II. Employment
Terms of employment should be in accordance with the applicable laws and consistent with generally accepted ethical and professional practices.
Professional Employee
1. The professional employee should be loyal to the employer. Professional employees should accept only those assignments for which they are qualified; should diligently, competently, and honestly complete assignments; and should contribute creative, resourceful ideas to the employer while making a positive contribution toward establishing a stimulating work atmosphere and maintaining a safe working environment.
2. The professional employee should have due regard for the health, safety, and welfare of the public and fellow employees in all work for which responsibility is assumed. Where the technical adequacy of process or product is unsatisfactory, the professional employee should withhold approval of the plans and should state the reasons for such action.
3. The professional employee should sign or seal only plans or specifications prepared by that employee or others under that employee's supervision or plans or specifications that have been personally reviewed and satisfactorily checked.
4. The professional employee is responsible for the full and proper utilization of time in the employer's interest and the proper care of the employer's facilities.
5. The professional employee should avoid any conflict of interest with an employer and should immediately disclose any real or potential problem which may develop in this area.
6. The professional employee should cooperate fully with the employer in obtaining patent protection over any inventions.
7. The professional employee should not divulge proprietary information.
8. The professional employee should not accept any payments, or gifts of significant value, directly or indirectly, from parties dealing with a client or employer.
Employer
1. The employer should keep professional employees informed of the organization's objectives, policies, and programs.
2. The employer should provide the professional employee with compensation (salary and other benefits) commensurate with the professional's contribution, taking into account the employee's abilities, professional status, responsibilities, education, experience, and the potential value of the work to be performed.
3. The employer should establish a salary policy taking into account published salary surveys for professional employees. The salary so established should be commensurate with those for other employees both professional and nonprofessional within the organization. The salary structure should be reviewed annually to keep the assigned dollar value adjusted to the current economy.
4. Each individual position should be properly classified as to its level in the overall salary structure. The evaluation of each position should consider such factors as the skill required for acceptable performance, the original thinking required for solving the problems involved, and the accountability for an action and its consequences.
5. Duties, levels of responsibility, and the relationship of positions within the organizational hierarchy should be clearly defined and should be accurately reflected in position titles.
6. Employers should restrict the use of titles denoting professional engineering status to those employees qualified by graduation from a baccalaureate program in engineering or by professional licensure. Appropriate titles and career patterns not denoting professional status should be developed for other categories of employees including those holding associate degrees in engineering technology. Titles denoting professional status in non-engineering disciplines should be restricted to those qualified by graduation from appropriate baccalaureate programs.
7. Economic advancement should be based upon a performance evaluation plan. Provision should be made for accelerated promotion and extra compensation for superior performance and/or special accomplishments including generation of proprietary information and patents. All promotions in salary and responsibility should be on an individual merit basis. Performance and compensation should be evaluated at least annually.
8. The employer should conduct a performance review with each professional employee at appropriate intervals and at least annually with new and/or younger employees. The review should cover how well work has been performed, areas for improvement, and discussion of career planning including viewpoints of both employer and employee. The professional employee should be informed if performance is unsatisfactory. The results of the review should be documented.
9. The employer should provide an equivalent ladder for compensation and advancement of professional employees whose aptitudes and interests are technical rather than supervisory.
10. The employer should have an established method and formula for compensation over and above salary and fringe benefits for the professional employee who generates inventions, patents, and other proprietary information for the employer.
11. It is inappropriate for a professional employee to use a time clock to record arrival and departure.
12. If the work demanded of a professional employee regularly exceeds the normal working hours for extended periods, the employer should provide extra compensation for this continuing extra effort according to a clearly stated policy.
13. The employer should include in the compensation other benefits such as pensions, life insurance, health care, sick leave, vacations, holidays, and savings or profit sharing plans consistent with current industrial practices. For example, the employer should have a pension plan which provides for early vesting of rights in safeguarded pension funds. Vesting should be so scheduled that it does not seriously affect either the employer's or the professional employee's decision as to continued employment. As goals, eligibility for participation should not exceed one year after employment, maximum full vesting time should be five years, and the minimum pension upon reaching retirement should be no less than 50 percent of the average best five years' salary (based on a 40-year working career with a single employer). If a pension plan is not provided or the benefits are less than outlined above, other compensation should be increased proportionately.
14. The employer should provide office, support staff, and physical facilities which promote the maximum personal efficiency of the professional employee.
15. The employer should not require the professional employee to accept responsibility for work not supervised by that employee.
16. The employer should defend any suits or claims against present or former individual professional employees in connection with their authorized activities on behalf of the employer.
17. There should be no employer policy which requires a professional employee to join a labor organization as a condition of continued employment.
18. The employer should clearly identify proprietary information and should release those inventions and information generated by the employee which are not useful to the employer.
Go to Next Section of the Employment Guidelines