Have You Read Your Employee Code of Conduct?

2014 July 23

You should.

This could make or break your working relationship with your employer.

Case in point: an employee was dismissed for having violated the company rules on parking privileges. A parking issue…imagine that.

The employee worked as a Wellness Center Assistant of a hospital. Said hospital provided free/discounted parking perks for its patients via special parking tickets, while Wellness Center Assistants claimed these tickets on behalf of the patients.

What this employee did was that he used the parking privileges, not for the benefit of the patients, but for himself. Anyway, the employer found out about this. After an investigation, it dismissed the said employee.

One of the employee’s defenses was that he did not know that the parking privileges were just for the patients. He even claims: “[A]ll that he knew was that, to be able to get a discount on their expensive parking, he needed to get a validation… Without hesitation, [the hospital] always provided him with it. Because of this, he thought that it was alright to get a validation even if he was an employee of the hospital.”

The Court did not accept such defense. In ruling for the validity of the dismissal:

  1. It noticed that the parking tickets clearly stated that the privilege was only limited to the patients of the hospital. The employee was reasonably expected to have read those terms and conditions, considering the fact that he used them several times.
  2. Even if he was not able to read those terms, this only exposed his inefficiency with regard to his work.
  3. And since the records also showed that the employer already afforded him consideration for his several infractions (there were at least 4), this should have prompted him to be more careful in his actions.

Thoughts:

So employees, what can we gather from this?

You guessed it. Read and understand your employee code of conduct.

  1. We are all expected to know the rules. Claims that we are unaware of them will be considered as unbelievable.
  2. Well, you can still mention this as your defense. But if this case would serve as an example, then you’ll just be painting an image of your inefficiency. Inefficiency, of course, is not acceptable to any employer, especially if you are in its employ for the last several years.
  3. As employees, we are expected to be aware the rights and privileges of our employer’s customers/clients. Needless to state, we are not to use them for our own gain.

Further reading:

  • St. Luke’s Medical Center v. Daniel Quebral and St. Luke’s Medical Center Employees’ Association – Alliance Of Filipino Workers (SLMCEA-AFW), G.R. No. 193324, July 23, 2014.