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Creating a Meaningful Code of Conduct

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Codes of conduct have gone from a “nice-to-have” item to a corporate standard and even legal requirement for many businesses. Unfortunately, when creating their codes many companies focus solely on satisfying the legal requirements.

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Consequently, their codes are bogged down with complex legal jargon and company rules. These codes fail to make a meaningful connection between the organization’s objectives and its ethics and compliance management, and as a result, remain largely ineffective.

However, leading firms see the code of conduct as an opportunity to communicate and drive company values and expectations. They view the code as a tool for promoting a more ethical company culture. But making a truly effective and engaging code of conduct is easier said than done. Below are some best practices for creating a more meaningful code.

Content and Readability

No one wants to read a list of “thou shalt nots.” Instead, center your code’s content around issues employees face on a day-to-day basis and the organization’s values. Try presenting information by high-level topics or behaviors instead of by law. Also keep in mind that the code should relay high-level principles, not detailed operational guidelines.

Similarly, ditch the legal jargon and write in a clear, concise language that employees will understand. The tone should reflect your organizational culture and employee demographics. Remember that the code is there to help employees make the right ethical decisions, so make sure there are no grey areas.

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Presentation and Accessibility

Although strong and clear-cut content is essential, the code’s presentation and accessibility are equally so. Interesting, eye-catching design can dramatically improve your code’s usability and retention. Try using a mix of various design techniques like call-out boxes to highlight essential information, pull-quotes for added emphasis, and company-specific question and answer sections that ensure employees know how to apply the code’s guidance.

If you haven’t already, transform the print version of your code into an interactive, digital version. Incorporate multimedia, interactive elements such as video, quizzes, games, etc. directly into your digital code. These elements not only break up written content, but they also help bring concepts to life and promote retention. Consider requiring employees to complete these activities as a way to blur the lines between your code and training. Additionally, many digital programs can easily capture and analyze user data, which can assist in measuring and proving your code’s effectiveness.

It is also easier for users to search for topics in a digital version than it is a print version. Make access to other compliance resources just as easy by inserting one-click links to more detailed company policies, reporting tools and contact information. Going digital also makes it possible for employees to access your code of conduct from anywhere at any time. Provide employees with a direct link to the code from the company intranet.

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If a considerable amount of the company workforce travels often or works on tablet devices, you may want to consider creating a mobile-friendly version of the code.

Be mindful of local laws and cultures that may vary in your areas of operation. If your organization is international, be sure to provide a localized version of the code that is in the native language, sensitive of cultural differences and reflects country-specific information, legislation and regulations. Sometimes company practices and standards of behavior may be inconsistent with practices of that local culture. In these cases, additional explanations may be needed for proper guidance.

Soliciting Feedback and Certification

Adding code certification tracking gives an added layer of due diligence, allowing an organization to verify the receipt and review of the code by every employee. Afterwards, gather feedback to find out what aspects or areas of the code resonated with them and what areas could be improved or clarified. Identify common questions employees still have and address them in the next update.

Making changes based off employee comments will help make your code as effective and engaging as possible. However, it is also important to periodically update your code of conduct to reflect changes in the work environment and regulation requirements.

Companies that create a code of conduct only to satisfy a legal requirement will not gain much value. However, those that take the time to create an engaging code that drives company values and expectations will reap the benefits.

Highway Traffic Deaths Preventable with Better State Laws

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A report on highway safety urges state legislatures to examine safety laws and take proactive steps to enact effective rulings. The Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety report “2015 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws: Lethal Loopholes,” found that more than 5.6 million crashes in 2013 caused about 32,700 fatalities and 2.3 million injuries. Motor vehicle crashes cost society $871 billion, based on 2010 data.

Federal action and safety requirements can address part of the problem, but state laws have direct impact on promoting safer driver and occupant behavior, according to the report, released in January. An example of the difference state laws can make is with seat belt use, which has been shown to save lives. In 2013, states with primary enforcement seat belt laws for front seat passengers had a 91% belt use rate, while states with secondary enforcement laws had an 80% belt use rate, according to NHTSA data. A study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that, when states strengthen their laws from secondary to primary enforcement, driver death rates decline by about 7%.

