|
Minnesota Chauffeured Transportation Association
CODE OF ETHICS
 mcta_code_of_ethics 378.76 Kb
Members of ground transportation companies should recognize that the interest of the industry requires the highest and best use of equipment and personnel. Therefore, we must require adequate equipment and personnel to meet the needs of the public; the building of a functional network among ourselves to insure service and safety for the public; the development of productive relationships among members; and the preservation of a healthful environment for all humankind.
Such interests impose obligation beyond those of ordinary commerce. They impose grave social responsibility and duty to which we must dedicate ourselves. Members therefore, should be zealous to maintain and improve the standards or our chosen industry and to share with our fellow members a common responsibility for the integrity and honor of our industry. The term Members should connote competency, fairness, and high integrity resulting from adherence to a lofty ideal of moral conduct in business relations. No inducement of profit can ever justify departure from this ideal.
Members of the Minnesota Chauffeured Transportation Association pledge to adhere to high standards of honesty, integrity and responsibility in all our activities and to conduct our business in accordance with the tenets set forth below.
While the Code of Ethics establishes obligations which may be higher than those mandated by law, in any instance where the Code of Ethics and the law conflict, the obligations of the law take precedence.
Articles 1 through 6 are inspirational and establish ideals, as
Members of the Minnesota Chauffeured Transportation Association,
we should strive to attain these.
ARTICLE 1
Members should become and remain informed on matters affecting the livery industry in the community, the state, and the nation so that we may be able to contribute responsibly to public thinking on industry matters.
ARTICLE 2
In justice to those who place their interests in our care, Members should endeavor always to be informed regarding laws, proposed legislation, governmental regulations, public policies, and current market conditions in order to be in a position to advice our clients properly.
ARTICLE 3
Members should endeavor to eliminate in our communities any practices which would be damaging to our industry. Members should assist all governmental agencies charged with regulation of the practices of our industry.
ARTICLE 4
To prevent dissension and misunderstanding and to assure better service, Members should urge written contracts with clients.
CODE OF ETHICS Con’t
ARTICLE 5
In the best interests of society, our clients, our employees, and our own businesses, Members should willingly share with other Members the lessons of experience and study for the benefit of the public and the industry at large.
ARTICLE 6
Members should be loyal to the Minnesota Chauffeured Transportation Association and be active in its work.
Articles 7 through 26 establish specific obligations.
Failure to observe these requirements can subject Members
to disciplinary action.
ARTICLE 7
Members shall uphold and abide by all laws and regulation pertaining to the ground transportation industry.
ARTICLE 8
Members shall promote only that equipment which is functionally sound and which is consistent with objective standards of safety.
ARTICLE 9
Members shall seek no unfair advantage over other Members and shall conduct businesses so as to avoid such controversies.
Standard of Practice 10-1
Members shall not misrepresent the kinds and availability of ground transportation in the area.
ARTICLE 10
Members pledge to promote and protect the interests of the client. This obligation of absolute fidelity to the client’s interests is primary, but does not relieve Members of the obligation to treat fairly any other party involved or to uphold all laws.
Standard of Practice 10-1
Members, in attempting to secure a client, shall not deliberately mislead the prospective client as to the market value of the proposed service.
ARTICLE 11
Members shall not accept compensation from more than one party, even if permitted by law, without the full knowledge of all parties to the transaction.
ARTICLE 12
Members shall avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment of pertinent facts relating to any service rendered. Members shall not, however, be obligated to advice on matters outside the scope of service.
Standard of Practice 12-1
Members shall not be party to the naming of a false consideration in any document.
Standard of Practice 12-2
Members shall not offer a service described as “free of charge” when the rendering of the service is contingent on the obtaining of a benefit.
Standard of Practice 12-3
Members shall with respect to the subcontracting of another Member, timely communicate any change of compensation for subcontracting services to the other Member prior to the rendering of service.
