The Benefits Specialist Code of Conduct and Professional Responsibility serves to:

• Summarize the ethical principles that reflect the profession’s core values

• Establish standards of conduct used to guide professional practice

• Assist beneficiaries and customers/clients in identifying standards of practice

Accountability of the profession is expressed through a set of core values. These values represent a field that is continually evolving, yet is firmly based in providing quality information in a consistent, ethical context. These principles represent the foundation upon which the field was developed and applies to current practice:

• Integrity

• Objectivity

• Competence

• Fairness

• Confidentiality

• Professionalism

The Benefits Specialist Code of Conduct and Professional Responsibility is intended to be used by individual practitioners, agencies, organizations, and bodies (i.e. licensing and regulatory boards, professional organizations, agency boards of directors, government agencies, and other groups) that opt to use it as a frame of reference for quality assurance and professional activities. A code of conduct cannot guarantee ethical behavior, however, it sets forth values, principles, and standards to which practitioners strive and their actions can be compared.