There are a number of reasons why it is important to make compliance a priority in your company. Complying with some standards is a must to be able to keep all the employees safe at work. Compliance is useful and is effective to help the businesses that you have to maintain a good reputation in the public eyes. Besides, it can also raise your position in the industry, which is clearly good as it can attract the great professionals to join your company. On top of that, it can also make your company as a whole better.
Actually, the main reason that makes most companies follow the standards is that they do not want to get consequences from non-compliance. It is possible for the companies that do not follow the standards to be subject to lawsuits, regulatory fines, and even criminal sentencing. As the owner of the company, you might be wondering about the things that can happen if your company does something wrong. To be able to find out the answer to the question, check out the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines below as well as the 7 elements of an effective compliance program.
About the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
The United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines refer to a set of standards federal courts that are usually used to determine the correct sentence for anyone who is convicted of a felony or Class A misdemeanor. It is worth noting that an organization is able to be held criminally liable for the actions of an employee that can impact the whole business.
The guidelines called The United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines assign every kind of crime a base offense level based on its severity. For instance, trespassing is counted as a level 4 offense. As for kidnapping, it is considered as a level 32 offense. However, it is worth noting that offense levels can increase if a crime is really extreme and heinous.
While it is true that every standard is common practice for criminal cases, you have to keep in mind that they are not mandatory. In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory sentences violate the right to a trial by jury. However, there is a high chance that you will get a sentence within the range that is suggested by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines if you or your organization is convicted of a felony or Class A misdemeanor.
How does the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations relate to your compliance program?
For anyone who is designing a compliance program for your business, please learn about the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations. This one provides sentencing ranges that are specific to crimes that are committed by the organizations. Plus, it also lets the organizations know how to qualify for reduced sentences. The guidelines say that every company that has an effective compliance program will face reduced consequences if they are convicted of an offense.
7 elements for a Federal Sentencing Guidelines of Organizations compliance and ethics program
Reviewing the standards of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines of Organizations is important when a business is in charge of designing its compliance program. Aside from that, it is also important to make sure that the program aligns with each other. Make sure to have all the following elements if your compliance program is going to be effective:
- Preventive Procedures
Avoiding the wrongdoing altogether is believed as the best way to follow the federal and industry standards. It is a must for your compliance program to have standards and procedures in place that prevent the bad actors from happening and prevent the company from doing something offensive.
- Program Oversight
It is a must for every compliance program to fall under the jurisdiction of some oversight committee. The oversight committee has to be made up of high level management or even the company Board.
- Careful Authority Appointments
It is important for you to decide the one that will have the authority over your compliance program. Perhaps, it is a must for you to show in your compliance program that you have taken due care to appoint this position.
- Effective Training
Nothing is impossible for a compliance program to be effective as long as your employees do not remember their training. It is the reason why it is better to discuss with the third party vendor when making your compliance training curriculum. All the methods that they have tried and tested before are useful to help you engage your team. Not only that, these methods can also make that training stick.
- Effective Auditing and Reporting
The best training module is the one that shows that your company is able to talk about compliance. However, it does not mean anything if you cannot walk the walk. The most important thing is to make sure that there are measures in place in order to evaluate and update the training curriculum. Do not forget to always have some sort of reporting method, such as an anonymous ethics hotline. By having this kind of thing, the employees will be able to report misconduct.
- Company-Wide Compliance Culture
Showing ethical behavior and promoting a culture that is based on compliance is another way to walk the walk. After having every auditing and reporting method in place, it is time for you to make sure that your workforce is aware about these things. Make sure to listen to the employees when they have something to talk about. In addition, you also have to investigate reports of non-compliance when they occur.
- Fast Response
When you find out there is an incident in your office, it is important for you to act as soon as possible. Make sure to take the correct action to respond to the report. After that, make a thorough assessment of your appliance program. Besides, do not forget to also adjust it so that such a thing can be avoided in the future. It is surely the best way and is effective to ensure that your compliance program is thorough, up to date, and tailored to your company.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