“In 2015, Advocates urges state leaders to close lethal loopholes in their highway safety laws,” Jacqueline S. Gillan, Advocates president, said in the report. “The emotional, economic and societal cost of inaction to improve safety is too high especially considering we know what steps can be taken. Complacency and lack of action have resulted in a dangerous and deadly patchwork of laws across the nation. Lethal loopholes in traffic safety laws are literally killing us—we can and must do better.”

Key facts, according to Advocates:

  • 32,719 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2013—a decrease of 3% from 2012. Automobile crashes remain a leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of five and 34.
  • About 2.3 million people were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2013.
  • In 2013, almost half (49%) of passenger vehicle occupants killed were unrestrained.
  • Crashes involving young drivers (aged 15 – 20) resulted in 4,333 total fatalities in 2013.
  • 4,668 motorcyclists died in 2013. Though this is a decrease from 2012, this death toll accounts for 14% of all fatalities.
  • 1,149 children age 14 and younger were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2013.
  • 300 children aged four through seven were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2013.
  • More than 3.5 million people have been killed in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. since 1899.
  • The more than 5.6 million police-reported motor vehicle crashes in 2013 had a societal impact in excess of $870 billion. Thirty-two percent of this figure ($277 billion) is economic costs including property and productivity losses, medical and emergency bills and other related costs. Dividing this cost among the total population amounts to a “crash tax” of $897 for every person, every year.

To meet basic safety recommendations, Advocates said states need to adopt 327 new laws:

  • 17 states need an optimal primary enforcement seat belt law for front seat passengers.
  • 33 states need an optimal primary enforcement seat belt law for rear seat passengers.
  • 31 states need an optimal all-rider motorcycle helmet law.
  • 19 states need an optimal booster seat law.
  • 174 graduated driver licensing laws need to be adopted to ensure the safety of novice drivers; no state meets all the criteria recommended in the report.
  • 42 critical impaired driving laws are needed in 39 states and D.C.
  • 11 states need an optimal all-driver text messaging restriction.

Check Your Policy: ‘C’ in CGL Doesn’t Stand for Cyber

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Data breaches continue to escalate and garner national attention, and 2014 may be known as the turning point when businesses realized the dramatic significance of such a risk—and that it is not when, but if, a breach will occur. The sheer number of high-profile breaches is also waking up policyholders to the fact that cyber insurance is a critical part of any insurance program.

In response to the continually-growing risk of loss from cyber and privacy violations, insurers are reacting in two ways. First, most insurance companies have excluded cyber risks from more traditional insurance policies, such as commercial general liability (CGL) or commercial property.

Secondly, insurers are racing into the market with new products aimed at providing specialized coverage for such losses. Now is the time to analyze exposure for cyber risks and address insurance needs to close any gaps in coverage.

CGL isn’t for Cyber Coverage

Just as insurers reacted to CGL policies providing coverage for environmental exposures, they are now doing so with respect to cyber losses. Last May, Insurance Services Office (ISO) introduced several new endorsements addressing access or disclosure of confidential or personal data. These new endorsements will strip most, if not all, coverage for data-related losses from CGL policies.

The losses that are excluded could be those at the heart of an enterprise that if uninsured, could cripple a business with response and rebuilding expenses related to their network infrastructure. These endorsements are already showing up in most renewals.

Perhaps even more significantly, the endorsements not only exclude coverage for the compromised data or information itself, but also for the costs of responding to and remediating the data breach or violation. The endorsements specifically exclude any coverage for, “notification costs, public relations expenses or any other loss, cost or expense,” incurred as a result of the event.

The Sony coverage case is cementing the idea that CGL policies will not provide coverage for data breaches. Zurich American denied Sony’s claim for defense and indemnification in wake of the massive data breach with its Playstation system. The data breach exposed personal information of tens of millions of users, and Sony’s losses are reportedly estimated to be as high as billion.

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Zurich sought a ruling that it did not have to defend or indemnify Sony for any data breach claims.

In his bench ruling last March, New York Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey K. Oing ruled that acts by third-party hackers do not constitute, “oral or written publication in any manner of the material that violates a person’s right of privacy,” in the coverage B (personal and advertising injury coverage) under Zurich’s CGL policy.

