Code of conduct

A code of conduct is a written document that sets out how employees are expected to behave at work: toward colleagues, customers, partners and the company itself. It translates the organization's values and legal obligations into concrete rules and examples, explains how to raise concerns and states what happens when the rules are broken. Most companies ask every new hire to read and sign it during onboarding and to re-acknowledge it when it changes.

A code of conduct is not the same as a code of ethics. The code of ethics states principles ("we act with integrity"); the code of conduct states behavior ("employees do not accept gifts from suppliers worth more than X"). Many companies combine both in one document, with the principles up front and the rules behind them.

What a code of conduct covers

• Respect and anti-harassment. Expected behavior toward colleagues, zero tolerance for harassment, discrimination and bullying, with reference to the anti-harassment policy and DEI commitments.
• Conflicts of interest. Outside employment, personal relationships at work, financial interests in suppliers or competitors, and how to disclose them.
• Gifts, hospitality and anti-bribery. What may be accepted or offered, thresholds, and the approval process.
• Confidentiality and data protection. Handling of company, customer and employee data, use of personal devices, obligations under GDPR or local privacy law.
• Use of company assets. Equipment, systems, expense accounts and time, including acceptable use of email, internet and AI tools.
• Communication and social media. Speaking on behalf of the company, personal posts that mention the employer, contact with press.
• Health, safety and substance use. Workplace safety obligations and rules on alcohol and drugs.
• Reporting concerns. Who to contact, how to report anonymously, protection for whistleblowers, and the promise of no retaliation.
• Consequences. The link to disciplinary procedures, from a warning to dismissal.

Why a code of conduct matters

Clarity. People cannot follow rules they have never seen. A written code removes the excuse of "nobody told me" and gives managers a shared reference when a situation is unclear.

Legal protection. In many jurisdictions, having a communicated and acknowledged code is part of showing the employer took reasonable steps to prevent harassment, bribery or data misuse. It also makes disciplinary action defensible, because the standard was known in advance.

Culture. The code is where company values become specific. "Integrity" is abstract; "we do not backdate documents" is a behavior a new hire can follow on day one. It is one of the few artifacts of company culture that every employee reads.

Trust with customers and partners. Enterprise customers, investors and public tenders increasingly ask for a code of conduct as part of due diligence.

How to write and roll out a code of conduct

1. Start from real situations. Ask managers and HR which grey areas come up most often and write the code to answer those, with short examples. A code that only repeats the law is not read.
2. Write for employees, not lawyers. Plain language, short sections, one behavior per rule. Have legal review it afterwards rather than draft it.
3. Make it findable. Publish it where employees already look for policies, not in a PDF attached to an email from three years ago.
4. Collect acknowledgment. Every employee signs the current version, ideally electronically, and the signed copy is stored in their file. New hires sign during onboarding; everyone re-signs when the code is revised.
5. Train on it. A short session or e-learning at onboarding and a refresher when it changes, with scenarios rather than a read-through.
6. Apply it consistently. The fastest way to make a code worthless is to enforce it for junior staff and ignore it for senior ones.
7. Review it yearly. New laws, new tools (remote work, AI) and incidents from the past year all show where the code needs updating.

Managing the code of conduct in PeopleForce

In PeopleForce Core HR, the code of conduct lives in the knowledge base, where every employee can find the current version, and in the documents section, where each person's signed copy is stored on their profile. Electronic signature lets HR send the document to one employee or a whole company for signing and track who has signed and who has not, with qualified signatures available through Diia.Signature in Ukraine and Autenti in Poland. An onboarding workflow adds "read and sign the code of conduct" as a task for every new hire with a due date, and when the code is revised, the same request can be sent to everyone again so the acknowledgment record stays complete.