The impact of ethical leadership and code of ethics on employee integrity, mediated by job satisfaction in Uganda’s public sector

Purpose This study examines the relationships between ethical leadership, code of ethics, job satisfaction and employee integrity in Uganda’s public sector. Specifically, it investigates the direct effects of ethical leadership and code of ethics on integrity and explores job satisfaction’s mediating role in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The research employed a three-wave survey of 600 Ugandan public sector employees. Data collection occurred from November to December 2020. The final sample consisted of 398 respondents, with a response rate of 66.3%. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS 23.0 for structural equation modeling. Findings Results confirmed that ethical leadership and the code of ethics positively relate to employee integrity. Additionally, job satisfaction was found to positively relate to integrity. Importantly, job satisfaction mediates the relationships between both ethical leadership and integrity and between the code of ethics and integrity. Practical implications The findings suggest that public sector organizations should enhance ethical leadership practices and implement strong codes of ethics to foster employee integrity. Moreover, boosting job satisfaction can further strengthen the positive effects of leadership and ethics on integrity. Originality/value This study adds to the limited research on the mediating role of job satisfaction in the ethical leadership-integrity and code of ethics-integrity relationships, particularly in the public sector context of a developing country like Uganda.