NASW Code of Ethics: Practice Checklist for Social Workers

Educational guidance for US social workers. This page summarizes the NASW Code of Ethics and is not legal advice, a licensing-board ruling, or a substitute for the current code, applicable law, supervision, or consultation.

A parent asks for a copy of a child’s record during a custody dispute. Before you answer, distinguish the client’s access rights from another person’s private information, then open the standards that govern the request. The NASW Code of Ethics is a living professional document. NASW says it is relevant to social workers and social work students regardless of their functions, settings, or populations served. Use the official text for the complete language and current version. The summaries below are prompts for your next decision, not replacements for the standards. The official NASW text is the first source to open, not a summary of it.

Start with the situation, not the section number

Before you search the code, write the decision in one sentence. Separate what you know from what you suspect. Then identify whether the question is ethical, legal, clinical, organizational, or more than one. A standard may guide the professional judgment without answering every legal or operational question.

A five-line decision record

If the decision involves immediate safety risk, a mandated report, a court order, or a question of law, use the relevant emergency, reporting, board, or legal pathway. Do not use this page as a substitute for that pathway.

Ethical standards 1.01 through 1.17

These standards center the social worker’s responsibilities to clients. Open the current official text for the full standard and its limits. This code of ethics for social workers is a practice map, not a substitute for reading the section that governs your decision.

Read each standard in full in the NASW Code of Ethics.

Standard	What it covers	Practice decision
1.01 Commitment to Clients	Client well-being and professional responsibility to clients.	What action protects the client’s interests, and what would need to be explained before you proceed?
1.02 Self-Determination	Supporting client choice, with a narrow exception for serious, foreseeable, and imminent harm.	What choice is the client making, what information supports it, and is the exception actually present rather than assumed?
1.03 Informed Consent	Explaining services, risks, limits, alternatives, and participation in clear language.	What does the client need to understand now, and what changed enough to reopen consent?
1.04 Competence	Working within education, training, experience, consultation, and supervision.	Is the service within your competence, or do you need training, consultation, referral, or a narrower role?
1.05 Cultural Competence	Cultural competence, humility, and attention to diversity and difference.	What assumption or power difference could shape this decision, and what would respectful curiosity change?
1.06 Conflicts of Interest	Avoiding, disclosing, managing, or resolving conflicts that could impair professional judgment.	Who could benefit or be harmed, what must be disclosed, and what boundary or consultation protects the client?
1.07 Privacy and Confidentiality	Respecting privacy, explaining confidentiality, and limiting disclosure to what is necessary.	What authority permits the disclosure, what is the minimum necessary information, and what will you tell the client?
1.08 Access to Records	Client access to records, with limited exceptions and a duty to protect others’ information.	What record is requested, whose information is in it, and what review or redaction is required before access?
1.09 Sexual Relationships	Prohibitions and safeguards involving clients, former clients, relatives, and other people connected to clients.	Does this contact create a sexual or exploitative risk, and what immediate boundary or consultation is required?
1.10 Physical Contact	Evaluating physical contact with clients in light of potential harm, psychological effect, and cultural context.	What is the purpose and likely impact of the contact, and what safer alternative or explanation is needed?
1.11 Sexual Harassment	Prohibiting sexual advances, solicitation, requests, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.	What conduct occurred, what protection is needed now, and which reporting or workplace path applies?
1.12 Derogatory Language	Avoiding derogatory language in written, verbal, and electronic communication.	What words could demean or stigmatize the client or another person, and how will you correct the record or communication?
1.13 Payment for Services	Explaining payment arrangements and avoiding exploitative or unfair financial practices.	What fee, service, timing, and change policy does the client need to understand before agreeing?
1.14 Clients Who Lack Decision-Making Capacity	Safeguarding the interests and rights of clients who lack the capacity to make informed decisions.	Who has authority, what does the client still communicate, and how will you preserve participation and dignity?
1.15 Interruption of Services	Planning for interruptions and arranging reasonable continuation or referral.	If you are unavailable, what does the client need to know and what continuity plan can you document?
1.16 Referral for Services	Referring when another professional or service is needed.	What need is outside your role, how will you explain the referral, and how will you support a safe transition?
1.17 Termination of Services	Ending services responsibly and avoiding abandonment.	What reason, notice, transition support, and referral does the client need before services end?

