Running Header: ETHICS & VALUES IN BUSINESS PROJECT 1

Ethics & Values in Business Project

Northern Caribbean University

BSAD489: Ethics & Values in Business (K)

Patricia Young

June 24, 2021

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................3

Company History...................................................................................................3

Introduction............................................................................................................3

The Role Ethics plays in Employment Rights.......................................................3

The Role Ethics plays in Occupational Health and Safety....................................3

The Role Ethics plays in Corporate Social Responsibility....................................3

The Role Ethics plays in Discrimination...............................................................5

Conclusion.............................................................................................................7

Recommendations..................................................................................................7

References..............................................................................................................7

Appendix................................................................................................................8
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Executive Summary
RT and D’s Associates is a small, successful accounting company, it is
owned and run by Rodney King, CPA in Mandeville, Manchester. The firm's
reputation is impeccable and is known throughout Manchester as one of the top
accounting firms. RT and D’s Associates has three extremely hard-working
employees, doing accounting and tax preparation services. Our firm offers tax
accounting, management accounting, QuickBooks set-up, training, bookkeeping
services, Tax compliance letter and my more services for small and large
businesses.

RT and D’s Associates serves the accounting and financial needs of

businesses and individuals to enable them to realize their financial goals. We
business offer clients bookkeeping services with the oversight of a CPA at a
price they can afford. We have two undergraduate bookkeepers and a graduate
manager with a BSC in accounting, keeping fixed costs as low as possible, and
continuing to define the expertise of RT and D’s Associates through our
resources. 1 or 2 part-time bookkeepers are deployed to client businesses as
needed, and salary and dividends increase substantially.

Company History
RT and D’s Associates was formed by Chartered Accountant Rodney
King. Mr. King, alongside his wife Lilith King decided to open an accounting
firm in January 2009 and has over twenty (12) years in a wide range of Financial
Management and Accounting Experience which is complimented by his
extensive knowledge in areas of Accounting Management, Compliance and
Business Operations. His experience includes eight years with 2 of the top 4
auditing/accounting organizations and over seven years of studying from UWI to
UTECH to international accounting schools to become the Certified Chartered
Accountant he is today. Mr. King is able to find workable short-term, medium,
and long-term solutions to varying complex issues and make things easier for all
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his clients. His experience and exposure in the number of different roles have
driven him success and determination

Introduction
The Company RT and D’s Associates, an accounting firm located at 5 ½
Caledonia Road, Mandeville, Manchester was our company of choice. They take
care of all their Accounting and Tax Service needs. With hardworking and
dedicated staff, they put pride in their work and make sure all of their clients are
satisfied. Their keen knowledge of the accounting industry has helped them
develop solutions that answer the needs of their clients. Their solutions are set to
increase productivity, reduce operating costs and increase customer satisfaction.
The information gathered on this Company along with suggestions made to
better the company are as listed below.

The Role Ethics plays in Employment Rights

Employees rights are basic human rights of workers to freely carry on
their work in a safe and decent manner. Employees rights relates to the rights in
the workplace which may include health and safety in the workplace and the
right to privacy, amongst many others.

Based on notes obtained in the Ethics and Values Class it was outlined
that employees’ rights are governed by the law in Jamaica that protects the
employees from occupational hazards in both government and non-government
agencies. Therefore, several acts have being derived to protect the employees.
The Trade unions and other agencies such as Health and Safety, Environmental
agencies, The Factories and Buildings, Engineering Construction and Ship and
Docks regulation are a few of policies that protects the employees.

At RT&D's Employee rights are addressed in the areas of fair payment for
work done or just compensation: Workers are paid a minimum wage or paid
based on what the Employer decides to, Workers' wages are also negotiable
annually. In the case where an Employee is terminated or made redundant such
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Employee will obtain adequate notice and will obtain payments where
applicable.

The environment at RT&D's appears safe however there is nothing in

writing that speaks to what should happen in the case an employee is injured on
duty or security issues such as a robbery and or larceny should take place.
Workers are free to speak and express themselves respectfully. There is not a
policy outlining due process so it was outlined and encouraged for future
references. The firm is too small to be unionized.

It was suggested that although RT&D's was flowing smoothly greater

attention should be placed in documenting its policies relating to wage
negotiations.

The Role Ethics plays in Occupational Health and Safety

Occupational Health and Safety is broadly described as the application of
expecting, acknowledging, analyzing, and trying to control risk that may occur
in or around the work environment and endanger employees' medical
condition and wellbeing, while also bearing in mind the possible effects on
neighboring areas and the environment in general. Occupational Health and
Safety Standards should be implemented by every organization, and accounting
firms are no exception when it comes to meeting these standards – despite being
considered low-risk environments.

