managing legal and ethical issues of business

7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business

1/20

PART 2

STAKEHOLDERS

SESSION 8: EMPLOYEES

Managing Legal and Ethical

Issues of Business


2/20

Overview

The specific role of employees among the variousstakeholder groups

Core ethical topics of employees rights and duties

Ethical issues and problems faced in business-employee relations

The duties of employees and the companysinvolvement in enabling employees to live up to

their duties Basic issues and problems of managing

employees in the different cultural and nationalcontexts necessitated by globalisation


3/20

Introduction

An organisation is only as good as the people who

work within it

Employees are seen as critical to gaining

improvements in organisational performance Could employees be considered the most

important stakeholder?

More and more employee issues are being left

to organizations rather than being covered by

the law


4/20

Humans as Resources?

Dear Sir,Whilst visiting a patient in Edinburgh's Western General

Hospital, I was shocked to see a six-foot long boardwith large letters proclaiming: HUMAN RESOURCES.This distinguishes people who work in the hospital

doctors, nurses, porters, office workers, managersfrom other resources such as computers, laser beams,toilet rolls, refuse bins etc.

If the human resources are ill, are they labelled out oforder or broken down and when being treated, arethey being repaired? are babies listed as in process ofbeing manufactured? and an expected date whenthey will be operational.

When we define humans as resources, we are in dangerof forgetting that we are dealing with people!


5/20

Legal issues

Usually a contract between the firm and employee

stating the rights and duties of the two parties

Employee law varies considerably around the

globe There is a considerable and growing grey area


6/20

Rights of employees as stakeholders of the

firm

Employee rights Issues involved

Right to freedom fromdiscrimination

Equal opportunities, Affirmative action, Reversediscrimination, Sexual and racial harassment

Right to privacy Health and drug testing, Work-life balance, Presenteeism,

Electronic privacy and data protectionRight to due process Promotion, Firing, Disciplinary proceedings

Right to participation andassociation

Organization of workers in works councils and trade unions,Participation in the companys decisions

Right to healthy and safeworking conditions

Working conditions, Occupational health and safety

Right to fair wages Pay, Industrial action, New forms of workRight to freedom ofconscience and speech

Whistleblowing

Right to work Fair treatment in the interview, Non-discriminatory rules forrecruitment


7/20

Discrimination

Discrimination in the business context occurs

when employees receive preferential (or less

preferential) treatment on grounds that are not

directly related to their qualifications andperformance in the job

Relates to Justice/Human dignity

Managing diversity prominent feature of

contemporary business

Extensive legislation, but still inequalities exist


8/20

Addressing Discrimination

1. Equal Opportunities2. Managing Diversity

3. Affirmative Action

Potential for reverse

discrimination?


9/20

Employee Privacy

Four different types of privacy we may want to

protect

Physical privacy

Social privacy Informational privacy

Psychological privacy


10/20

Health Testing

Highly contested issue

Despite these criticisms, such tests haveincreasingly become common, particularly in theUSA


11/20

protection

Computer as a work tool enables new forms of

surveillance

Time and pace of work

Usage of employee time for private reasons

E-mail and internet

Issue of privacy in situations where data is saved

and processed electronically

Data protection


12/20

Due process and lay-offs

Ethical considerations in the process of

downsizing Right to know well ahead of the actual point of the

redundancy that their job is on the line Compensation packages employees receive when laid off

Employee participation and association


13/20

Working conditions and work-life balance

Right to healthy and safe working conditions one of the

very first ethical concerns for employees

Dense network of health, safety and environmental (HSE)

regulation

Main issue is enforcement and implementation

Work/life balance

Excessive working hours and presenteeism

Flexible working patterns


14/20

Fair wages

The basis for determining fair wages is commonly

the expectations placed on the employee and

theirperformance towards goals

Problems ofperformance-related pay (PRP) Risk

Representation

D ti f l t k h ld f th


15/20

Duties of employees as stakeholders of the

firm

Employee duties Issues involved

Duty to comply with labour

contract

Acceptable level of performance

Work quality

Loyalty to the firm

Duty to comply with the law Bribery

Duty to respect the employersproperty

Working timeUnauthorized use of company

resources for private purposes

Fraud, theft, embezzlement


16/20

globalisation

Different cultures will view employee rights andresponsibilities differently

This means that managers dealing with employeesoverseas need to first understand the cultural basis of

morality in that country Raises the question of whether it is fair to treat people

differently on the basis of where they live

Relativism vs. absolutism


17/20

Some guidelines for ethical decision-making

Start with human rights as a basic compass for

providing direction

Differences in the treatment of employees on a

global scale depend on the relative economicdevelopment of the country in which the practice

is taking place


18/20

The race to the bottom

Many critics argue that MNCs play a role in changingstandards in countries

Globalisation allows corporations to have broad rangeof choice of location

Developing countries compete to attract foreigninvestment

Large investors tend to choose country with mostpreferable conditions Lowest level of regulation and social provision for

employee Leads to race to the bottom in environmental and

social standards


19/20

Ruggies framework

Protect

Respect

Remedy


20/20

Summary

The specific role of employees among the variousstakeholder groups

Core ethical topics of employees rights and duties

Ethical issues and problems faced in business-employee

relations The duties of employees and the companys involvement in

enabling employees to live up to their duties

Basic issues and problems of managing employees in thedifferent cultural and national contexts necessitated byglobalisation

managing legal and ethical issues of business

Documents