Code of Ethics for a Corporation

by Beth K. Lamont, Humanist Celebrant and Advocate

We, the undersigned individuals, and as Members of the below designated Corporation, do ascribe to the following considerations in the daily practice of our Business:

  1. We agree with, and strive to uphold, the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as described by the United Nations. Respect and Ethical treatment for All of Humankind on Planet Earth is of greatest importance in our business practices.

  2. Respect and protection for our precious gift, Planet Earth, as our one and only Human Habitat, and the home to be inhabited by our own Grand Children and our own offspring for centuries to come, is vitally important! We must be cognizant of the relationship between the activities of our Corporate work and its effect upon the atmosphere and other conditions that had, before industrialization, remained fairly stable and hospitable to life on Earth for many centuries. Climate change must be acknowledged! Scarcity of clean water will be a threat to our lives, and the rising of the Oceans, an immediate concern.

  3. Wherever we do business, in whatever country or community, we promise to respect and uphold all local law. When we have entered into a contract to do business, and those with whom we have made such arrangement find fault or disagreement with the way we are proceeding, their complaints must be considered, and perhaps some compromise or agreement must be found. Local concerns and governments must never be found, by the World Trade Court, of being in “violation of profit making.” We honor local concerns!

  4. We will pay proper local or national taxes in each country where we do business, and never claim that our headquarters is located in a place where no taxes are required.

  5. We will honor local labor needs and prevailing wages in every country where we do business. If we do business in the USA, for instance, we will always hire locally available workers rather than “outsourcing” to another country where the labor is cheaper.

  6. We acknowledge that the “Value” of our Stock on the Market is of great importance to the stability of our corporation, BUT, we also recognize that profit for “investors” is of lesser importance than the survival of our corporation, the good work that it does, and the continuity of its Board of Directors and its Staff. When we avow and prove compliance with all of the above considerations, we then demand that the “Value” of our Stock be enhanced by crediting appropriate points, as to “Compliant Ethical Corporations.” These credit points will be established by a Consumer Corporation Accreditation Committee headed by People’s Advocate Elizabeth Warren in Congress, and will always henceforth be reported to the Public on the “nightly news” as a celebratory acknowledgment of our Corporation’s respect for the People and the Planet, as well as the profit-making.

Undersigned below:   _______________________________________________