Standard of Practice 12-4
Members shall disclose their status when seeking information from another Member concerning the industry.
Standard of Practice 12-5
The offering of premiums, prizes, merchandise or service discounts or other inducements is not, itself, unethical even if receipt of the benefit is contingent upon providing service to the Member making the offer. However, Members must exercise care and candor in such advertising or other public or private representations so that any party interested in receiving or otherwise benefiting from the Member’s offer will have clear, thorough, advance understanding of all the terms and conditions of the offer. The offer of any inducements to do business is subject to the limitations and restriction of law and ethical obligations.
ARTICLE 13
Members shall not deny equal professional services to any person for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. Members shall not be parties to an plan or agreement to discriminate against a person or persons on the basis or race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
ARTICLE 14
Members are expected to provide a level of competent service in keeping with the standards of practice in all areas of the ground transportation industry.
Members shall not undertake to provide specialized services outside their field of competence unless they engage the assistance of one competent in such type of service or unless the facts are fully disclosed to the client. Any client and their contribution to the assignment should be set forth.
ARTICLE 15
In the event of a controversy between owners and operators, they shall submit the dispute to mediation rather than litigate the matter.
Standard of Practice 15-1
The procedure for mediation will be as follows: each party involved in a controversy will select one member to serve in the mediation; those two shall select another member to form a three-person mediation board.
Standard of Practice 15-2
The filing of litigation and refusal to withdraw from it by an owner or operator in a meditative matter constitutes a refusal to mediate.
Standard of Practice 15-3
The obligation to mediate mandated by Article 14 includes mediation request initiated by clients of Members.
Standard of Practice 15-4
Article 14 does not require Members to mediate those circumstances when all parties to the dispute advise the Board in writing that they choose not to mediate.
ARTICLE 16
If charged with unethical practice or asked to present evidence or to cooperate in any other way in any disciplinary proceedings or investigation, Members shall place all pertinent facts before the proper committees or Board and shall take no action to disrupt or obstruct such processes.
Standard of Practice 16-1
Members shall not be subject to disciplinary proceedings more than once with respect to an alleged violation of the Code of Ethics relating to the same transaction.
Standard of Practice 16-2
Members shall not make any unauthorized disclosure of dissemination of the allegations, findings or decision developed in connection with an ethics hearing or appeal.
Standard of Practice 16-3
Members shall not obstruct the Board’s disciplinary proceedings by instituting or threatening to institute actions for libel, slander or defamation against any party to a professional standards proceeding or the witnesses thereof.
Standard of Practice 16-4
Members shall not intentionally impede the Board’s investigative or disciplinary proceedings by filing multiple ethics complaints based on the same event or transaction.
ARTICLE 17
Members shall not engage in activities that constitute a practice unauthorized by law and shall recommend that legal counsel be obtained when the interest of any party to the transaction required it.
ARTICLE 18
Members shall be careful at all times to present a true picture in their advertising and representations to the public. Members shall also insure that their status in the industry is clearly identifiable in any such advertising.
Standard of Practice 18-1
Members shall make all advertising and sales promotions factually accurate with respect to equipment description, service performance, and cost of service and shall avoid those practices, which tend to mislead or deceive the client with respect to pricing.
ARTICLE 19
Members shall not engage in any practice or take any action inconsistent with the general practice of the industry.
Standard of Practice 19-1
Members obtaining information about specific clients of another Member shall not convey this information to, nor invite the cooperation of a third party without the consent of the client of the other Member.
Standard of Practice 19-2
Members shall not solicit a client, which is currently under written contract with another Member. However, a Member may contact the client to secure such information as the expiration date and terms of the contract so that a bid may be made upon the expiration date.
Standard of Practice 19-3
The fact that a client has been contracted with a Member shall not preclude or inhibit any other Member from soliciting a new contract after the expiration date of the original.
Standard of Practice 19-4
The fact that a client has exclusively used a Member in respect to past services creates no interest, which precludes or inhibits any other Member from seeking such client’s future business.