Insurers are certain to resist efforts to find coverage under CGL policies.

A True Cyber Policy is an Insured’s Best Protection

The good news is that businesses can obtain cyber insurance for losses, but it is critical to understand the full scope of the coverage you purchase. Insurance to protect your property and network can include:

• Computer data restoration

• Re-securing a company’s information network

• Theft and fraud coverage

• Business interruption

• Forensic investigations

• Extortion

Commentators note that first-party losses are usually the higher costs to a business suffering a cyberattack, so adequate coverage in this area is vital.

Organizations need liability insurance as well. Of course, most coverage in this area will provide for a defense to litigation brought by customers for their direct losses due to a breach. Insurance may also cover: crisis management, credit monitoring for customers, the cost associated with notifying customers of a breach, media and privacy liability and responses to regulatory investigations.

There is no time like the present for policyholders of all sizes to analyze their insurance programs to determine if their current insurance will cover cyber risks.

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However, the policy forms among the different carriers vary tremendously, and policyholders must be vigilant to ensure they purchase the right coverage.

A critical area to watch for with cyber insurance are the sublimits.

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While many policyholders have a far better understanding of standard CGL and property coverage, it remains critical for them to take extra time to truly understand the nature of a new cyber policy being added into their insurance program.

An ounce of prevention upfront from such an analysis may prevent the type of insurance fight many policyholders are facing in order to get the coverage they paid for from their insurer.

Insurers Will Be Found Not Guilty of Fraud in Sandy Payouts, Expert Says

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Insurers will be vindicated of accusations of fraud for rejecting flood damage claims made by Superstorm Sandy victims, an insurance industry expert predicts.

New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has opened an investigation into accusations against insurers Wright National Flood Insurance Co., units of Travelers Cos. and Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., which contract with the government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), of rejecting property flood damage claims of Sandy victims based on falsified engineering reports, Bloomberg reported this week.

Called a Write Your Own program (WYO), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allows participating property and casualty insurers to write and service the Standard Flood Insurance Policy in their own names.

Under the WYO program, insurers receive an expense allowance for policies written and claims processed while the federal government retains responsibility for underwriting losses.

The WYO Program operates as part of the NFIP, and is subject to its rules and regulations, according to FEMA, which oversees the flood insurance program.

“I am confident that the attorney general will be satisfied that insurers involved with the Write Your Own program were operating in a manner consistent with NFIP guidelines,” said Robert P. Hartwig, Ph.D., president of the Insurance Information Institute.

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Lawsuits in federal court accuse the insurers of colluding with engineering firms and others to deny or reduce damage payouts based on fraudulent reports. Schneiderman is investigating whether any crimes were committed. According to The Hartford Courant, more than 1,000 lawsuits are involved, alleging that homeowners were underpaid by insurance companies. Attorneys said insurers accepted altered engineering reports in a “peer review” process.

Insurers point out that the property disputes involve only about 1% of all flood claims and that the peer-review process is common practice—a quality control measure to make sure the federal government doesn’t overpay on flood claims.

Regarding the lawsuits that have been filed, Hartwig said, “I am equally confident that the evidence will indicate once again that insurers were operating in a manner consistent with NFIP guidelines.”

He explained that the lawsuits lodged against insurers alleging that certain insurers and firms hired to perform engineering analyses on flood-damaged properties were acting together to reduce or deny claims, “reflect a fundamental  misunderstanding of how the NFIP WYO program works. Engineering firms routinely and appropriately use a peer review process to review work performed. Occasionally, that process leads to additional opinions being reflected in an engineering report, which can thus impact the dollar amount received by claimants. This is part of a routine and necessary quality-control process.”

Hartwig said that this process is “no different than peer review in other technical and scientific disciplines. Using medicine as an example, test results are routinely reviewed by more than one medical professional before a diagnosis and course of treatments are rendered.”

Moreover, he added, insurers and the engineering firms hired are not financially motivated “to pay claimants anything other than a fair and accurate assessment of the losses compensable under the NFIP policy purchased. Insurers that consistently underpay or overpay claims can be removed from the program by the NFIP/FEMA.”