Code of Ethics for Uber Eats: Discrimination, Exploitation, Corruption, and Whistleblower Protection

This report discusses the code of ethics for Uber Eats, including discrimination, exploitation, corruption, and whistleblower protection. It also highlights the importance of following ethical guidelines and best practices for maintaining a safe and healthy environment.

Code of Ethics

Table of Contents
INTRDOUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Sustainability, Ethics and Governance are usually those concepts which plays a very
important role in the organisation and also focuses on deep understanding and knowledge in
relation to the social responsibility of the organisation. In addition to that, all these plays a very
important role and also affects the business strategy, general business conduct and the
management decision making. In the present report, the organisation chosen is Uber Eats. The
organisation is an online food delivery platform and food ordering which was launched by the
company in the year 2014. In context to the Code of Ethics, the organisation sets out the ethical
guidelines and the best practices for the objective to follow the integrity, professionalism and
honesty. In relation to Uber Eats, the company is highly committed towards maintaining a safe
environment and healthy surroundings in all their products and services. In addition to that, it is
very important that the company should make its surroundings free from any kind of harassment
and discrimination and should not tolerate any kind of harassment.
MAIN BODY
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Discrimination
Discrimination is the practice of unfair or prejudicial treatment towards people and
groups based on characteristics such as their race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. The
differential treatment against any individual or group of people based on there above mention
characteristics and many related can lead to a punishable sentence towards the person or
organization who is practicing this discrimination towards the people. This code of ethics is not
only a law but also illegal which can cause federal punishment to the person. Maintaining the
discrimination law properly in the workplace leads to a happy and safe environment for people
working there and them trusting the organization they are working for and leading to progress in
the workplace. A few examples of discrimination in the workplace that will cause an issue which
is- paying equally qualified employees different salaries for the same position which is
discrimination against the person. About the company chosen Uber eats faced such problem in
past with discrimination law which was “ allegations over free delivery from black-owned
restaurants” which cause $12,000 as well as a permanent cease and desist order that would
prevent them from continuing to offer free delivery from black-owned retardants(Uber eats faces
discrimination allegations over free delivery from black-owned restaurants, 2020). In response
Uber eats has there own policy on Non-discrimination such as a prohibition against
discrimination towards users based on race, religion, national origin, disability, sex, sexual
orientation, marital status, gender identity, age and many other characteristics protected under
this law is applicable. If any user is found violating this prohibition will lose access to the
platform of Uber. In addition to this Uber eats if following the nondiscrimination policy and take
necessary actions against people or employee who breaks this policy.
Discrimination: Code of Ethics
There are several rules and regulations for people working in an organization to follow
and if not necessary actions were taken into consideration such as :
 People should respect each other in the workplace and everyone equally.
 Managers and officials members should treat every person equally.
 etc.
If anyone is found violating these the necessary action against them should be taken into
consideration.
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Exploitation
Exploitation involves forcing someone into doing something that the person is not willing
to do for someone else's gain, in addition to this It is also defined as taking unfair advantage of
someone else's vulnerability. In conclusion of the above statement, it refers to a condition for
someone where the person is in a vulnerable place and is desperate for something and someone
taking advantage of that situation without the willingness of the person is the exploitation of that
person. Being exploited is not only mean taking advantage but taking unfair advantage of
someone's vulnerability is actual exploitation. One example of being exploited is Labour
Exploitation, this generally refers to a situation where people are forced to work for little
remuneration or no remuneration people doing this are often under threat of punishment. About
the Uber eats, they should consider this law and their employee in a manner so no one is
exploited by anyone in the organization and should take punishable action against that person.
