1 – Coach’s Duties

Art. 1-1 – Exercise of Coaching
The coach, in full awareness, authorizes themselves to practice this function based on their training, experience, and supervision.

Art. 1-2 – Confidentiality
The coach adheres to professional secrecy.

Art. 1-3 – Established Supervision
Professional coaching requires supervision. Accredited Members of the French Coaching Society are required to have a supervision arrangement.

Art. 1-4 – Respect for Individuals
Aware of their position, the coach refrains from exerting any abuse of influence.

Art. 1-5 – Obligation of Means
The coach takes all necessary measures to enable the professional and personal development of the coachee within the framework of the client’s request, including, if necessary, consulting a colleague.

Art. 1-6 – Refusal of Engagement
The coach may refuse to engage in coaching for reasons related to the organization, the requester, or themselves. In this case, they refer to one of their colleagues.

2 – Coach’s Duties towards the Coachee

Art. 2-1 – Coaching Venue
The coach must be attentive to the significance and effects of the coaching session’s location.

Art. 2-2 – Decision Responsibility
Coaching is a technique for professional and personal development. Therefore, the coach leaves all decision-making responsibility to the coachee.

Art. 2-3 – Formulated Request
Every coaching request, when supported by an organization, responds to two levels of demand: one formulated by the company and the other by the interested party themselves. The coach validates the coachee’s request.

Art. 2-4 – Person’s Protection
The coach adjusts their intervention respecting the coachee’s developmental stages.

3 – Coach’s Duties towards the Organization

Art. 3-1 – Organization Protection
The coach is attentive to the profession, practices, culture, context, and constraints of the organization they work for.

Art. 3-2 – Feedback to the Client
The coach can only report their actions to the client within the limits established with the coachee.

Art. 3-3 – Systemic Balance
Coaching is exercised in the synthesis of the interests of the coachee and their organization.

4 – Coach’s Duties towards Colleagues

Art. 4-1-1 – Applicant Members for accreditation may, in any professional communication concerning them, state their “written commitment to respect the Code of Ethics of the French Coaching Society”.

Art. 4-1-2 – Depending on the accreditation received, other members have the right to use the registered appellations below in any professional communication concerning them:

• for Full Members: “Full Member of SFCoach®” (registered logo)
• for Associate Members: “Associate Member of SFCoach®” (registered logo)
• for Practitioner Members: “Practitioner Member of SFCoach®” (registered logo)

Art. 4-1-3 – The above rights are conditional upon the effective payment of the Member’s annual dues.

Art. 4-2 – Reserve Obligation The coach maintains a reserved attitude towards their colleagues.

5 – Recourse

Art. 5-1 – Appeal to SFCoach®
Any organization or individual may voluntarily resort to the French Coaching Society in case of breach of the basic professional rules outlined in this code or conflict with a coach from SFCoach®.

A Path of Dialogue and Recourse

Similar to a professional council, SFCoach offers a platform for dialogue, protection, and recourse for companies, media, institutions, coaches, and coachees:

It welcomes inquiries from all parties and contributes to clarifying the professional coaching offering, It develops partnerships with various institutions to enrich its reflection and promote ‘best practices’, It can be approached in case of potential conflicts and intervene as a mediator and/or disciplinarian vis-à-vis its members (up to their exclusion).

Source: https://www.sfcoach.org/deontologie/