Employees of FictionSoft are expected to conduct the business of FictionSoft with total objectivity. A conflict of interest may exist where an individual stands to gain or lose personally from a FictionSoft business decision; or where an employee or member of his or her immediate family has an interest, direct or indirect, in an entity dealing with FictionSoft, and the interest is of such an extent or nature that his or her decision might be affected or determined by it; or an employee serves in an advisory, consulting, technical, or management capacity for any non-affiliated business organization that does significant business with or is a competitor of the company. If a conflict of interest or appearance of conflict is unavoidable, an employee should inform his or her manager immediately.
To minimize the possibility of a conflict of interest, each employee is required to inform his or her manager of all other jobs the employee has while working at FictionSoft and the hours worked for his or her other employers. The appearance of a conflict of interest may be just as damaging to the company’s reputation as a real conflict. All employees are expected to take an objective look at their actions from time to time to determine whether a reasonable observer would have any grounds to believe a conflict of interest exists.
Conflicts of interests or unethical behavior may take many forms including, but not limited to, the acceptance of gifts or compensation from competitors, vendors, potential vendors, or customers of FictionSoft. Gifts may only be accepted if they have a nominal retail value, but employees are not to accept any form of compensation.
Employees are prohibited from engaging in financial participation, outside employment, or any other business undertaking that is competitive with, or prejudicial to, the best interests of FictionSoft. Employees may not use proprietary and/or confidential information for personal gain or to the company’s detriment, nor may they use the company’s assets or labor for personal use.
Other employment in and of itself is allowed unless the employee’s work with company is adversely affected. However, employment or any involvement with a competitor is considered a conflict of interest and is prohibited.
If an employee or someone with whom the employee has a close personal relationship has a financial or employment relationship with a competitor, vendor, potential vendor, or customer of FictionSoft, the employee must disclose this fact in writing to Human Resources. FictionSoft will determine what course of action must be taken to resolve any conflict it believes may exist, up to and including requesting the employee to tender his/her resignation. FictionSoft has sole discretion to determine whether such a conflict of interest exists.
Employees are encouraged to seek assistance from their manager with any legal or ethical concerns. However, the company realizes this may not always be possible. As a result, employees may Human Resources to report anything that they feel they cannot discuss with their manager.