Use the section number that actually matches the decision; do not use a broad label when a more specific standard governs. That specificity is what makes a code of ethics for social workers useful in a real chart, team meeting, or consultation.

Selected ethical standards for colleagues

These standards address colleagues, including consultation, interdisciplinary work, disputes, and professional conduct.

Standard	What it covers	Practice decision
2.01 Respect	Respectful, fair treatment of colleagues and recognition of their expertise.	What can you address directly and respectfully, and what information is relevant rather than personal or speculative?
2.02 Confidentiality	Protecting confidential information shared by colleagues in professional relationships.	What may you repeat, to whom, and for what professional purpose?
2.03 Interdisciplinary Collaboration	Collaborating with other professionals in the client’s interest.	What does each professional need to know, who has which role, and how will you avoid conflicting instructions?
2.05 Consultation	Seeking consultation when it serves clients and protecting the client’s confidentiality.	What focused question should you bring, what identifying detail can you remove, and what will you record about the consultation?
2.06 Sexual Relationships	Prohibiting sexual activities or contact with supervisees, students, trainees, or other colleagues over whom the social worker has professional authority.	What professional authority or power difference is present, and what boundary, reporting, or consultation step protects the people involved?
2.08 Impairment of Colleagues	Addressing a colleague’s impairment when it interferes with professional practice.	What observable conduct supports concern, what immediate client protection is needed, and which policy or consultation path applies?
2.09 Incompetence of Colleagues	Responding to direct knowledge of a colleague’s incompetence through consultation and remedial action when feasible.	What specific practice concern is supported by direct knowledge, how can you consult with the colleague, and what remedial action or client protection is needed?

Do not turn a colleague concern into a public accusation. Record observable facts, protect clients, follow the relevant workplace or professional process, and consult when the next step is unclear.

Selected ethical standards in practice settings

These standards address supervision, education, training, and evaluation. The power difference matters in every feedback, assignment, and assessment decision. If you are building a code of ethics for social workers checklist for your team, keep the supervision prompts separate from client-care prompts.

Standard	What it covers	Practice decision
3.01 Supervision and Consultation	Providing adequate supervision and consultation, with attention to client welfare.	What access, feedback, and escalation path does the supervisee need for this work?
3.02 Education and Training	Teaching accurately and preparing students for competent practice.	What must the learner know, practice, or be assessed on before taking this responsibility?
3.03 Performance Evaluation	Fair and considerate evaluation of students and supervisees based on clearly stated criteria.	What evidence supports this evaluation, what expectations were stated, and how can the learner respond?
3.04 Client Records	Maintaining accurate, sufficient, and timely documentation that reflects services and supports continuity of care.	What does the record need to state accurately and promptly, and what correction or addition supports future service continuity?

A supervision note should make the decision visible: the question, the information reviewed, the guidance given, the person responsible for the next action, and the follow-up date.

Ethical standards 4.01 through 4.08

These standards concern the social worker’s professional integrity, including honesty, qualifications, misrepresentation, and conflicts with employers or organizations.

