Jerry Diaz in Toronto, Thursday, November 5, 2020. Following the allegations against the former Unifor president, experts say companies need to make sure their ethical policies are clearly communicated to employees. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Carlos Osorio Following the allegations against former Unifor president Jerry Dias, experts say companies need to make sure their ethical policies are clearly communicated to employees. Canada’s largest private sector union claimed this week that its former president received $ 50,000 from a supplier of the COVID-19 rapid test kit he promoted to employers in the union. Subsequently, several of these companies purchased these test kits. Unifor said Dias was accused of violating the union’s code of ethics and democratic practices. Rick Hackett, president of research in Canada at McGaster University’s DeGroote School of Business, said in an interview that practices such as underfunding from overseas vendors or excessive gifts to customers are immoral, but they are happening even in today’s business world. “But by nature, because a lot of them are hidden, I do not think we have any good handling of how many of them happen,” he said. Hackett also said it was important for organizations to have a code of conduct. But he said that it is not enough to just write the rules in a document once and then forget them. “These policies need to be communicated to employees regularly,” he said. Chris MacDonald, an associate professor at Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, said in an interview that accepting $ 50,000 – as Dias allegedly did – is a glaring example of a type of business practice that, to a lesser extent, was once relatively common. (Ryerson’s Chris MacDonald is not related to Unifor CEO Chris MacDonald, who has been identified as the Dias informant). For example, a salesperson may treat a potential customer to an expensive dinner or offer small gifts for free in the hope of gaining an account, Professor Ryerson explained. “There’s a reason sellers do these things, not because they want to waste money, but because they know it works,” MacDonald said. But he added that while such things may still be relatively common in small, private companies, large companies and publicly accountable shareholders have struggled with gift-giving and other questionable sales practices. “The private sector is increasingly reluctant to give and receive gifts, in part because of scandals,” he said. Gone are the days of “this is a case of Scott, Fred.” Of course this can happen, but it can only happen extremely quietly. “
