Maintaining a high ethical standard is essential for all organizations, regardless of industry or size—and it’s an imperative that touches all employees and contingent workers. This collection of policies addresses some of the biggest concerns of today’s employment landscape to help ensure that there’s no ambiguity about what is (or isn’t) considered acceptable behavior.

The policies:

• Ethics policy: Vendor relationships
  These guidelines give IT employees who have relationships with suppliers and vendors a clear understanding of their obligations and responsibilities. Suppliers and vendors are vital to the success of the organization, and the delivery and maintenance of their products and services affects everyone. Vendors that demonstrate dedication to customer satisfaction, cost effectiveness, quality, and innovation are those the organization will strive to engage.

• IT consultant code of conduct
  
  This document is designed to serve as a template that technology consultants and consulting firms can use to create a standardized ethical, professional, and behavioral code of conduct for its employees, contractors, and subcontractors.

• Conflict of interest policy
  Many IT departments hire independent contractors to work on certain projects to reduce costs and obtain expertise that the in-house staff doesn’t have. However, when a contractor takes on work from other parties, a conflict of interest could arise. This policy establishes the ground rules that will allow a hired consultant to work on a project for another party. Permission for such a situation is at the company’s discretion and is dependent on meeting the policy requirements.

• Nondisclosure policy
  This policy outlines the measures the organization is taking to ensure protection of its confidential information, including the imposition of a contractual obligation in the form of a nondisclosure agreement (NDA).

• Commercial endorsement policy
  This policy outlines the appropriate procedures for conducting commercial endorsements to ensure that legal and ethical guidelines are properly followed and that the company and its staff are safeguarded.