Ethical Theory

1
Ethical Theory Business

• Employee Rights Responsibilities

2
Class Debates

• Thursday November 6
• Thursday November 13
• Thursday November 20
• Thursday November 25

3
Do people have a right to a job?

• Two components
• Workers believe they have a right to a job in the
  first place.
• As employees continue to work at a job, they
  believe they have a right to retain that job.
• This view is not widely held

4
Employment-at-will Principle

• The freedom of the employee to quit, the freedom
  of the employer to fire, and the right of the
  employer to order the employee to do his bidding
  define the essence of the employment contract
  (p. 256).

5
Employee Disobedience

• An employees job is protected under common law
  if an employee disobeys an employer on the
  grounds that the employer ordered him to do
  something illegal or immoral.

6
Bill of Rights

• Americans are protected against government
  infringements of the Bill of Rights, but they are
  not protected against corporate infringement of
  these rights.
• Why?
• Inefficient ? breakdown in discipline

7
The Right to Privacy

• Not explicitly listed in the Constitution
• Problem Areas
• Profiling
• Rising Cost of Health Insurance
• Genetic Testing
• Drug Testing
• Monitoring of Employees

8
The Right to Privacy

• When are Americans likely to sacrifice privacy?
• For gains in health, safety, or efficiency

9
Employee Responsibilities

• Employees have moral obligations to
• respect the property of the corporation
• abide by employment contracts, and
• operate within the bounds of the companys
  procedural rules.
• It is legally established that an employer has a
  right to loyalty

10
Law of Agency

• An agent is subject to his principal to act
  solely for the benefit of the principal in all
  matters connected with his agency. Specifically,
  the agent is also under a duty not to act or
  speak disloyally, and the agent is to keep
  confidential any information acquired by him as
  an employee that might damage the agent or his
  business (p. 264).

11
Werhane Radin

• Due Process means by which a person can appeal
  a decision in order to get an explanation of that
  action and an opportunity to argue against it.
• Procedural Due Process the right to a hearing,
  trial, grievance procedure, or appeal when a
  decision is made concerning oneself.

12
Werhane Radin

• Employment-at-will Justifications
• Proprietary rights of employers
• Defends employee and employer rights equally
• An employee voluntarily commits to certain
  responsibilities and loyalty
• Due process rights interferes with efficiency and
  productivity
• Legislation and regulation of employment
  relationships undermine the economy.

13
Werhane Radin

• Problems
• Analogous to considering employees as a piece of
  property
• Arbitrary treatment of employees extends
  prerogatives to mangers that are not equally
  available to employees
• If there is an expectation of employee loyalty,
  this should be reciprocated

14
Werhane Radin

• The institution of due process in the workplace
  is a moral requirement consistent with
  rationality and consistency expected in
  management decision-making. It is not precluded
  by EAW, and it is compatible with the overlap
  between the public and private sectors of the
  economy (p. 274).

15
Epstein

• National Labor Relations Act set the basic
  structure for collective bargaining.
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act offers
  extensive protection to all individuals against
  discrimination on the basis of race, sex,
  religion, or national origin.

16
Epstein

• EAW is adopted not because it allows the employer
  to exploit the employee, but rather because over
  a very broad range of circumstances it works to
  the mutual benefit of both parties, where the
  benefits are measured at the time of the
  contracts formation and not at the time of
  dispute.

17
Epstein

• The Fairness of the Contract at Will
• Freedom of contract is an aspect of individual
  liberty.
• The individual parties have better information
  about their preferences
• The contract is sought by both parties
• Rules out the use of force or fraud

18
Epstein

• The Utility of the Contract at Will
• The issue is how to maximize the gain form the
  relationship, which is dependent upon minimizing
  employee and employer abuse
• Monitoring Behavior
• Reputational Losses
• Risk Diversification and Imperfect Information
• Administrative Costs

19
Epstein

• Distributional Concerns
• Those who tend to slack off seem to be most
  vulnerable to dismissal under the at-will rule

20
Is an Employer Morally Entitled to Loyalty?

• The duty of loyalty is a prima facie duty
• When a corporation is engaged in activity that is
  seriously wrong, employees may have a higher
  obligation to be disloyal to their employer and
  blow the whistle.

21
Whistleblowing

• There are two sides
• Those who view them as civic heroes, and
• Those who view them as finks

22
Duska

• Argues that employees do not have an obligation
  to the company, not even a prima facie duty,
  because companies are not objects of loyalty.
• Why?
• What binds people together in a business is not
  sufficient to require loyalty.
• A company feels no obligation of loyalty

23
Koehn

• Whistleblowing persons who sound an alarm from
  within the very organization in which they work,
  aiming to spotlight neglect or abuses that
  threaten the public interest (p. 331).

24
Koehn

• Whistleblowing and its effect on trust
• They try to portray themselves as acting on
  behalf of an interest higher then their own the
  public interest.
• Believe that there is a substantial audience who
  will attend to their disclosures.
• They are leveling an accusation of neglect or
  abuse at particular persons within the
  corporation.

25
Koehn

• The end, not the group per se, commands group
  members loyalty.
• The wrongness in whistleblowing is found in
  acting to destroy workplace atmosphere if and
  when this destruction could have been avoided.

26
Koehn

• Responsibilities of the Corporation
• Provide a forum for free and open discussion
• Examine the tasks they impose on employees
• Grant employees access to information about
  company practices
• Critically examine their actions

27
Koehn

• Responsibilities of the Whistleblower
• Must be willing to come forward and be identified
• Critically examine the position they are being
  asked to assume
• Seek out and consider the implications of
  available information
• Critically examine their actions