Shining a Spotlight on Ethics

We all want to work for an employer we can believe in.

We want to be treated respectfully, and be able to trust the people around us.

Studies show that the more secure employees feel about their organization’s values, the more productive and enthusiastic they are. They miss less work, too.

“Ethics are at the core of what we are about,” said Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer. “If you act ethically, you can sleep at night and everything else will fall into place.”

Most of the time, the County works quietly, behind the scenes to make sure integrity is at the heart of what we all do. We don’t necessarily spend a lot of time talking about ethics, because they are just something we live every day.

This month, that’s going to change. March is National Ethics Awareness Month, and the County will mark the occasion by highlighting its latest work to ensure a strong, ethical culture. The County will spotlight ethics-related resources available to employees and feature a few employees who are living the County’s core values every day.

Among the biggest recent developments is one taking effect today. The County’s Office of Internal Affairs is changing its name to the Office of Ethics and Compliance (OEC) and restructuring its department and mission. Under a series of changes approved by the Board of Supervisors last month, the renamed department will take over responsibility for the County’s compliance with federal and State laws, local policies and other rules and regulations. The department’s new name also signifies the more proactive role it will take in promoting ethics and compliance through education, training and other outreach efforts.

The department will offer more countywide compliance training online and in the classroom and more information and resources through its InSite page. Code of Ethics training will continue to be available online through LMS as well.

The County has taken a number of important steps to keep up to date with ethics over the past few years. As part of its Integrity in Action Program, the OEC updated the County’s Code of Ethics, which details the County’s standards of workplace conduct and the County’s six General Principles. It also created a Statement of Values, which spells out the County’s core values of integrity, responsible stewardship and commitment to excellence.

“The County has always been values-driven and we’ve always believed in doing the right thing,” said OEC Director Joe Cordero. “We’re just articulating the values better and making them more visible and official.”

In addition, the County last year launched an updated Ethics Hotline (1-866-549-0004) and website, which makes it easy for employees to report suspected fraud, waste, abuse or other questionable activity anytime. Calls and complaints are confidential and can be made anonymously. Previous Compliance and Office of Internal Affairs hotlines were combined to create the updated hotline. That and an online reporting form are operated by independent, third party provider The Network. They are back-up options if an employee either feels uncomfortable going to a supervisor, manager, Departmental Human Resources Officer or to the OEC or their attempts to do so were unsuccessful.

Cordero said his department is available to assist employees working through difficult situations. OEC will be a central resource to employees, departments and contractors or vendors in addressing ethics and compliance matters. As always, the OEC will continue to respond to and investigate complaints alleging improper government activity such as abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, significant waste of government funds, improper and inappropriate billings, conflicts of interest and other issues. The office will continue to handle complaints of discrimination and make appropriate recommendations. Having a centralized ethics and compliance function is more common among private sector Fortune 500 companies than local governments.

Stay posted over the course of March for more information and features on the County’s efforts to maintain a culture we can all believe in! For more information, visit the OEC’s InSite page.