Subdivision 1.Responsibility to clients.

A social worker’s primary professional responsibility is to the client. A social worker must respect the client’s interests, including the interest in self-determination, except when required to do otherwise by law.

Subd. 2.Nondiscrimination.

A social worker must not discriminate against a client, intern, student, or supervisee or in providing services to a client, intern, or supervisee on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, color, national origin, religion, illness, disability, political affiliation, or social or economic status.

Subd. 3.Research.

When undertaking research activities, a social worker must use accepted protocols for the protection of human subjects, including (1) establishing appropriate safeguards to protect the subject’s vulnerability, and (2) obtaining the subjects’ informed consent.