Standard of Practice 19-5
In cooperative transactions Members shall compensate cooperating Members and shall not compensate, directly of indirectly, any other party or other parties without prior knowledge and consent of the cooperating Members.
Standard of Practice 19-6
Article 18 does not preclude Members from making general announcements to potential clients describing their services and terms of availability even thought some recipients may be exclusive clients of another Member. A general telephone canvass, general mailing or distribution addressed to all potential clients in a given geographical area or in a given profession, business club, or organization, or other classification or groups is deemed “general” for purposes of this standard.
Article 18 is intended to recognize as unethical two basic types of solicitation:
• First, telephone or personal solicitations of clients who have been identified as having a written contract with another Member.
• Second, mailing or other forms of written solicitations of clients under written contract to another Member.
Standard of Practice 19-7
Members, prior to completing a written contract with a client, have an affirmative obligation to make reasonable efforts to determine whether the client is subject to a current, valid, exclusive agreement with another Member.
Standard of Practice 19-8
Members, whether agents or subcontracting agents, shall disclose that relationship to a client as soon as practicable.
Standard of Practice 19-9
Article 18 does not preclude Members from contraction a client of another Member for their purpose f offering to provide, or entering into a contact to provide a different type of service currently being provided. However, any offers of cooperation between Members may not be used to target a client in order to provide the same service.
Standard of Practice 19-10
Members acting, as subcontractors shall not use the terms of subcontracting for the purpose of soliciting a client.
ARTICLE 20
In providing service, Members shall utilize the services of other Members with mutually agreed upon terms when doing so is in the best interest of the client.
Negotiation concerning service, which is under contract, shall be carried on with the contracted Member, not with the client, except with the consent of the contracted Member.
Standard of Practice 20-1
It is the obligation of the Member acting as subcontractor to disclose immediately all pertinent facts to the contracted Member prior to, as well as after, the service is rendered.
Standard of Practice 20-2
Members shall disclose all terms of agreement when subcontracting with another member.
Standard of Practice 20-3
Entitlement to an amount of compensation in a cooperative transaction between or among Members must be agreed upon before service is provided.
ARTICLE 21
Members shall write all contracts and warranties so that they are fair and mutually beneficial to all parties concerned. These contracts should be free of ambiguities or omissions which tend to obscure contractual obligations and so that all terms and provisions are free of the capacity to mislead or deceive the client as to the quality, longevity or cost of the service.
ARTICLE 22
Members shall honor all contractual agreements until and unless they are altered or dissolved by the mutual consent of all contractual parties concerned and shall fulfill those obligations in a reasonable manner that is fair to all parties concerned.
ARTICLE 23
Members shall promptly acknowledge and act on all client complaints, in situations where complaints appear unreasonable and persistent, Members shall encourage the client to initiate or shall themselves initiate dispute settlement by the Board.
ARTICLE 24
Members shall treat employees fairly in respect to working conditions and compensation.
ARTICLE 25
Members shall not publicly disparage the business practice of a competitor nor volunteer an opinion of a competitor’s service. If an opinion is sought and if a Member deems it appropriate to respond, such opinion shall be rendered with strict professional integrity and courtesy.
ARTICLE 26
Members shall refrain from any act intended to restrain or suppress competition and thereby shall promote the private enterprise system and its guaranty of equal rights for all.
AMENDMENTS
Any member may place amendments to the Code of Ethics before the Board of Directors in writing, at any time. Upon approval by the Board, an amendment will be placed before the membership. Amendments will become part of the Code of Ethics upon approval by a simple majority of the membership.
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
Any grievance against any Member by another party shall be placed before the Board of Directors in writing. The Board shall then ask each party to provide all pertinent information about the grievance. After receiving and reviewing the information, the Board will determine whether the data submitted constitutes a case of grievance. The Board will the unsure the procedure outlines in Standard of Practice 15-1, is followed
|
