Common Ethical Problems: HR Issues

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Common Ethical ProblemsHR Issues

• Geoffrey G. Bell, PhD, CA
• University of Minnesota Duluth
• September 2003

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Reasons HR Issues Matter

• One key managerial problem will be recruiting,
  retaining, and motivating talent.
• Firms need employees who can survive thrive in
  a global economy, who are technologically
  sophisticated, and who can adapt to change.
• One key way to do this is create atmosphere where
  employees feel appreciated.

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What are HR Issues?

• Problems that occur when people work together.
• Broad definition.
• Include privacy, discrimination, harassment,
  performance evaluation, hiring, firing, and
  promotion.
• Key to these issues is fairness.
• Were employees treated with equity, reciprocity,
  and impartiality?

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Discrimination

• Discrimination occurs when something other than
  legitimate qualifications determine how someone
  is treated.
• NB This definition is broader than in the text.
• E.g., hiring CA students based on hockey skills
  not professional skills eliminates women
  candidates.
• Discrimination violates sense of fairness.
• Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the
  basis of race, religion, sex, color, and national
  origin.

5
Harassment

• All organizations with gt15 employees must have a
  sexual harassment policy train employees in
  issues involved.
• Harassment involves quid pro quo and hostile work
  environment.
• Quid pro quo sexual favors are, or appear to
  be, a requirement for advancement.
• Hostile work environment a worker feels
  uncomfortable because of unwelcome actions or
  comments related to sexuality.
• Hard to determine exactly what constitutes
  harassing behavior even genuine complements may
  be misconstrued.
• Determination of presence or absence of
  harassment based on viewpoint of reasonable
  person, and perpetrators intentions arent
  considered.

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Why harassment matters

• Unfairly focuses job satisfaction, advancement,
  and retention on factors other than ability.
• Also, simply hurts innocent people, even though
  it may be innocuously.
• An employer may be held liable for employee
  behavior if employer knew about it did nothing.