Viewpoint - Viewpoint

 “ Most people have convictions about what is right and wrong based on religious beliefs, cultural roots, family background, personal experiences, laws, organizational values, professional norms and political habits. These are not the best values to make ethical decisions by — not because they are unimportant, but because they are not universal.   In contrast to consensus ethical values - such basics as trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship - personal and professional beliefs vary over time, among cultures and among members of the same society.

They are a source of continuous historical disagreement, even wars. There is nothing wrong with having strong personal and professional moral convictions about right and wrong, but unfortunately, some people are "moral imperialists" who seek to impose their personal moral judgments on others. The universal ethical value of respect for others dictates honoring the dignity and autonomy of each person and cautions against self-righteousness in areas of legitimate controversy.”
- A wonderful Quote from the JOSEPHSON INSTITUTE OF ETHICS

So the All Debatable Question - Is it like the chicken and the egg, which came first? Ethics or a Legal System – the Laws as we know them to be?

We would be hard pressed to suggest that they are not related; If we dig deep into history, even as far back as to the forefathers of Ethics - Plato and Aristotle, who had determined that one’s interpretation of the law will necessarily influence the interpretation of ethics, or people’s behaviors and vice versa; they form a package, and thus to understand the system of law one must understand the system of ethics.

If we were to really dig deeper we can review the Father of Democracy - the works of Democritus. – Why Democracy? Well because Democracy applies to “The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community”

Philosophy of Politics better known as Social History or Social Economics is generally limited to the internal process of Government and independent and/or Dependent Nations. Focusing on how these countries developed, how they grew, how they established themselves, and their laws. And to determine which Governing system may be “better”, more Fair, equal, or more sound than others.

So how is this related to Ethics? In a society, creation of justice is dependent upon what actions are right or wrong, the protection of the vulnerable within such a society and the protection of personal needs and individual privacy. Of course there is the added element of which actions can and should be constrained by outside human forces - thus new laws are created to protect the needs of the majority to allow society to be equally fair and just for most!

Maybe we can think of it like the political and/or personal yardstick, which is used to determine and cope with situations where the standard law fails to provide legal solutions to the public in protecting human rights and maintaining the welfare of the economy. Since there are No clear guidelines between law and ethics, and dealing with predicament of each Person’s interpretation of their individual obligation and personal conscience; then we are left with the Law to facilitate the process by creating these guidelines for us.

So when society has a Shared consensus that an existence of an action or reaction which can threaten the peace, flow and harmony of the people within a society, then laws must created to restore a baseline for Democracy .

The unethical action will then be later given a name, which may fall under the Legal System as a potential Infraction, Misdemeanor or Felony

The next step is to determine the punishment, what would be considered fair, resonable or too harsh.

Of course Obedience to law is not absolute. When important ethical principles are jeopardized by legal issues, citizens are confronted with an ethical problem. An attempt to alter the law and, if need be, balance the scales of civil disobedience remains one of the Cornerstones of all Democratic Processes; or anarchy will abound.

Some laws which came into effect due to the protection of human rights, established based upon a moral stance : Civil Rights, Equal Pay, 6th Amendment, 4th Amendment, clean air acts, energy conversation laws (protect our environment), price fixing.

People and associations who facilitated changes and instituted Laws due to ethics and need to protect the masses - Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Women’s Rights Movement, United Nations (have several divisions to concern and develop human, economic, social and cultural rights. ACLU, FTC, Peoples Republic, Public Citizen are some Noted current private Non Profits.

In Closing - there are those who, like myself, believe that there should be a duty of care, confidentiality, social responsibility and compliance with the laws of the employment industry.

We strive to defend positive values, ethical and legal behavior and Social Responsibility to the Public and Professional Business world through encouraging more positive business practices.

Thus the link between professional ethics and the law whether legal or moral is - The regulation of behavior and the Protection of Society for the benefit of All.

Social Responsibility + Knowledge + Ability = Business Excellence + Profitability 

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ABOUT KAREN MATTONEN, CAC, CSP

Karen Mattonen, has built the reputation as a passionate advocate of workforce ethics and labor relations.  Her passion, Knowledge and network has escalated over the years to a point where she is faithfully engaged  by 1000's of corporate professionals that appreciate her insight and perspective.

As a result of feedback from her articles, and blogs, and from attending a variety of conferences; Karen came away frustrated that the "experts " usually stopped short of making firm recommendations which might actually aid professionals as they returned to their workloads.

While appreciating the counsel offered at these popular events, she felt that an attempt should be made to disseminate more, and better information by the industry's regulatory agencies, and peer reviewed experts.

Her passionate and tireless advocacy has led her to create HireCentrix - The Pulse of H.R, Regulation, Retention, Recruiting and Risk Management www.hirecentrix.com.   Hirecentrix is a company dedicated to providing training to the HR, recruiting and staffing industries, which includes a special focus on the ethical and legal dimensions through offering a full service resource for individuals to share and communicate, obtain current and accurate information, acquire and provide education and learning within the quickly expanding, diverse and rapidly changing Recruiting and Human Resource climate.

HireCentrix makes available Critical, Actionable and Required direction and insight, often from  sources among the most qualified on the subject.  The HireCentrix experience is made available in a way that overcomes the time and budget challenges that plague the modern reality of Human Capital professionals.

Karen has achieved accreditation as a California Accredited Consultant (CAC) through California Staffing Professionals. She has also gained her Certified Staffing Professional Certificate (CSP) through American Staffing Professionals. (www.americanstaffing.net)

Outside of the HR community, Karen Mattonen has been cited by Microsoft as a resource in how to use Microsoft Outlook as an ATS. She has also served as the Marketing and Public Relations Director for the 3rd largest city in Utah.

Click here to reach Karen via email.

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