The Most Ethical Workers in the US May Be … Construction Workers, Report Finds

U.S. construction industry employees are more at risk for facing workplace ethics issues, but they also are more willing to blow the whistle on misconduct than employees in other industries, according to a report from the Ethics Resource Center (ERC).

When compared to the U.S. national averages, employees in the U.S. construction industry indicated that they felt far more pressure to compromise standards (18%), witnessed more misconduct (53%), and were significantly more likely to experience retaliation after reporting misconduct (37%). The ERC concluded that these numbers likely were due to the inherent pressure of construction work.

Significantly, the ERC report also found that 74 percent of construction workers said they reported workplace misconduct, a number that the ERC said was higher than any other group of employees in all 19 years of ERC’s National Business Ethics Survey® research. To compare, the 2011 national average was only 65 percent.

“Through this survey, we hope to establish a baseline for the state of ethics in the U.S. construction industry,” said ERC President Patricia Harned. “By identifying emerging ethics and compliance issues, industry leaders can identify priorities that enable them to improve conduct in the workplace.”

Contact the author at smeyerow@optonline.net. 

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site.