Focused Fitness Ethics Case Study

I. Introduction
Focused Fitness, a full-service gym, is committed to the health and wellbeing of its clients and has adopted a code of conduct in order to guarantee this extends past physical health. Its ethical principles and responsibilities apply to its employees, clients, and society. The following ethical principles apply to all parties involved in Focused Fitness operations, and this code implements rules to all employees and patrons of Focused Fitness and its affiliates.

Focused Fitness will grant the privilege of membership to those who are committed to these principles, and reserves the right to withdraw this privilege or discipline its employees accordingly if an individual’s conduct is inconsistent with the values and rules set
forth in this code.

II. Ethical Foundations
A. Employee and Independent Contractor Conduct: Our staff is committed to providing the best services possible, and will always deal honestly with Clients. Employees are required to maintain their skills, proficiency, and training in accordance with all applicable accreditations.
B.
Employee-Client Relationship: Clients are Focused Fitness’s number one priority, and Employees will ensure that their best interest is central to all physical fitness regimens and advice. Employees have the responsibility to maintain Client safety and to give Clients only the best quality services in the industry.
C. Conflict of Interest Avoidance: Employees and Clients both have the right to address any conflicts of interest. Focused Fitness Employees are not permitted to receive special gifts or favors from Clients, as providing the best quality services is already their duty to the Client.
D. Professional Relations: In order to maintain a professional environment, Employees and Clients should maintain strictly professional relationships.
E. Client and Employee Safety: Safety is every Focused Fitness stakeholder’s duty; if either Employees or Clients notice any safety violations or hazards, they are responsible for reporting these to Management.
F. Community Responsibility: Focused Fitness’s goal is to spread awareness of impending health concerns on the general populace. Focused Fitness only endorses supplement manufacturing companies which meet its stringent criteria in order to ensure Clients safety and wellbeing.
III. Code of
Conduct
A. Employee and Independent Contractor Conduct
1. Trainers must recognize the scope of his or her individual training, certification, and expertise, and will provide only the services that he or she has the competencies or qualifications to perform.
2. Trainers will not represent themselves in a deceptive or misleading way, and will inform Clients of their credentials or lack of credentials prior to the assignment of Clients.
3. If certified, Employees and Contractors will perform any continuing education needed to maintain these certifications in their own time. Focused Fitness reserves the right to suspend Employees and Contractors hired on the basis of their certification if certifications expire, only until certification requirements are met. Focused Fitness may terminate an Employee or Contractor if they mislead Management or Clients about the status of their certification.
4. Employees, Trainers, Dieticians, and Behavioral Sports Psychologists may not make recommendations for drug or supplement use, give dietary advice, or treat medical conditions unless they are certified to do so and properly trained by Focused Fitness on these topics.
5. Employees and Contractors of Focused Fitness may only sell Focused Fitness-approved pharmaceuticals and supplements. This applies both in the course of their daily Focused Fitness duties and during personal time. Employees and Contractors may not advocate or personally endorse any substance other than what is sold by Focused Fitness.
6. No Employee or Contractor shall receive commissions from the sale of pharmaceuticals and supplements. This is to ensure Employees and Contractors recommend only products which are applicable to an individual Client’s health needs and concerns.
7. Because of the close physical nature of Training, and in order to maintain the health and safety of Clients, any Trainer who has reason to believe he or she may have a communicable disease must receive clearance from a health professional to return to work only after this disease is considered non-infectious.
8. No Employee or Contractor may provide services while impaired by drugs or alcohol. Controlled substance abuse will not be tolerated both within and outside of the workplace, and Focused Fitness reserves the right to terminate Employees or Contracts if it determines this abuse will affect the quality of Client service or will cause harm to other Employees or Clients.
B. Employee-Client Relationship
1. The welfare of the Client should come first in all training sessions, dietary advice, and plans, and personal biases should never be the basis for these decisions.
2. Each Client will have a physical fitness regimen specifically designed for them, and Employees and Trainers must ensure this is appropriate and adequate for the needs of each client.
3. Products or fitness regimens that are of no benefit to the Client may not be prescribed by Employees or Contractors of Focused Fitness.
4. Trainers will ensure exercises Client performs are suitable and appropriate based on Client’s current level of fitness. Trainers may reevaluate at any time as Client level of fitness changes.
5. Trainers are given the right to stop Clients from performing an exercise if the health, welfare, and safety of the Client or other Clients is at risk. Trainers may re-train the Client on the machine or equipment being used before Client can use this particular machine or equipment again.
6. Employees and Contractors must protect confidential Client information within the limits of Federal, State, and Local statutes. If Client information is to be used for any studies or provided to third parties, Clients must be informed and documentation must be obtained of their compliance.
7. Employees and Contractors may not discriminate against Clients based on race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or any other basis which would violate Federal, Local, or State Government regulated discrimination rules in the workplace.
C. Conflicts of Interest
1. Clients and Trainers may request to discontinue their Trainer-Client relationship at any time and be transferred to a different service provider within Focused Fitness if potential Conflicts of Interest arise.
2.
Employees and Contractors of Focused Fitness may not endorse any product which is not sold by Focused Fitness, unless first obtaining special written permission from Focused Fitness Management. This includes fitness modeling, advertising, or marketing for any company which endorses other products.
3. Employees of Focused Fitness may not accept gifts from Clients or companies in the healthcare industry, including supplement and fitness equipment manufacturers.
D. Professional Relations
1. Employee-Employee and Employee-Client personal relationships are strictly prohibited.
2. Employees shall uphold all laws and remain disciplined in the course of their interactions with other employees and clients.
3. Employees have the responsibility to address any concerns with other Employees that exhibit questionable proficiency, impairment, or unethical/illicit behavior. Employees must remain accountable and are required to bring these behaviors to Management attention if behaviors are not resolved internally.
E. Client and Employee Safety
1. To maintain the safety of all Clients, Clients are prohibited from bringing guests to Focused Fitness without proper Management approval and guest passes. Guests are only authorized during staffed
hours.
2. Clients and Employees should only use fitness machines and equipment within their capabilities.
3. Clients shall return all fitness equipment to its appropriate storage location after use to prevent safety hazards.
F. Community Responsibility
1. Focused Fitness will only carry products which meet the following conditions:
a. Supplement claims must be documented with real-life evidence and blind studies as to their efficacy
b. The manufacturing origin of these products must be clear.
c. Suppliers must only be from regions where nutritional values are well regulated.
2. Focused Fitness strives to spread awareness of the state of the American diet and growing rise of obesity and diabetes in the United States. Management will consult with local health professionals in order to provide the most benefit to the welfare of individual Clients, health fitness community, and the public good.