Upon reviewing the Occupational Health and Safety Standards set in place
by the Accounting Company RT and D’s Associate, it was noted that they
currently do exercise some form of Occupational Health and Safety. Inclusive in
their Occupational Health and Safety Standards were, ensuring that staff work
within proper lighting conditions and reviewing the offices light fixtures on a
monthly basis to ensure the turnaround time of light changes were kept as
minimal as possible. In the Online Article, ‘The Importance of lighting for
people’s wellbeing’, It is stated that proper illumination, whether in an industrial
or office context, is key in all job processes [ CITATION GRA20 \l 1033 ]. The article
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went on to mention that approximately 85 percent of information is received by

people through their sense of sight. Appropriate lighting, free of glare and
shadows, helps decrease eye strain and headaches; it can also help to avoid
workplace accidents by enhancing visibility of moving machinery and other
safety risks. Thus, we can see – no pun intended – the great necessity of having
proper lighting within an organization – one of the many things which I
commended them for.

Also, having proper ventilation within their office space was also noted, as
the office is an enclosed space in which an air-conditioning unit operates on a
regular basis, this is carried out by having the units reviewed and cleaned
quarterly by a third-party company ensuring that mold and other foreign residues
do not build up in the units, avoiding unnecessary fungal sicknesses. As the
buildup of bacteria in office is not only hazardous to employees who work there
but customers who enter the premises as well. Having a proper ventilation
system prior to the Corona Virus outbreak was certainly essential in ensuring
limited sicknesses among staff, now, with the surge of respiratory ailments, one
can almost say that ‘not’ having a proper ventilation system may either make or
break an organization in these trying times. This was validated in the web article,
‘Ventilation at Work', which indicates that poor ventilation at the workplace may
cause health and safety problems, putting your employees at danger [ CITATION
NSW21 \l 1033 ]. The article then went on to state that excellent ventilation systems
promote productive workplaces by providing an atmosphere in which people can
remain awake, productive, and focused on their job responsibilities. Poor
ventilation, on the other hand, might lead to possible health issues, resulting in
lower productivity and increased sick absence. Taking all these pointers into
consideration, although it may seem costly to maintain and manage the current
ventilation systems, it is in the company’s best interest in the long run.

When I inquired about hygiene, I was told that in order to maintain

appropriate hygiene, one of the steps taken by the organization was hiring a
third-party cleaning agency, which cleans the workplace twice per week.
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Another approach used to regulate and improve workplace hygiene is to have

garbage disposed of on a daily basis. As the majority of the garbage disposed of
are shredded paper, with the exception of lunch craters and a few emptied ink
cartridges, there isn’t much, if any, hazardous waste on the compound, thus the
waste is sent to a regular incinerator after being collected by the Garbage
Disposal Services. Upon reviewing the cabinets in the restrooms, it was noted
that sufficient sanitary items were in place, such as toilet paper rolls and liquid
soap just to name a few. It was also stated that employees are encouraged to
maintain their personal surroundings as well as areas shared with co-workers and
possibly customers, having high standards in relation to hygienic situations. It
was mentioned in the web article, ‘Managing Personal Hygiene at Work to Stay
Healthy,' that in this Pandemic-era, maintaining a high quality of personal
cleanliness to reduce the risk of coronavirus exposure is a crucial component of
ensuring that work can continue safely. [ CITATION Wee21 \l 1033 ]. The article went
on to confirm that maintaining excellent general personal hygiene habits,
particularly when at work, is crucial for reducing the risk of infectious illness
transmission, such as the coronavirus. Surely the establishment is heading in the
right direction with the current hygienic standards which they uphold.

Although not mandatory, the organization also encourages employees to

take a moment out of their work hours to stretch, as most staff work in a sitting
position throughout the day, which can cause spinal aches if carried out over a
long period of time, thus it is advised to staff, that while completion of task is
priority, their health is even more important. According to the web article ‘Is
Sitting Behind Your Desk Bad for Your Health?', if you sit for lengthy amounts
of time each day working on a computer, you may be at risk of acquiring
physical strain and overuse problems[ CITATION Pfi18 \l 1033 ]. This article adds
further validation to the encouragement of the employers to their employees in
taking time to stretch, rather than remaining in a sitting position through out an
entire working day.
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The organization also implemented the wearing of mask both by walk-in

customers as well as in-office employees, due to the sudden uprise of the Covid-
19 Pandemic, the firm initiated a mask at the door policy in which Masks were
distributed to individuals entering their facility without mask – whether
employees or customers – as a means to protect their staff.

