What are ethics? Speaking from an employment perspective, I truly believe that the employer has as much of a responsibility to the employee as the employee does to the employer. When you sign a work agreement (contract in some senses), you are "agreeing" to perform the duties for the "pay" specified on the agreement. In turn, the employer agrees to compensate you for performing the duties as outlined in the agreement. If employers simply fulfill their parts of the agreement, that most often they themselves created the terms, labour boards and laws would be less complex and unions would not need to exist. If there is a problem with the employee's ability to perform the job, it is up the employer to effectively train to do the task(s). It is also in the best interests of the company to hire the "best" person for the job, which would minimize the employee's ability to do the job.
That being said, the employee has a responsibility to the company which they work for. Like the employer, you sign an agreement to work for said amount under said conditions. You may not like or be completely content with the terms of the agreement, but you established that you would work for the compensation and under the conditions stated in the agreement. As long as the employer fulfills their end of the agreement, you know what your responsibilities are, and it is your "job" to fulfill them. If you are completely unhappy with the terms and conditions of the agreement, and the employer is abiding by the contract (and not making and changing the "rules" as they go along), then you shouldn't have "signed" the agreement.
So what makes for good work ethics? The opinion of this is what vastly varies, and these differences will make for frustrated employees and employers: it is the responsibility of both parties to communicate what is expected, and what each view as good workplace ethics. My opinion of good workplace ethics is a combination of many things, not just the sole focus on one attribute. For example one would say that they have a good work ethic because they have perfect attendance. Good stuff! That is great because you need to be present to do your job. But if your attendance is perfect, and you "screw the pooch" every single day, is that good ethic? On the other end of that, one might say that they have excellent ethics because they are very productive or complete the most amount of work. Fantastic! But if your output is double of the average employee, but only show up 1/3 of the time, are you really more productive? I'll let the math answer that. Plus if you rubbing it in that you can produce more than someone else, you are demoralizing the rest of your team, and will decrease their productivity. Save the competitiveness for the competition, not within your own team. The only place it makes sense to out-do your fellow employees is in sales. Even then you don't need to rub it in. Also, talking shit about fellow employees brings down the group. Not all personalities are going to click, but they can work effectively (and productively) together if proper communication is executed. This means approaching those who you have an issue with, making that issue known, and both parties work on a solution. Bitching about someone behind their back and then pretending like there is nothing wrong to their face(s) is not effective communication, and not only will make the situation worse eventually, is also very immature.
What is ethical employee behaviour? I believe that is up to the individual, and the differences in the opinions of others of what makes good work ethic is understood. Everyone is different, and each case is unique. Not everyone on a team is going to a high-scorer, but they still have a place. If a fellow teammate works against his/her own team instead of with, even the "high-scorers" will be unable to hit net.
