Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
-
Upload
mamoon-al-jundi -
Category
Documents
-
view
223 -
download
0
Transcript of 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
-
7/30/2019 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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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!
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
8/20
Addressing Discrimination
1. Equal Opportunities2. Managing Diversity
3. Affirmative Action
Potential for reverse
discrimination?
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
9/20
Employee Privacy
Four different types of privacy we may want to
protect
Physical privacy
Social privacy Informational privacy
Psychological privacy
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
10/20
Health Testing
Highly contested issue
Despite these criticisms, such tests haveincreasingly become common, particularly in theUSA
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
19/20
Ruggies framework
Protect
Respect
Remedy
-
7/30/2019 Managing Legal and Ethical Issues of Business
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