ETHICAL BASIS FOR HRM PROFESSIONALISM 161- Closely connected to this a professional has aright or duty to practise
on behalf of all.A defence force or police officer, assuming they are
professionals, protects all citizens.The state ideally provides a ‘floor’ for
minimal professional care of all including the indigent. For example,
legal aid, or publicly available health services, are common in devel-
oped states. Accountants have to answer to the tax office on behalf
of all clients, and professionals like engineers, science experts, medical
researchers, and academics, are often consulted as witnesses in public
policymaking contexts. Code:PubCitclaim - Being open to anyone passing the exam under mark 5 above, assists
professionals in attaining moral autonomy and independence. This
means there is alwaysa strong possibility that they will be in conflict with
their managers in an employing organizationand with the institutions
of SWC over poor funding of quality services, especially in for-profit
organizations. They may be ordered to ‘dumb-down’ their expertise
through overspecialization of skill merely for the sake of increased
profitable task throughput. Whistle-blowers are often professionals
working in large public corporations. Other problems surround intel-
lectual property in science, often codeveloped by professionals, but
controlled by bureaucrats or business managers. Code:Whistle-blower - A variablefee for service structure is common, but not essentialand
where present is not driven only by market price but provided on an
autonomously crafted and variable schedule, often taking ability to pay
into account rather than adopting a ‘one size fits all’ billable hours
basis. Tax funds are commonly provided in SWC andremuneration is
usually substantial.Code:Variable fee/Floor - Professionals are pledged to uphold and balance claims inthe public
interestin several senses there is an expectation of noblesse oblige,
provision forpro bonoservice andon callrequirements. Public interest
is meant here in the following four senses. The first is the sum of
the goods of individuals; the second, the structure for effective citizen
action; third, the system for balancing of individual’s competing goods
against state and corporate power; and fourth, balancing actual and
potential client claims (see: Koehn 1994: 155–81). Code:Pro Bono - Professionals initially apply their diagnostic knowledge to a client by
appointment on a one-to-one basis in adesignated public facility or pri-
vate chamber/clinicusually with a shingle for identification and support
staffsuitable for the role. Code:Shingle - Under the implicit social contract, they enjoyhigh social statusas pro-
fessionalsquabeing engaged in non-manual work; enjoyingautonomy
in the setting of their work conditions, and are usually well remunerated