My Experience with Business Ethics in the Workplace
Employees’ Rights
Employees have rights that employers must observe. Employees, during recruitment and employment, should not be harassed in any way and should be remunerated in equal measure for their work. This protection is granted by specific legislation, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964), Rehabilitation Act (1973), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967), and Equal Pay Act (1963) (Federal Trade Commission, 2020). In addition, employees are entitled to accommodations that enable them to perform their roles effectively. Confidentiality of their confidential information is also important. Any acts of discrimination should be reported for investigation (EEOC, 2020).
Most of the organizations I have worked with in the hospitality industry care about the rights of their employees. They offer competitive pay, measure performance to determine remuneration, provide an equal opportunity for employment to all, offer accommodations to ensure that employees work effectively, and employ qualified candidates for the vacancies. However, a past application to an airline for the flight attendant position is the closest I got to an organization that does not care about its employees’ rights. In this position, an individual’s disposition matters significantly. Therefore, the interviewers avoided hiring certain individuals who failed to satisfy the physical appearance requirements. Such individuals may have skin pigmentation due to teenagehood acne bouts or are dark-skinned. This came across as discriminative because it is less objective. Such companies fail to consider the employees’ abilities or willingness to learn and only consider their physical appearance. The skin pigmentation can always be concealed using makeup. One aspect of the failed application is not addressed legally, leaving the company with the freedom to function as they wish. However, it highlights subtle racial discrimination and fails to provide the necessary accommodations that would make a candidate more fit for the job.
Company Policies
Companies participate in the activities of hiring, firing, promoting, and paying people who work for them. These aspects of the job are engraved in company policies, which provide direction. The company policies must abide by the set regulations for compliance. When creating the policies, employers should consider justice and moral principles. The principle has four major elements. First, equal treatment for all individuals is necessary. Secondly, equal advantages and opportunities are critical for justice. The company ought to ensure that all employees can access equal advantages and opportunities through the various vacant positions. Thirdly, procedures, agreements, and fair decision practices are necessary. In addition, punishment and compensation are part of the process of ensuring justice. The main questions that the employer should ask touch on a policy’s fairness, rightness, potential to cause harm, consequences, and responsible individuals (Bright, Cortes, & Gardner, 2012).
The second principle that should be considered is virtue ethics, which emphasizes honesty, wisdom, joy, flourishing, joy, and well-being. Thirdly, the common good of any principle should be considered to ensure that all parties, in this case, employees, benefit. The intent of the policies should be investigated thoroughly alongside the potential effects. These principles should guide employers to make policies that agree with existing regulations and those that respect the rights of employees while protecting their welfare (Bright, Cortes, & Gardner, 2012).
Role of Unions
I support unions because they fight for the welfare of employees. The formation of unions has led to significant changes in the workplace. Workers have a right to belong to a union and utilize collective bargaining. Unions bargain with employers on behalf of employees. Besides negotiations, unions also improve interactions between employers and employees by taking part in resolving issues. The unions advocate for employees’ rights and ensure that employers satisfy the minimum obligations. Some of the significant reforms in the workplace have been achieved in anti-discrimination, reduced wage gaps, increment of wages, increased benefits, and improved work safety. When these achievements are made, both union and non-union workers benefit. The wage gaps that existed due to seniority at the workplace, race, and gender diminished significantly. In addition, these diminished wage gaps also led to legislation, which continues to enforce the employers’ obligations towards employee’s rights. the presence of unions is important because employers continue to evade their responsibilities whenever such an opportunity arises (Bivens, Engdahl, & Gould, 2017). For instance, McDonald’s outlets have been accused of violating employees’ rights by tolerating sexual abuse at the workplace and failing to ensure the safety of staff members. Therefore, unions work as watchdogs to ensure compliance and enforce the employers’ responsibilities towards employees.