Recommendations made in relation to certain changes which can be

implemented to better RT and D’s Associate Occupational Health and Safety
Standards are detailed in our recommendations list toward the end of this
document.

The Role Ethics plays in Corporate Social Responsibility

The feasibility studies done on RT and D’s Associate has revealed that the
company is somewhat in volve in Social Cooperate Responsibilities they do
from time to time take on government workers for 3 months training and
experience however this not on an ongoing basis. The feedback given as to why
the company does not have a commitment to corporate social responsibilities is
that they are a small company and they have never given it any thought also
there is nothing in place for employee welfare. This may well be because of
financial constraint however base on present situation this has given us (Agents
of group 4) the perfect opportunity to engage a member of the team of RT& D’s
Associate about the need and benefits in getting involve in these types of
activities so as to build relationship not just with their employees but with their
community.

The discussions coming out of the meeting with RT and D’s Associate and
members who conducted the feasibility study is that whilst we understand that
the company is small it does not necessarily mean that they cannot make a big
impact where Corporate Social Responsibility is concern. Helping the company
(RT & D’s Associate) to understand how important Corporate Social
Responsibility it was very key for us. They were informed that a company’s
sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological
and social) in which it operates is vital and that Companies would normally
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express this citizenship: Through their waste and pollution reduction processes,
by contributing educational and social programs and by earning adequate returns
on the employed resources.

We went on further to inform the company that the concept of Corporate

of Corporate responsibility is a voluntary assumption of responsibilities that goes
far beyond just being a legal financial or auditing business it about building
relationship with the employees and the surrounding communities and giving the
company a competitive edge in the market as through this type of engagement
the company will be more recognized and appreciated by the public who will in
turn value their moral and ethical behavior in building and establishing this
important venture and relationship. Finally, the team hastened to remind and
encouraged a member of the team to get the word out to other employees and
employers that the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially
by the generous donation of money or property are ways of giving back to your
clients, community and more importantly your employees who work so hard and
tirelessly. Corporate Citizenship – The impact of a business organization on all
groups in society, on society as a whole, and on the environment. The company
was assured that choosing to operate on an ethical level that is higher than what
the law requires and making contributions to civic and charitable organizations
and non-profit institutions, providing benefits for employees and improving the
quality of life of life in the workplace beyond economic and legal requirements
are will be extremely beneficial in the long run.

Recommendations given to RT and D’s Associates by the team of agents

can be seen in details in our recommendation list towards the end of this
document.

The Role Ethics plays in Discrimination

It was stated that it is against the law for employers to discriminate against
employees and job applicants. Employer discrimination based on race, sex,
sexual orientation, religion, national origin, physical handicap, and age is
prohibited under employment discrimination legislation. Bias in hiring,
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promotion, job assignment, termination, remuneration, retribution, and different

forms of harassment are all examples of discriminatory behaviors. The office
keeps an eye out for discriminations against age.

According to Merriam Webster's Dictionary Discrimination is" the

practice of unfairly treating a person or group differently from other people or
groups of people". It is also" the recognition and understanding of the difference
between one thing and another".

Discrimination in the work place may come across in many different

ways it is the treating of Employees or Employer differently or less favourably
based on their individual characteristic that are not job related and may not be
required for the job such as age, colour, Race, Gender sexual orientation,
religion, social origins or social background.

In the workplace it can be considered along the line of how

employers make decisions about how to treat their staff in matters of hiring,
salary, promotion, benefits and the way in which treatment from one employee
to another may differ.

prejudices and Biasness are also a sore point as they may relates directly
to kinds of opportunity an employee maybe opposed to another employer.

In the world of work, it is believed that decimation exist. Based on

these complaints and observations, laws and guidelines have been enacted to
protect both the employees and the employers alike. Work place discrimination
have been addressed by law and other documents in many regards.

At RT&D’s it is stipulated that Discrimination is against the law for

Employers to discriminate Employees and Job Applicants, or allow
discrimination and harassment to occur within their Organizations. In NSW,
Employers must not treat Job Applicants and Employees unfairly or harass them
because of their age.
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The company addressed the matter of Harassment and

Discrimination however it only stated the age factor. It is therefore
recommended that they consider the other unique diversities of a person that
they have no physical control over, such as; Gender, Race, Religion or physical
Disability.

In the act the Company did not make specific references towards biases
against employees in cases of promotions, transfers or benefits.

The Company should therefore make consideration into the

possibilities of stating these biases and what sanction(s) will be administered if
committed.

Recommendations were made towards the company in relation to

discrimination in the latter part of this document.

