HRGuru

Depends on the level of unethical conduct.   I've been in the business for a long time and once I was in the financial field where I discovered that several people I respected, all were managers and/or execs, were basically taking money and allowing the company to break major corporate laws related to banking.  I notified my labor attorney who helped me notifiy the board members of the parent company.  After a thorough investigation of my claims we fired 7 executives and managers and attempted to prosecute 5 of them.   My career as a financial manager ended at that time as I was placed in charge of working through the situation as a manager of a special unit working with a liaison from the Department of Corporations.   The specific financial industry I was involved in basically black-balled me after that and when I was laid off during the great depresiion of the 80's I ended up in the HR field as a new career, never more to be a financial regional manager again.  Never regreted any of it, although my wife did when we found I was having difficulty getting jobs from people I knew and who new me.  But some people have things to hide and don't want intuitive talented people who care about integrity and compliance with the laws.

Well, I hope it turns out well for you.  It could be a rough road ahead.  At the time I knew the CEO was involved so I was really alone.  I know it lead to my eventual lay off a year and half later, but couldn't prove it.

The good thing is you can live with yourself, which is the first person you have to take care of.  Secondly, now that you may have constructive knowledge of the wrong doing, you might have culpability if you didn't report it.  HR positions do involve risk.

What's sad is that I can't tell you how many people I know in HR that nowadays would look the other way and only think of trying to preserve themself and their job.   Wrong doing can take a whole company out of business and cost everyone their jobs.  Look at the mortgage banking fiasco that has sunk our economy lately.  I know, actually know, that a lot of this was going to happen because of all the laws being broken by mortgage sales people and others like execs.  Crud when rolled into a ball and pushed just keeps getting bigger until the pile of crude starts running over people.   Unethical business practices have cost tens of thousdands of jobs in the mortgage and lending business and the impact is not yet over.  But a lot of people made money and most of them will get away with the stealing they did.  Unfortunately, partly because many HR people in those companies did nothing and dishonored their profession by letting everyone keep up the bad practises.

Good for you!  Email me directly if you want to vent more directly.  sirfrey@earthlink.net

Although my end result was not nearly as serious as SirFrey's, I did face an ethical dilemma a couple years ago, when my boss was asking me to do things like complete online training for other people (including him!) so that our scores would remain high, or to alter payroll records for certain "favorite" employees. I ended up taking a lower paying position in another location because of the pressure and the retaliation problems I started having for refusing... luckily, I found a new job fairly soon and escaped that company!

I too recently faced a problem at work.  When I became pregnant alot of changes started to happen in the department.  I watched my position get eliminated and moved into a different role.  When I brought my concerns up I was written up for not keeping my nose out of things.  When I returned from the birth of my beautiful little girl they watched me a like a hawk and told me I had to resign because they were not happy I had the little brat.  I couldn't go to anyone because I was afraid of going over my manager head (VP of HR).  Needless to say I am now being black balled.  So much for open door policies.

We have alot of these same problems here.  Behaviours that are clearly illegal still run rampant through all businesses.  There seems to be little point in having laws to protect us from such things when you get punished for claiming your rights under the law.  Yes, you can turn them in, prosecute, sue, whatever.  But you'll pay for it by never working again.  So, what do you do?  Many here simply leave the job and look for another --- if they can afford to.  We're having alot of problems with work-related stress.  Many people are going on disability because of it, and it isn't hard to see why.  So, what is the solution?  Like SirFrey said, once you know about the problem, you become part of the problem, and you can't always find another job very quickly.  Employment is a real problem. 

Vannati,

This is a great post and a current topic in class for me. I am currently researching and trying to find solutions in order to deal with unethical conduct or unethical bosses. I am so looking for some solutions so any feedback that can be given on this matter would be greatly appreciated. My theory about social relationships are that "people tend to rationalize in order to socialize collectively," this in my opinon occurs both persoanlly and professionally. What are the options other than losing your job which is mostly what I have found in research? Another issue is when you as an HRP knows that the decisions being made are not fair to the employees only beneficial to the employer and the shareholders what should a person such as myself do? Last but not least being a recent graduate I have found myself during the recruitment process in my job search activities dealing with issues such as discrimination. I mean really as a student although I am not well versed or able to manipulate the laws to my benefit as some HRP's do, I still  retain a basic and functional understanding of  the laws and how they impact companies, but constantly find myself dealing with unethical recruiters and HRP's? Again how do you deal with these matters without seeming like a rebel within your profession? I look forward to some feedback on this topic.

Dominique

It comes down to personal choice and personal responsibility. 

Sometimes I feel like Don Quixote in that I'm just "tilting at windmills" because these issues are so persistent in the business world.  (By the way, the same issues persist in the social world too!)   But over the years I've found that my actions have made differences, in both individuals and in companies as a whole.  Sometimes the price can be harsh, but in the end, you can sleep well at night.

There comes a time when you have to say "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"    As Benjamin Franklin once stated:  "Either we shall all hang together, for surely will all hang individually!"    

Ethics is a major problem starting with the Baby Boome "me" generation and we're all see the results of such widespread lack of ethics.  It is often prevalent in other cultures too, especially on the business side of things, for example, where some cultures openly work with bribery, etc., to gain bids.

If we (HR) don't stand for ethics, then answer me this?    Who will?

It is more prevelent than it should be and more than most would suspect.  How sad!

I have recently been dealing with issues and allegations surrounding our maintenance supervisor. I took it to my boss, who I felt was trying to gloss it all over without confrontations. I finally lost it and stepped into an executive board meeting, spilling my guts to them. The supervisor was fired, but now it feels like everything is "out of sight, out of mind".  Moral is better, processes are being implemented and followed, overall a much better place to work for everyone who had to deal with him, but .. I still have a problem that he was fired without confronting the deeper issues and allegations. It all feels so "swept under the rug".  How do I bring attention to these issues without it seeming that I am trying to stir old crap. (Sorry if that is an inappropriate way of putting it.)