough and allows conduct that you would object to? Having read a whole lot of codes of conduct for different companies, I'm a little hard-pressed to imagine a term I'd actively object to-- they mostly come down to making sure that employees comply with the company's legal obligations.

J. Doe

@JustinCave: I intentionally omitted examples, because i want to avoid discussing the concrete objections, some of which may be controversial. I get legal obligations and that's mostly fine by me.

Philip Kendall

@J.Doe The trouble is the nature of the objections do matter a lot. If you object to "I agree to treat all colleagues fairly independent of race", you can go take a running jump. If you object to a very specific edge case which is unlikely to occur, the company may be prepared to work with you to get it modified.

5

quarague

You can talk to a workers union representative or some similar organization whose purpose is supporting workers rights if they exist in your company and asked them how the issues you object to are interpreted and handled in practice.

J. Doe

@PhilipKendall My objections are about things that are uncommon, but not unheard of. Sometimes, my objections are about underlying philosophy, rather than concrete guidelines.

Anyway, thank you all for your answers and insights.

Philip Kendall

00:35

@J.Doe As you're not prepared to give examples, I've giving one where an "uncommon" behaviour is still completely unacceptable in the workplace. Either make your exceptions concrete, or people will speculate, either on this site or in real life.

Hilmar

@J.Doe Keep in mind that your signature only confirms that you have "read" and "accept terms and conditions". Your signature simply signifies "I'm aware of what the rules are and what happens if I break them". The signature has nothing to do with how you feel about the rules themselves or whether you agree with them or not

reirab

A location and more specifics about the policies to which you object and the nature of the objection are really needed to answer this question well. The answers given are good in general, but there are lots of potential corner cases where they may not apply as well, especially since employment laws can be quite different from one place to another.

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Gregory Currie

It's really not our place to dissect the relevant workplace policy and try to reconcile it with the OPs point of view. If they don't want to reveal, that's fair enough. There are certain corner-cases I agree, but they can almost certainly be grouped into categories. I'm incredibly cautions that if the OP reveals anything remotely political, it will become sidetracked.

sleske

The Q as present does not really work for this site. There are multiple quesitons, some parts are purely subjective ("Am i supposed to just shut up, sign the papers?"). If edited down to a single, clear question it might work. VTC for now.

PC Luddite

These code of conduct things are usually pretty boilerplate and drafted by the legal department. I doubt they very dramatically from organizations with the exception of religious or mission focused ones. I think there's a nonzero chance that the OP is misinterpreting it. They may be concerned over a misunderstanding.

marcelm

00:35

You already started working there? Did you already sign an employment contract? If so, I'd argue this should have been part of signing on for the job, not provided after. But good luck resisting. What jurisdiction is this?

J. Doe

@PCLuddite: Could you elaborate? How do you think I am misinterpreting it?

@marcelm: Yes, I started few days ago. Contract specified I am supposed to abide by Code of Conduct, but I got the actual document after. I would assume that's actually common practice.

Gregory Currie

@marcelm Typically an employer can change the code of conduct at any time. So it really doesn't matter if you get given it before or after signing. If you breach the code of conduct in the small window of time between starting and it being handed to you, things get a little bit interesting, but common sense usually prevails here.

BSMP

"Can I reasonably say that I have some objections, refuse to sign and keep the job..?" You can't even use a web site without agreeing to its Terms & Conditions. And while this is the first time you've had a job with a formal Code of Conduct, it's not the first time you've had a job with rules, right? Why would an employer let their employees decide which rules to follow?

J. Doe

@BSMP: It feels different when it is written down and requires your signature.

BSMP

But are you expecting that not signing it opts you out in some way or something else?

Aaron F

00:35

Can you get away with ignoring it? (That's what I've done with my current company's IT department's conditions of use document, and it's been 5 years without anyone querying it)

J. Doe

@BSMP: I am not sure what I am to expect after not signing the document. That is part of the question.

@AaronF: I like the way you think. I don't think I could get way with that, but I guess there is only one way to find out, right?

DonQuiKong

Knowing some corporations, simply forgetting to sign can definitely work

BSMP

06:48

@J.Doe I don't understand what the problem is unless you think signing or not signing it changes something.

user253751

09:04

@PhilipKendall from experience, most people who argue about such things and refuse to state what they object to are objecting to something like "I agree to treat all colleagues fairly independent of race"......

Jesse Wyatt

09:27

Considering the current political climate, my first assumption if someone said they disagreed with the company code of conduct is that it's some clause about respecting other's chosen pronouns.

This question really can't be answered without proper context of the specific objection, because it could be a number of different problems. You generally cannot "disagree" with a CoC because they're usually considered a condition of employment.

If the issue is with a clause like "respecting others regardless of X", then you're the person they're hoping to tame with the CoC and there is no way for …

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Discussion on question by J. Doe: Dis…