Social Responsibility

Concept whereby companies integrate social and

environmental concerns in their business operations
and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a
voluntary basis. (EU Commission, 2002)
Employees
The internal customers, human resources, and
intellectual capital of business.

Job content refers to repetitive tasks.

Job control refers to pace of work.
5. Social environment
refers to psychosocial risks which include
harassment and discrimination in the offices and factories.
6. Work-related outcomes
are concerned with perceptions of health risk,
work absences, and job satisfaction.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS THE EMPLOYEES

grounded on the basis of principles of the priority of labor
over capital, respect for human dignity and human rights,
and social justice

Basic essentials a firm should provide

(International Labor Conference, 1984):

I. Good Working Condition: Basic Employee Right

Working condition
refers to the safety and healthfulness of the
workplace, particularly the physical work environment and
the procedures followed in performing the work.
vary depending on the kind of company, the
nature of the job, and the position one holds.
Aspects or dimensions which
condition directly or indirectly:

affect

the

working

1.Structure of the workforce

consists of sector affiliation, employment
status, and size of the company/organization.
2. Physical environment
involves the exposure to dangerous
substances, heavy loads, and corporal risks.
3. Working time issues
includes weekly hours, commuting time, shift
work, and atypical work patterns.
4. Organizational environment
- consists of job content and job control.

Provisions that support health and safety

Avoidance of child labor
Avoidance and discouragement of discrimination
Fair working hours
Just compensation

II. Equal Employment Opportunities and Affirmative

action
Equal job opportunity a labor policy that prohibits
business from discriminating against otherwise- qualified
people with disabilities.
Affirmative action involves policies (used in US, Canada,
and other European countries) to increase opportunities for
ethnic minorities by favoring them in hiring and promotion,
college admissions, and the awarding of government
contracts.
Job Discrimination
refers to the unjust act of differentiating one group of people
not on the basis of personal merit but on the basis of
partiality or bias.
Factors that constitute job discrimination (Velasquez,
1998):
1. When a judgment, decision, or treatment (not based on
personal merit such as seniority, performance rating, or other

qualifications) is intended against anyone of the workers and

his particular group.
2. When a judgment, decision, or treatment springs from
prejudice or bias, from false stereotypes, or from other ways
of unfair attitude aimed at a particular group to which the
worker belongs.
3. When a judgment, decision, or treatment is
disadvantageous, pejorative or simply harmful to the worker,
perhaps costing his job, promotion or any pay raise.
Everyones basic right to work should be upheld since
this is essentially related to the right to light and the
support of his dependents. (Quinn, 1997)
Thus it is unethical, socially irresponsible, and a
violation to the rights of a worker to dismiss or discharge an
employee merely on the basis of his marital status, age, race,
gender, and the like. Workers ought to be treated equally on
the basis of individual merit.
Discrimination in the workplace is wrong and socially
irresponsible for the following reasons:
1. Discrimination in hiring is a disservice in the long run.
2. It is actually double jeopardy.
3. It is wrong to discriminate a group or an individual by
reason of ethics.
4. When a business discriminates, it consciously and
unconsciously affirms that one group is inferior or
subordinate to another group.
III. Social Responsibility Against Contractualization
Contractualization or labor contractualization
- is the replacing of regular workers with
temporary workers who receive lower wages with no or less
benefits.

- as a form of underemployment, is socially

irresponsible.
- at some point, a scheme that allows capitalists
to maximize their profits.
Sexual Harassment and Child Labor
Sexual harassment is a form of unlawful sex discrimination,
which includes unwanted verbal or physical behavior of a
sexual nature that occurs in the workplace or in an
educational setting under certain conditions.
Two types of Sexual Harassment
Sexual coercion - is that which is explicitly or
implicitly made as a condition for favorable decisions
affecting ones employment, gain, or loss of tangible
job benefits.
Sexual annoyance although not directly related to
anyones employment, still creates an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive environment in the workplace.
The Philippine Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 somehow
repeated the US Supreme Court ruling of 1986 Case Meritor
Savings Bank v. Vinson. It defines sexual harassment as:
The sexual favor made as a condition in the hiring or in the
employment, reemployment or continued employment of said
individual, or in granting said individual favorable compensation,
terms, conditions, promotions, or privileges; or the refusal to grant
the sexual favor result in limiting, segregating or classifying the
employee which in any way would discriminate, deprive or diminish
employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect said
employee (RA 7877, section 3).
Strictly speaking, sexual harassment is sexual coercion for
favorable decisions affecting ones job. In the Philippines, the AntiSexual Harassment Act is virtually addressed to men. But the law

should work both ways, for women too can become sexual
harassers.
Sexual harassment may be manifested in both the verbal
and physical conduct. The use of objects or pictures to harass the
victim is another form.
The European Commission Code of Practice (1993) presents a list,
which may include the following:

Touching including pats, hugs or akbay, cuddles, kissing or

beso-beso, fondling, pinching and staring.

Standing too close, bending over or extending legs or bodies

over desks.

Leering, watching women go up open staircases, making

persistent eye contact.

Gestures sing hands, tongue, mouth, pieces of instrument,

and fondling of private parts.

Suggestive comments about ones body, clothes, personal

lives, partners.

Display of sexually explicit materials, sexual or sexist

telephone calls, fax messages, e-mail, graffiti, letters or
notes.

A sexual harassment is different from compliment. A compliment

produces a good feeling so much so one wants the interaction to go
on. Sexual harassment is so discomforting that one wants it to stop,
pronto. Such conduct causes the victim to undergo embarrassment
or humiliation and sense of being violated, taken as an object and
pushed into a corner.
Because the Philippines Anti-Sexual Harassment Act
declares sexual coercion or any unreciprocated and unsolicited
behavior in the workplace or educational institution unlawful, it
imposes a duty on the employer to prevent or deter any
commission of acts of sexual harassment.

For when an employer fails to act after knowing the commission of

offense, he/she will be held liable in solidarity for damages arising
from the acts of sexual harassment. If found guilty, the offender is
penalized by imprisonment from one to six months or fine ranging
from P10,000 to P20,000 or both at the discretion of the court.
It may be significant to note that in our country there was no
specific law against sexual harassment until July of 1995 when the
Anti-Sexual Harassment Act was promulgated. In CSR and business
ethics, however, it is best to understand that even before it became
illegal, sexual harassment in the workplace and educational
institution is offensive from the moral perspective.
Because sexual harassment involves conduct of a very sensitive
nature, the general reaction to this kind of harassment has
something to do with our culture. Almost always the Filipino women
would hesitate to report it when it occurs perhaps for fear of being
embarrassed or ruining their reputations.

Socio-emotional damage that follows:

1. Psycho-emotional stress
2. A degrading aftermath
3. Self-doubt
4. Breakdown of a relationship
When ignored, sexual harassment can exact a high cost to
the company in terms of:

Loss of productivity

High absenteeism among affected employees

Disruptions of work from long-term sick leaves

Retraining of new personnel because of frequent

workforce turnover

Low morale among female employees

Child Labor. The full-time employment of children who are

under a minimum legal age.
Reasons why children work

Poverty

Traditional distorted beliefs

Convenience on the part of the employer

Evil consequences of child labor:

Physical deterioration.

Mental wasting

Low aspiration

Moral decay