Ethics Training

http://soi-lcec.lrn.com/app/certificate2/ViewCertificate?catalog_no=ILL906-a50en



I have just successfully completed my annual ethics training course, this course is mandated by the state for all of its employees. The main tenet of the course is employee honesty.

It teaches the course taker how to avoid ethical pitfalls, and how to make it a habit of theirs to practice absolute ethics during the course of employment with the state.

I personally agree with some parts of the course and disagree with other parts, for example : I agree with the part that says that if you witness a violation of the ethics law being conducted in front of you, don't look the other way and pretend that you didn't see it, it behooves you to report it for your interest and for the interest of the institution that you are working for.

The part that I disagree with is really the silly one : For instance they want you to never ever use your work phone to make a personal call, and in the event that you do use the institution phone you should compensate the state for the value of the phone minutes that you used, otherwise your action will be considered unethical.

It is true that many of the prohibitions that they list such as making one copy on the copier machine, or taking the company car for personal business, or accepting a lunch from a business client may never ever get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the ethics law even when it is violated, but still they leave it up to your compunction to decide if what you did is ethical or unethical in nature.

I must admit that although I received a score of 100 on my exam , I don't necessarily adhere to the ethics law 100%, and they probably don't expect us to do it either.

I wonder if such a test would be useful in Jordan ! Would it help on lessoning the rampant corruption, graft, and wasta that is taking place in the civil institutions there?


I think that the key isn't in the law itself, it is in the enforcement, there are many good laws that are existing in books, but if no body takes the time or the effort to enforce them, then what good are they?