Conclusion
In Conclusion, as with any successful organization, RT and D’s Associate
stand up to their reputation in customer satisfaction. We were also able to
decipher areas in which they stood strong, such as Corporate Responsibility, the
discussions coming out of the meeting with RT and D’s Associate and members
who conducted the feasibility study is that whilst we understand that the
company is small it does not necessarily mean that they cannot make a big
impact where Corporate Social Responsibility is concern. Also, areas in which a
little fine tuning could have been used were also identified such as Operational
Health and Safety. We were also able to find areas in which grave adjustments
could have be made such as taking a deeper look into Discrimination – although
no discrimination was necessarily observed while on their premises. Ultimately,
we analyzed the situations, while avoiding biases and combining rational
analysis with intuition, and attempted to enhance the overall Company. Our
recommendations in steps which could be taken in order to enhance the company
are as listed below.
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Recommendations
RT and D’s Associate certainly implies measures in their office in relation
to having decent Occupational Health and Safety Standards. As with any
organization however, there is always room for improvement. One of the major
improvements noted is the implementation of a soft and hard copy Occupational
Health and Safety Policy. Currently due to the business not being large, the
organization functions on morals and good standards, rather than having a
written occupational health and safety policy. This was encouraged to be
prioritized in implementing into their business, which would benefit the
company as a guidance tool. After reviewing the premises with an employee, it
caught my eye that although there were railings to guide an individual’s step,
there were no slip-strips on the ground steps to avoid slipping in rainy conditions
– a suggestion which was made to the organization to adapt these. While it was
stated that the employees were encouraged to maintain high hygienic standards, I
took note that there weren’t any signs in the office, such as ‘wash hands after
using restroom’, in order to enforce these practices. And although there were
guide rails there were no signs to state ‘slippery when wet’. The organization
was urged to install these and additional indicators since it would be in their and
their clients' best interests. Upon inquiring if any health-kits were on the
premises in the event of an accident – whether minor or great – it was revealed
that at the time of the inquiry, there were no Health Kits. The organization then
took note to implement the said changes.

As it relates to Corporate and Social Responsibilities, we suggest that the

company look into putting aside a budget no matter how small for the year or the
quarter depending on how they calculate their audit report in order to fund
whatever project they decided to embark on. This budget would serve as a guide
as what amount needed to be spent and prevent them from going over their
committed budget. Another suggestion is that they get in volve by offering
scholarships to a least one or two student of their client who is presently
studying in the field related to their type of business. also offering some form of
welfare for their employees, the company did specify in a document seen that
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they sometimes have to work long hours therefore they can look into offering
staff members day passes to a spa or a retreat where they can relax and have fun.
All this would have to take into consideration their budget of course but we
believe it can be achieved no matter how small it is. Our aim is not to pressure
the company in thinking that they not contributing to society because base on the
nature of their business they are playing an important role however we feel that
no matter how small it is making a contribution to Corporate Social
Responsibility in the long run would not only benefit the company’s profit
margin but it would also build relationship both internally and externally.

In relation to Discrimination, we were able to take note that the company

addressed the matter of Harassment and Discrimination however it only stated
the age factor. It is therefore recommended that they consider the other unique
diversities of a person that they have no physical control over, such as; Gender,
Race, Religion or Pregnancy. Gender, which is protected by civil rights
legislation, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on a person's
gender or sexual orientation, the Civil Rights Act also protects discrimination of.
Race, which states that businesses cannot discriminate against employees or
applicants based on race. Employers should also be prohibited from
discriminating on the basis of Religion. Employers must make every reasonable
effort to accommodate religious practices unless doing so would place an
excessive hardship on the company. Furthermore, the Pregnancy Discrimination
Act prohibits employers from discriminating against pregnant women in the
workplace and requires them to make reasonable accommodations where
appropriate. Just to name a few. In the act the Company also did not make
specific references towards biases against employees in cases of promotions,
transfers or benefits. They should therefore make consideration into the
possibilities of these biases.
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References
GRAH Led Lighting. (2020, March 02). The importance of lighting for people’s
well-being. Retrieved June 2021, from Grah Lighting:
https://www.grahlighting.com/importance-of-appropriate-light-for-
humans/

NSW Safe Work. (2021, March 25). Ventilation at work. Retrieved June 2021,
from SafeWork NSW.

Pfizer Medical Team. (2018, July 12). Is Sitting Behind Your Desk Bad for Your
Health? Retrieved June 2021, from Get Healthy Stay Healthy.

Weekly Safety. (2021, June). High Standards For Personal Hygiene Reduce
Risk At Work. Retrieved from Weekly Safety.
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Appendix
Not Applicable.