Employee privacy
Privacy is an essential element because it keeps others from prying. Using privacy, workers can keep their personal issues to themselves. One does not have to deal with others’ judgementalism over the choices and decisions that other people have made. In a work situation, I once felt like my privacy was threatened after cameras were placed in the locker room. While the security department had not yet turned on the cameras, there was a big uproar after workers noticed. The HR resources manager acted fast to ensure the camera was removed because they were aware of the privacy violation. This event caused a huge row at the workplace because employees were triggered by the management’s lack of ethics. However, HR explained that the artisan placed the camera in the locker room accidentally and assured workers that it had not been turned on for testing or usage. The management apologized profusely for this incident, which led to the calming of the employees.
A friend once experienced a humiliating and intrusive drug test procedure. After making job applications and making it through the various stages, the individual was asked for a urine sample. She had not been informed about a urine test requirement. However, she did not mind because it would not be the first. When she went to the bathroom, the accompanying attendant remained in the bathroom to oversee the whole procedure. This was humiliating, intrusive, and degrading. The lack of respect for candidate’s privacy was clearly demonstrated in company policies, thus denying such people their rights.
Employees who have a work-life balance tend to perform better and experience burnout less often. The improved performance directly benefits the organization as its revenue increases significantly (Poláčková, 2015). In addition, other goals are easily achieved when the workforce is motivated. The work-life balance allows employees to address their family obligations and rest. Work does not assume priority in their private spaces. For instance, a nursing mother needs time with their newborn and other family members. Lack of such an allowance can easily result in stress (Wilkie, 2020).
Organizations that understand the effects of the work-life balance go out of their way to ensure it is included in their policies. Some companies provide nursing mothers or employees with an option to work from home, which enables them to care for their children and other individuals. In addition, some entities provide care facilities at the workplace where parents can keep their children during working hours. This means that an employee does not have to be absent because their children need a caregiver. During these times when mental instability has increased due to stress, employers assume this responsibility even if it is not inscribed in workplace regulations to reap the numerous benefits (Grant & Sumanth, 2009).
References
Bivens, J., Engdahl, L., & Gould, E. (2017). How today’s unions help working people. Economic Policy Institute.
Bright, D. S., Cortes, A. H., & Gardner, D. G. (2012). Principles of Management. OpenStax.
EEOC. (2020). Employee Rights. Retrieved from U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/small-business/employee-rights
Federal Trade Commission. (2020). Protections Against Discrimination and Other Prohibited Practices. Retrieved from Federal Trade Commission: https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/no-fear-act/protections-against-discrimination
Grant, A. M., & Sumanth, J. J. (2009). Mission possible: The performance of prosocially motivated employees depends on manager trustworthiness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), 927-944.
Poláčková, K. (2015). Characteristics And Importance Of Motivating Employees And Managers. In Management Aspects in Toyotarity (pp. 29-36). Oficyna Wydawnicza Stowarzyszenia Jakości Produkcji.
Wilkie, D. (2020). What Managers Can Do to Ease Workplace Stress. Retrieved from SHRM: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/how-managers-can-help-stressed-workers-.aspx
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Question 
My Experience with Business Ethics in the Workplace
As you have learned in Week 6, the workplace is where many ethical decisions are to be made. As discussed in Chapters 8 & 9 of the text (William H. Shaw p. 285), “Employees have all sorts of job-related concerns. Generally speaking, they want to do well at their assignments, to get along with their colleagues, and to have their contributions recognized.” Unfortunately, this does not always happen. Employees may be fired, discriminated against, and treated unfairly in the workplace. “Some very successful companies have taken the lead in respecting employee’s rights and human dignity (Shaw, 2015, p. 290).” In a reflective paper, please provide your experience concerning business ethics in the workplace by answering the following questions:
Give examples, if possible, from your own employment experiences of companies’ respecting the rights of employees and of companies’ failing to do so.
When it comes to a company’s personnel policies and procedures- that is, how it handles the hiring, firing, promoting, and paying off people who work for it- what do you see as the most important moral principles for it to bear in mind?
Explain why you either support or disapprove of unions.
How important is privacy to you personally? Describe a situation, work-related or otherwise, in which you felt your privacy was threatened.
Describe your experiences with drug testing or personality testing. Have you or has anyone you know been subject to job monitoring that seemed too intrusive?
Does business have a responsibility to provide employees with more satisfying work lives? Or to better accommodate their family needs?