Chapter Twenty. The Professional's Code
One of the signs of a mature profession is the presence of a code of ethics or standard of professional conduct. Legally, professionals are held to a higher standard for their work than nonprofessionals performing work in the same field. If your friend the plumber tells you to take Alka-Seltzer for a stomachache and the problem turns out to be a ruptured appendix, the plumber hasn't done anything unethical. If your friend were a doctor and told you the same thing without conducting an adequate examination, that doctor's advice would be an unethical act. A code of ethics establishes the standard of conduct for each profession.[1] Certified Public Accountants are required to pass a three-hour exam covering the accounting code of ethics. Lawyers are required to pass a half-day ethics exam. In mature professions, workers can be disbarred or lose their licenses for serious violations of their ethics codes. |