Uber eats has there own set of guidelines in consideration of exploitation code of ethics which
they are following it includes, policy for users of the uber platform and uber marketplace
platform including drivers, riders, delivery people merchants, and businesses for their safety, the
general guidelines provided by Uber are- treat everyone with respect, help keep each other safe,
follow the law and at last the customers and people feedbacks matters. In past Uber was faced
with such a situation as “uber eats was accused of using new contracts to exploit their Australia
delivery riders”(Uber Eats accused of using a new contract to exploit Australian delivery riders,
2021). As the new contract sent by uber eats required that delivery riders should have ABN and
they're on insurance, the statement was stressing on the fact that uber eats is not considering
delivery drivers their employees which is the exploitation of the delivery drivers. In response to
this, uber eats should take into consideration of delivery drivers and riders as their employees
and give benefits according to their policy of employees treating them equally as their
employees.
Exploitation: Code of Ethics
There are several things to be taken into consideration in exploitation such as:
 People should know their rights against exploitation
 Letting employees working in the organization learn about the exploitation law.
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Corruption
Corruption is giving or taking advantage of people or in an organization where there are
no rights of the person to take it. In general terms, it is giving or taking advantage of doing
certain things for other people in an illegal way. Corruption can often misunderstand as bribery,
bribery comes under corruption which is a small part of corruption. Corruption can happen in
government, organizations, and in people, it is not only one person's fault but both the person
giving and the person taking it so both people should be punishable. One example of corruption
as a person is taking an amount from another person and doing illegal paperwork for that person
is corruption and serious action will be taken against both people as it is federal crime. About
Uber eats corruption can happen in the company as so many people are connected in the process,
so Uber should take into consideration and take required precautions. Is there different ways of
corruption that could happen in the company and Uber should consider them such as bribery,
fraud, embezzlement, and kickbacks, in the conclusion of this, Uber should make such policy to
protect it from this corruption and take action against it. In addition to this, the company has yet
not faced any problems with corruption, as Uber eats is following the rule and considering it for
betterment.
Corruption: Code of Ethics
There are several things to take into consideration to protect the organization from
corruption to make it anti-corruption such as:
 People should follow the policy and law against corruption.
 There should be serious actions against the person who is involved in corruption and
make an example for others.
Dishonest and fraudulent behavior
In context to the fraudulent behavior and dishonest behavior, it is a failed act or deliberate
behavior which is conducted by the company to attain the unauthorized benefits and also provide
claims. In the context of Uber Eats, the organization’s fraudulent and dishonest behavior is
related to the quality of the food and the safety they are mainly offering. Moreover, it is very
important to offer fresh products which are not expiry, treat the animal in an unethical manner,
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and much more. In addition to that, the company must undertake and follow all the code and
ethics guidelines. The organization needs to come up with its ethical code of conduct to protect
the individuals working in their organization and also their consumers in an effective manner. In
addition to that, the company should follow a fraudulent and dishonesty code of ethics for the
purpose to prevent future circumstances from protecting and happening to individuals and all
franchises around the world and allowing them to follow a code of ethics properly (Rezaee and
et.al, 2019).
Whistle-blower protection
In context to the Whistleblower protection, it is an act that could focus on the attention to
misconduct occurring in the company, misconduct or any errors with an auditor investigation
happen in the company appropriate actions which will be taken against the organization or the
person. In the context of a whistleblower protection situation, the officials majorly ensure that
there is fairness and transparency in the entire process. In the context of Uber eats, any kind of
wrongful or unfair treatment conduct in the workplace should be guided by the Whistleblower
protection act which is a qualifying discloser( Cancela and et.al, 2020). In the context of
Qualifying disclosure to the Food Standard Agency (FSA), affecting or impacting the health of
the consumer and also not providing information regarding the ingredients used could result in
causing various issues for the organization. In the context of Whistle Blowing protection, it plays
a very important role in protecting the integrity and safety of the food supply as the company is
widely known by the consumers and is a known organization that needs to follow these
guidelines. In the past scenario, the organization has faced whistleblower cases and also
manipulated its accounts for the purpose to approve the promotion fees and higher advertising
for the purpose to boost the stocks and dividends for the insider in response to the whistleblower,
various board members, officers and other have enjoyed higher stock prices and various other
benefits in response to the allegation (Benites-Lazaro, Giatti, and Giarolla, 2018).