Standard	What it covers	Practice decision
4.01 Competence	Maintaining professional competence.	What training or experience supports this service, and what limitation must you name?
4.02 Discrimination	Not practicing, condoning, or facilitating discrimination.	What barrier or unequal treatment is present, and what action reduces it in this setting?
4.03 Private Conduct	Keeping private conduct from interfering with professional responsibilities.	Could this conduct impair practice, create a conflict, or undermine client trust, and what safeguard is needed?
4.04 Dishonesty, Fraud, and Deception	Avoiding dishonest, fraudulent, or deceptive conduct.	Is the statement or record accurate, and what correction is needed before anyone relies on it?
4.05 Impairment	Not allowing personal problems, psychosocial distress, substance misuse, or mental health difficulties to interfere with practice.	What observable impact is present, what client protection is needed, and what support or leave path should you use?
4.06 Misrepresentation	Accurately representing qualifications; correcting misrepresentation and not claiming credentials or affiliations you do not have.	What credential, title, service, or outcome claim needs to be corrected or qualified?
4.07 Solicitations	No uninvited solicitation of potential clients who are vulnerable to undue influence, manipulation, or coercion, and no testimonial endorsements from current clients or others vulnerable to undue influence.	Who is being asked, what circumstances could make the person vulnerable to undue influence, and could the request feel required?
4.08 Acknowledging Credit	Giving credit for the work and contributions of others.	Who contributed, what attribution is accurate, and what permission or authorship question remains?

A supported documentation example

The example is a documentation path, not a universal records policy. Follow the law, contract, agency procedure, and current professional guidance that apply to your setting.

A school-team consultation example

Ethical standards 5.01 through 5.02

These standards cover the integrity of the profession and the conduct of evaluation and research, including participant protection and honest reporting.

Standard	What it covers	Practice decision
5.01 Integrity of the Profession	Supporting the integrity of social work through responsible professional conduct.	What action protects the profession’s integrity without hiding a real concern or avoiding accountability?
5.02 Evaluation and Research	Honest reporting, protection of participants, and accurate representation of findings.	What do the data support, what limitations must you state, and who could be affected by the way you report it?

A program evaluation is not exempt from ethical care because it happens inside an agency. Name the purpose, protect privacy, and avoid promising a result the information cannot support.

Ethical standards 6.01 through 6.04

These standards place social work in its wider setting: the profession, the public, and the promotion of social justice. Keep this code of ethics for social workers checklist beside the current text when you move from an individual case to an organizational or community decision.

Standard	What it covers	Practice decision
6.01 Social Welfare	Promoting the general welfare and development of people, communities, and their environments.	What condition is affecting well-being, and what action is within your role and influence?
6.02 Public Participation	Facilitating informed participation by the public in shaping social policies and institutions.	Who is affected, whose voice is missing, and how can participation be made meaningful?
6.03 Public Emergencies	Providing appropriate professional services during public emergencies.	What urgent need is present, what role can you safely take, and what limits or coordination apply?
6.04 Social and Political Action	Working for social conditions that support basic human needs and social well-being.	What advocacy action is accurate, respectful, and connected to the people or communities affected?

The code’s social justice standards do not tell you to abandon client privacy or professional boundaries. Apply them with the same care you use for every other ethical decision.

Put the checklist into your practice

Use the standard as a prompt for a decision, not as a label that ends the decision. A useful review has four parts:

1. Facts. What happened, who is affected, and what do you know rather than assume?
2. Authority. Which current NASW provision, law, regulation, agreement, or policy did you open?
3. Action. What will you do, what will you tell the relevant people, and what will you document?
4. Review. What could change, who will you consult, and when will you revisit the decision?

If the code and a law, court order, or organizational mandate appear to conflict, open each source and seek qualified consultation. Do not infer a state-law conclusion from this page. For a wider map, use the therapy practice compliance guides. For a structured ethics worksheet, use the ethical decision-making model for counseling, which is an ACA resource and not the NASW code. For documentation continuity, see the social work progress note template. For a relationship that may involve a second role, review dual relationships in therapy.

Download the consent and ethics decision pack

The consent and ethics decision pack gives you printable decision cards for common ethics conversations. Use it as paper beside the current NASW text, not as a replacement for that text.

If you want the action and review date beside the next-session brief, keep the note in Emosapien. The tool can hold the record; your ethical and legal judgment remains yours.

References

• National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers.
• National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Highlighted revisions to the NASW Code of Ethics.