Samantha Rogers-Berte Workplace ethics and behavior are a crucial part of employment, as both are aspects that can assist a company in its efforts to be profitable. In fact, ethics and behavior are just as important to most companies as performance. Every business, in every industry, has certain guidelines to which its employees must adhere, and frequently outline such aspects in employee handbooks. A code of ethics sets out the company's values, ethics, objective and responsibilities. A well-written code of ethics should also give guidance to employees on how to deal with certain ethical situations. Every code of ethics is different and should reflect the company's ethos, values and business style. Ethics varies in each workplace that you encounter. Every workplace can have a few, or hundreds, or even thousands of employees. Every person is different on their basis of their sex, ethnicity, disability, race, sexual orientation, and age. Chapter 1 states that “ethics refers to the conventional standards of right and wrong that prescribe what people should do. These standards usually consist of rights, obligations, and benefits to society. They also include virtues such as fairness, honesty, loyalty, and concern for others. Ethics is about having values and taking responsibility. Ethical individuals are expected to follow the law and refrain from theft, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.” There are some people, however, that make their own rules and may not live by the code of ethics that have been put forth in an employee handbook. One topic of ethics that may be an issue is gossip. Merriam-Webster’s definition of gossip is the information about the behavior and personal lives of other people or a person who often talks about the private details of other people’s lives. There is not anything exciting in the telling of another person’s accomplishments, people would rather hear of scandalous details that are happening in another’s life. In today’s society, gossip has a negative connotation and can adversely affect a person. Not many “gossips” are going to speak positively of someone else. They are going to try to degrade a person, spread untrue rumors, talk of a person’s personal life that should be kept in confidence, and they will tear down and belittle another person. The “gossip” is not going to tell everyone else of the other person’s accomplishments, but of their failures. They want to make themselves look good to whomever they are speaking. In the modern culture that has been built, there really is not anything such as good gossip. Ethics is a stern topic in the employee handbook, the handbook is important in the workplace because it alleviates animosity between the employees and puts forth the rules and guidelines for each employee to read and follow. An ethical company shows that it is honest and respectable to its customers; it helps keep the