Pardon the Interruption

Brief today. The company I work for has a few annual training expectations. Among them are things like how to be secure, or how to conduct business or whatever. In an extreme case of irony, on the day of the impeachment vote in the US Senate, I had to take the annual business ethics training. Within this training, we must recognize the standards and sign that we agree to them, and will abide by them. There are 2 particular items that I thought were particularly interesting:

Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption
(the company) is committed to operating in an ethical manner and in compliance with all applicable anti-bribery laws and anti-corruption regulations. (the company)'s Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption policy reinforces our intention and obligation to act honestly and ethically in all our business dealings.

In simple terms, bribery is the offering, giving or receiving anything of value with the intention of inducing a person to act or to reward a person for having acted, while corruption is the abuse of someone's power or position for personal gain.

Bribery and corruption are not only against our company values, they are illegal and can expose both our employees and our company to fines, penalties, and reputational damage.

Whistleblower Provision
Reporting a suspicious or potentially illegal activity can be scary. You may wonder:
• What if I report an activity and I'm wrong? Will I get in trouble?

• What if I report an activity about my coworker and she gets into trouble? What will happen to me?

• What if my boss or employer goes after me for implicating them in criminal activity?

Luckily, there are laws in place to protect people — known as whistleblowers — who make a good faith report of suspected or detected misconduct that breaks federal or state rules, laws or regulations. While the actual laws differ by industry and country, they typically prohibit retaliation against the whistleblower.

In addition, we have specific provisions in our Code of Conduct that protect you should you report anything in good faith that you feel violates the law or our policies.


This all seems especially ironic today. On the day that I am being made aware of these rules, asked to sign that I understand and will follow them under penalty of loss-of-employment.... the Senate and the President are effectively side-stepping these same expectations.

What a wonderful world. Back to the bus next time-