Enforcement
Enforcement is a law that complies with all rules and regulations for people for them to obey and
follow them. It is a law for people and organizations and certain industries to enforce them to
follow those laws. Enforcement is the process of ensuring compliance with laws, regulation
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rules, standards and social norms for people to obey and follow any break in any law enforced by
the government leads to a drastic measure taken by the government (Crowther, Seifi, and Wond,
2019).
About UBER eats, the company is a worldwide food industry which leads them to follow
different countries' laws of enforcement, as different countries have a different set of laws for an
organization for them to follow those, organization needs to follow all those laws for better and
smooth operation. In the food industry, there is a Food Standards Agency(FSA) which oversees
local council enforcement such as food production, manufacturing, distribution, and retail
process. The organization has to look for their production and trading and manufacturing
happening in all places for their operation goes without any disturbance by the FSA, as there so
many franchises of the company are considering every law enforced by every country on trading
and providing their products in those countries. There are laws for the food industry which uber
eats is taken into consideration in their manufacturing and trading process for going with the law
helps them for succeeding. In recent events that were faced by a company related to enforcement
was there case filled five tears ago and the decision was taken now, was the company had
violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by having a website that was not
fully accessible by blind people” in respond of this case, the organization should undertake this
case seriously and consider requirements needed and take action accordingly, the company
should update and make changes in their website by providing a different website for blind
people that will easily accessible by blind people so that they can also enjoy their products. The
company is following enforcement from prevention (Correa-Garcia, Garcia-Benau, and Garcia-
Meca, 2020).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that the code of ethics plays a very important role
in successfully running an organization. Ethics, Sustainability, and Governance, all these
concepts play a very important role and help in a deeper understanding of what is wrong and
what is right. Moreover, the report helps in better understanding the code of ethics which further
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involves various ethical issues such as enforcement, discrimination, whistleblower protection,
corruption, exploitation, and dishonest or fraudulent behavior in the organization. Moreover, it
helps in the deep understanding of how an organization such as Uber Eats should follow its code
of ethics for the purpose to solve various ethical issues and avoiding any kind of malpractices or
misbehavior in the organization.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/discrimination/
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/exploitation/
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/corruption/
Uber eats faces discrimination allegations over free delivery from black-owned restaurants,
2020 [Online] Available through: <https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/30/uber-eats-faces-
discrimination-allegations-over-free-delivery-from-black-owned-restaurants/>
Uber Eats accused of using a new contract to exploit Australian delivery riders, 2021 [Online]
Available through: <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/29/uber-eats-
accused-of-using-new-contract-to-exploit-australian-delivery-riders>
Rezaee, Z., Tsui, J., Cheng, P., and Zhou, G., 2019. Business sustainability in Asia: Compliance,
performance, and integrated reporting and assurance. John Wiley & Sons.
Cancela, B.L., Neves, M.E.D., Rodrigues, L.L. and Dias, A.C.G., 2020. The influence of
corporate governance on corporate sustainability: new evidence using panel data in the Iberian
macroeconomic environment. International Journal of Accounting & Information Management.
Benites-Lazaro, L.L., Giatti, L. and Giarolla, A., 2018. Sustainability and governance of
sugarcane ethanol companies in Brazil: Topic modeling analysis of CSR reporting. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 197, pp.583-591.
Crowther, D., Seifi, S. and Wond, T., 2019. Responsibility and governance: the twin pillars of
sustainability. In Responsibility and Governance (pp. 1-13). Springer, Singapore.
Correa-Garcia, J.A., Garcia-Benau, M.A. and Garcia-Meca, E., 2020. Corporate governance and
its implications for sustainability reporting quality in Latin American business groups. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 260, p.121142.
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