American Labor
Musical Media for
Education - 2012
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Management Ethics
Chapter Eight: The Workplace – Basic Issues
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Introduction
Traditionally a business’s single obligation toward its employees was to pay them for their work.
Today’s workplace philosophy is much more complex, involving social, political, and moral issues.
What are the obligations of an employer toward its employees?
How does American emphasis on civil liberties affect the workplace?
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Wrong Way Right Way: Ethics Cases
Thanks to: Ethics Video | DuPont Sustainable Solutions
According to a Gallup poll, only 21 percent of people characterized business executives as having “high” ethical standards—a little above lawyers (19 percent), but below bankers (28 percent) and journalists (28 percent). Whether that’s deserved or not, it’s nevertheless true that executives set the ethical tone at their companies. But employees have the power to improve it.
Civil Liberties in the Workplace
Modifications to “employment at will” doctrine:
The Wagner Act of 1935 prohibited firing workers because of union membership or union activities.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent legislation prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, creed, nationality, sex, or age.
Public sector employees enjoy some constitutional protections on the job and can be fired only “for cause.”
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Civil Liberties in the Workplace
Current trends: The law seems to be moving away from the doctrine of “employment at will.”
But, some business people support it as a desirable legal policy and embrace it as a moral doctrine.
They deny that employers have any obligations to their employees beyond those specified by law or by explicit legal contract.
They view employees as lacking any meaningful moral rights, seeing them as expendable assets, as means to an end.
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Reflection
Questions ?
This week
Management Ethics
Reflection Questions
1. Give examples, if possible from your own employment experiences, of companies’ respecting the rights of employees and of companies’ failing to do so.
Chap 8 – The Workplace
(pg 409)
Hiring
Screening: The first step of the hiring process, the pooling and ranking candidates with qualifications – when done improperly, it undermines effective recruitment and invites injustices into the process
A description lists the details of the job
A specification describes the required professional qualifications
Both must be complete and accurate
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Wrongful discrimination: A moral concern in which candidates are judged on physical or ethnic traits rather than qualifications.
Sex, age, race, national origin, and religion are generally not job-related and generally should not affect hiring decisions
Discrimination against the disabled is illegal
Considering language, lifestyle, appearance, ill-considered educational requirements, or gaps in work history may also be unfair
Hiring
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Interviewing: Moral issues in interviews usually relate to the manner in which they are conducted.
Interviewers should focus on the humanity of the candidate and not allow biases, stereotypes, and preconceptions to color the evaluation.
Situational interviews: Those interviews in which job candidates must role play in a mock work scenario – some believe this makes it harder for a candidate to put on a false front.
Hiring
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This week
Management Ethics
Reflection Questions
2. When it comes to a company’s personnel policies and procedures— that is, how it handles the hiring, firing, promoting, and paying of the people who work for it— what do you see as the most important moral principles for it to bear in mind?
Chap 8 – The Workplace
(pg 409)
Promotions
Inbreeding: The practice of promoting exclusively from within the firm – it presents similar moral challenges as in the case of seniority.
Nepotism: The practice of showing favoritism to relatives and close friends – it is not always objectionable (especially in family-owned businesses) but may affect managerial responsibilities, hurt morale, create resentment, or result in unfair treatment of other employees.
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Discipline and Discharge
Two basic principles in the fair handling of disciplinary issues:
Just cause: requires that reasons for discipline or discharge deal with job performance
Due process: refers to the fairness of procedures used to impose sanctions on employees
Dismissing employees: Employers have the right to fire employees who perform inadequately – but should provide sufficient warning, severance pay, and sometimes displacement counseling.
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“The 2009 movie Up in the Air relates the story of a corporate downsizer. What ethical obligations do you believe companies have to employees they terminate?”
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Wages
Two factors in determining the wage level:
The employee’s job performance
The fairness of the wage agreement terms
A living wage is supported by moral grounds:
Utilitarian element promoting human welfare
Kantian principle of respect for human dignity
Common sense view that some wages are so low as to be inherently exploitative
Critics of living-wage laws believe they cost jobs
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History of Minimum Wage
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This week
Management Ethics
Reflection Questions
3. Explain why you either support or disapprove of unions.
Chap 8 – The Workplace
(pg 409)
Labor Unions
History of the union movement: Employers have opposed unions at almost every step.
But, unions have increased the security and standard of living of workers and contributed to social stability and economic growth. Examples:
The Knights of Labor: The first truly national trade union, established in 1869
The American Federation of Labor (AFL): United the great national craft unions in a closely knit organizational alliance, founded in 1886
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The National Labor Relations or (Wagner) Act (1935) prohibited employers from:
Interfering with workers trying to start unions
Attempting to gain control over labor unions
Treating union workers differently from others
Refusing to bargain with union representatives
Labor Unions
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The Taft-Hartley Act (1947) set several regulations:
Outlawed the closed shop (the requirement that a person must be a union member before being hired)
Permitted individual states to outlaw the union shop (the requirement that a person must join the union within a specified time after being hired)
Labor Unions
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Today 25 states are right-to-work states with open-shop laws on their books – they prohibit union contracts requiring all employees to either join the union or pay the equivalent of union dues.
The plight of unions today: Unions are responsible, directly or indirectly, for many of the benefits employees enjoy today.
But, a changing economy, hostile political environment, and aggressive anti-union policies have weakened them.
Labor Unions
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Union ideals: The protection of workers from abuse gives unions a voice in important matters.
They redefine power relationships, making employers more dependent on their workers
A rough equality or mutual dependence results
Collective bargaining: Negotiations between representatives of organized workers and their employers regarding wages, hours, rules, work conditions, and participation in decision making that affects the workplace.
Labor Unions
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Union tactics: To get demands met, unions resort to practices such as direct strikes, sympathetic strikes, boycotts, or corporate campaigns – but such actions often raise moral issues.
Strike: An organized body of workers withholds its labor to force its employer to meet its demands.
Direct strike: May be justified when there is just cause and proper authorization, and when it is called as a last resort.
Labor Unions
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Sympathetic strike: Workers who have no particular grievance of their own, and may or may not have the same employer, decide to strike in support of others.
Primary boycott: Union members and their supporters refuse to buy products from a company being struck.
Secondary boycott: People refuse to patronize companies that handle the products of struck companies.
Labor Unions
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Lavf55.19.104
RESPOND TO THE “FOR FURTHER REFLECTION” QUESTIONS FOUND IN THE GREY SHADED STUDY CORNER SECTION AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER. AN 800 - 1000 WORD Reflection RESPONSE TO THE QUESTIONS IS NEEDED TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR FULL CREDIT.
BE PREPARED TO SHARE YOUR VIEWS DURING CLASS DISCUSSIONS.
MANAGEMENT ETHICS
BUMGT 235 – UW-STOUT
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