About one in seven (15pc) Irish workers (on par with the global average) have felt pressure to act unethically and there has been a slight increase in the number of Irish employees who have felt pressured to compromise their organisation’s standards of behaviour over the last three years (up from 13pc in 2021 to 15pc in 2024).
Research released by the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE), in conjunction with Compliance Institute as a national partner, found some distinct differences between the experiences of men and women in Irish workplaces with twice as many men (16pc) as women (8pc) citing an unethical culture in their organisation as the main cause of pressure on them to bend the rules, while peer pressure is more likely to be a reason for women to act unethically than it is for men (27pc versus 19pc).
The Ethics at Work: 2024 International Survey of Employees was carried out by the Institute of IBE in conjunction with the Compliance Institute in Ireland, and polled 12,000 employees in 16 countries over four continents. A total of 750 of those surveyed were in Ireland.
Headline findings from the Ethics at Work: 2024 International Survey of Employees – Irish Edition reveal that:
- The top five reasons people came under pressure to breach their organisation’s moral code were: following their boss’s orders (35pc), time pressure and unrealistic deadlines (27pc), under-resourcing at the workplace (26pc), a request to take shortcuts (25pc) and peer pressure (23pc). (See Table 3 below)
- Women are more likely than men to feel swayed by their boss’s orders (42pc versus 29pc).
- One in seven (14pc) Irish workers cited budgeting and financial pressures at the company as the main reason they came under pressure to act unethically.
- Managers are twice as likely as non-managers to have come under pressure to breach their organisation’s standards of ethical conduct (23pc v 10pc).
- More men (17pc) than woman (12pc) have felt compromised while younger staff were also more likely to have felt under pressure to bend the rules here with almost one in five (19pc) 18-34 year-olds admitting to this compared to 14pc of 35 -54 year-olds and 8pc of over-55s.
- The research also found some geographic differences in feedback from workers when it comes to the likelihood to come under pressure to act unethically with Carlow (40pc), Donegal (30pc), Kilkenny (29pc), Cavan (25pc) and Kerry workers (23pc) being the most inclined to admit this. (See Table 2 below)
Commenting on the survey findings, Michael Kavanagh, CEO of the Compliance Institute, said,
“If an employee feels pressure in the workplace to act unethically, for whatever reason, then there is something fundamentally wrong. It seems, from this survey, that depending on your age, gender and role within an organisation, that one in seven (15pc) workers in Ireland have felt this way – and this is of course concerning.
Putting pressure on employees to act unethically so that short-term business goals are reached is unlikely to be in the best long-term interests of the company and its staff. A Machiavellian approach or culture in work is likely to backfire for bosses, management and staff alike. It could damage a company’s brand, land management and employees in trouble with corporate regulators, and also lead to poor staff morale.
The research today also reflects the extent to which so much of the Irish workforce is grappling with time pressure and unrealistic deadlines – and it is concerning that almost three in ten find themselves under pressure to act unethically as a result of this. Employee burnout is increasingly becoming a feature of the modern workplace and this is likely to continue – recent research found that four in ten Irish workers had found that their workload has risen significantly in the last 12 months. Irish workers need to be supported so they can achieve their work goals and deadlines – without having to bend the rules or take shortcuts to do so.”
Tolerance of ethics breaches
- More than half of workers think rule breaches at work are simply inevitable, but one in four (26pc) disagree with this way of thinking.
- Three in ten workers say they wouldn’t worry about minor breaches so long as they delivered on what they needed to on time and within in budget – though four in ten disagree with this rationale. Men are more likely than women to be tolerant of minor infractions (36pc v 27pc).
- While the majority (70pc) believe it is not acceptable to artificially increase a company’s profits, about one in seven (15pc) workers deem it acceptable to do so – with twice as many men (21pc) as women (10pc) holding this view.
Mr Kavanagh added,
“While ‘minor’ breaches might seem acceptable to some workers, the concern is that such breaches could foster an unscrupulous workplace – and furthermore, there is always a danger that a ‘minor’ breach could in fact be much more serious than thought or even be the precursor to be much more serious breach.
While it is encouraging that most workers believe it is not acceptable to artificially boost a company’s profits, it is worrying that one in seven think it’s okay. This is an illegal practice which could not only land a company in trouble with the law, it could also cause severe reputational damage for the company and undermine investor confidence.”
