Kimberly,
Thank you so much for creating this thread and bringing the topic of business ethics to the forefront. As business owners, we all must strive to not only offer our services to the very best of our ability, but to be honest, have integrity and do right by our clients, our associates and our fellow VAs.
I have always had strong business ethics. In fact, the topic of ethics in general fascinates me. What doesn't fascinate me and makes me upset is when, like you Kimberly, I hear of stories where VAs aren't getting paid for their services or see firsthand, unprofessionalism...from another VA!
I think as the VA industry grows, we may hear these types of stories a little bit more and that is disheartening. The fact of the matter is, the virtual assistant industry is up and coming. Some think it is an easy way to make money and for some reason, check their ethics and business responsibility at the door. While I do think some standardization to the industry is a good idea, I agree it won't keep out all the bad apples (afterall, there are some unethical doctors and lawyers in this world
)