C717 Task 2 - Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities and Employer’s Ethical Responsibilities PDF

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Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities and Employer’s Ethical Responsibilities ...

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Business Ethics Task 2: Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities and Employer’s Ethical Responsibilities Western Governors University 05/14/2020

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A1. Employees' Rights and Responsibilities 

The employees have the right to work in a safe environment. Meaning that the employees have the right to refuse to work if they are suspicious of any danger to their health or lives.

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The employee is responsible for protecting companies' confidential materials, also called trade secrets. Dependent on the type of the company, confidential materials can be anything from the recipe for food to the different formulas, devices, agreements, or the company's financial reports. Regardless if trade secrets are shared intentionally or not, the company can experience significant loss financially as well as in terms of damaging its reputation.

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Employees should not abuse company time. The employee should not use company time for any kind of personal activity. The employees' responsibility is to come to work on time and work the hours agreed on at the time of the hiring.

A2. Employers' Ethical Responsibilities 

Employers should be providing working place free of discrimination. All employees should be treated the same and be given an equal opportunity for employment, pay, benefits, and development regardless of their nationality, race, religion, sex, age, or disability.

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Provide easily accessible facilities. Employers should make necessary changes for their employees when and where required. The workplace should be equipped with elevators or ramps, and it should provide designated parking spots for disabled employees to make the workplace user friendly for everyone.

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A3. Ethical Business Dilemma 

Multiple employees at my current company are in a dilemma to report one of our coworkers to our manager or not. The employee who is supposed to work from 7 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday is continuously late, he does not arrive to work on any day before 7:20 am, and he never stays until 4 pm. Since he is not an hourly employee,, he does not have to clock in and out for his workday, which gives him additional freedom to come and leave without management noticing it. On top of his daily tardiness and early departures, he leaves two to four hours early at least once every two weeks due to sickness, child pickup, dog issues, or any other reason. Per company policy, all exempt employees need to make up the time missed and report to their manager any lost time that exceeds two hours along with their plan of making up that time or using accrued PTO. However, he never reported any missed time, and on top of that, he stated multiple times that the company would pay him a full working day for as little as 30 minutes of him showing up to work. His absenteeism is affecting multiple employees as he is always late on finishing projects he is given. Although he is abusing company time by not working hours, he is getting paid for, most of the time, he blames the company for work overload and him not being able to complete projects given on time.

A4. Ethical Business Dilemma: Evaluation

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The utilitarian perspective is distinguishing right from wrong by looking at the possible consequences. Applying the utilitarian perspective means that a decision was made on the base of the best outcome for the most people involved in the issue. In my dilemma, using the utilitarian perspective, this employee should realize that his absenteeism and unfinished projects are impacting the entire team. He should work the expected hours and use his PTO for any time missed to stay compliant with the company policy. In addition to the above solutions, the employee should address work overload with his manager and seek help from his coworkers if needed.

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The relativistic perspective is based on morality. Whether something is right or wrong depends on the values and culture of an organization or a person. In my dilemma, based on relativism, the employee is abusing both the company and his coworkers. He is stealing the companies' time by not working hours he is paid for. Also, that does not show that he is a good team player, nor support to the rest of the team members. What is worst of all is in his own eyes, he is not doing anything wrong or unethical; on the contrary, the company is abusing him by assigning too much work to him. Therefore the employee should be reported to the manager so that the current issue does not become even more prominent.

A5. Ethical Decisions 

Mike was informed of the proper usage of company equipment and office supplies. However, Mike decided to come early to work and print out the entire book that he needed while nobody was in the office.

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The company Emma works for provides internet access for the work-related tasks only. However, Emma is using the internet to watch movies while she should be working.

A6. Ethical Decisions: Explanation 

Mike needed a large book printed and did not have a printer at home. To print the book at the store that does that is extremely costly, and he is a little short with the money right at this moment. Mike knew that the company policy on usage of office supplies is stringent and that he should not break the rules. However, Mike thought that if he comes to work earlier than other employees and management, he will be able to print his book, and no one will notice or know about it.

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Having an open internet connection and an active Netflix account, Emma thought that it is ok to watch the movies while she was having some downtime at work. The company policy clearly addresses the usage of company time and resources available to employees. Emma was not aware of the IT department recording and tracking all of the computer usages throughout the day. Her intention was not to steal the companies time. She simply thought it was ok to have something play in the background while she is working on the items that are less important and do not require a high level of attention. Emma was addressed by her manager and informed of both violations of company time policy and internet and computer usage while at work. Gaining this knowledge, Emma will no longer watch movies at work....