Company rules, in a narrower sense, are referred to as a code of ethics, which implies a statement of company policy. It allows employees to become more familiar with the norms that must be followed. In addition, the rules include fundamental principles of moral and professional conduct (Gal et al., 2020). The consequences of violating the company code can have consequences that are not limited to a reprimand but can also lead to the employee’s dismissal. It is essential to understand that violating the dress code and stealing confidential information are different things with different degrees of penalties for the employee.
According to virtue ethics, it is essential to evaluate misconduct from a moral perspective to ascertain the motives for such behavior on the part of the employee. It would help if you talked to the employee, making it clear that they are interested in them first and then in what they have done. After learning the true motives for the misconduct, a moral choice should be made to either help the employee corrects the consequences or fine them (Sison et al., 2018). If it turns out that the misconduct was committed to satisfying personal needs and pleasures, it is essential to remind the employee that such a life is considered a lost.
Any act can be viewed from an ethical perspective and evaluated, sanctioned, or rewarded. The ethics of virtue are nowhere fixed and thus depend heavily on the individual and their personality. Any company needs to have employees with specific moral values, which will avoid violations in the course of work (Nalukenge et al., 2018). If an employee commits misconduct, it is essential to understand why and why they did it, and only then decide about punishment.
References
Gal, U., Jensen, T. B., & Stein, M. K. (2020). Breaking the vicious cycle of algorithmic management: A virtue ethics approach to people analytics. Information and Organization, 30(2), 1-15.
Nalukenge, I., Nkundabanyanga, S. K., & Ntayi, J. M. (2018). Corporate governance, ethics, internal controls and compliance with IFRS. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, 16(4), 1-23.
Sison, A. J. G., Ferrero, I., & Guitián, G. (2018). Business ethics: A virtue ethics and common good approach. Routledge.