Moral Rights in the Workplace

Chapter Six

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 Framework
• Work is important and a highly valued human
activity because it is necessary to acquire
other central human goods.
• Work and moral rights are connected because
opportunities to work can be jeopardized by
the actions of others.

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 Rights in the work place
• Remember rights cannot be bought, sold, or forcibly
taken away
• Legal
– Derived from legislation and judicial rulings
• Contractual
– Negotiated in good faith or a result of a policy or
procedure
• Respect owed human beings. This is the domain of
moral rights in the workplace
– Freedom
– Equality
– Autonomy

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 The rights equation
• Greater the rights = Greater the obligation

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 Right to work
• First definition is based
on employee
requirement to join a
union
– This is done to eliminate
“free rider” (those who
enjoy the benefit
without contributing)
– Collective bargaining
view as way to balance
power in the workplace

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 Right to work - Macro
• Basis for Catholic Church and UN declaration
of work as a human right
– Means to an end
– Expression of a meaningful human life

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 Who should provide jobs?
• Private Industry and the
free market
• Government
• Safety Net

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 Private Industry
• Who should they be required to hire?
• How long should they be required to employ?
• At what rate should workers be paid?
– What about property rights of employers?

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 Government
• Employer of “Last Resort”
• Government employment drains from the
public

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 Safety Net
• Unemployment Insurance
• Tax Incentives to hire folks on welfare

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 Rights in the Workplace
• Employment at will
– Trade off for the elimination of slavery and
indentured servitude
– Employee free to quit employer free to fire for:
• Good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally
wrong.

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 Changes in the “At Will Doctrine”
• Never applied to government workers
• Civil rights protections
• Union activity protections
• OSHA whistle blowing
• Whistle blowing
• Employee handbooks as “implied contracts”
• Practices such as payment of bonuses as
handled in the past

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 Termination of employment
• Magna Carta doctrine – limit the authority of
the King
• Due process required
– Seen as inefficient
• Just cause required
• All an attempt to balance power in the
workplace. Employees cannot be bought and
sold.

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 Participatory Decision Making
• Who has authority
– Authority is given with consent of those governed
• McCall – Employees should be treated as
autonomous decision makers free of coercive
interference by others. Human dignity is tied
to the ability of humans to guide their own life
and activities.

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 Benefits of Participation
• Reduces possibility of alienenatation
• Reduces burnout
• Workers may not have specific expertise but
do have other valuable knowledge
• May appear inefficient but creates a high
degree of buy in and quick execution

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 Health and Safety
• Who determines the degree of risk a worker
should take?
– The individual
– Experts
– Senior Managers
– Government
• Who has perfect knowledge?
• Who is thinking beyond first generation
solutions to a problem?
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 Privacy in the workplace
• Right to be left alone within a personal zone of solitude
• Right to control information about oneself
• Important because it establishes boundaries
• Workplace violations
– Infringes on personal decisions that are irrelevant to work
contract
– Personal information that is irrelevant to work contract
that is collected, stored or used without consent
– Polygraphs, drug tests, surveillance, background checks,
psychological tests

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 Break Down our options in the
Discussion Case
• Right involved
• Actors involved
– Interest of the actors
• Ethical recommendation

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 What rights are in jeopardy
• Urine Test
• Commission payment
• Abortion discussion
• HIV
• Email
• Psychological test
• Exposure to hazardous
material

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 Work Ethic:
What is it and how do I
get some?

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 WORK ETHIC:
HOW AN EMPLOYEE
SHOWS THEIR EMPLOYER
THEY ARE WORTH THEIR
PAYCHECK?

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 Work Ethic

A good work ethic is an

attitude that combines
hard work,
good performance &
dependable results
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Work ethics is an invisible employee
behavior, noticeable by its absence.

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 Ethics in the workplace
Group Practice
What Does the Employer What do you owe your
Owe you? employer?

Understanding Ethics (Brainstorming)

Within your groups answer these two
questions following this layout (List at
least 8 for each) take 10 minutes and we
will discuss as a class. Be sure to include
the group name and turn in at the end of
class 25
 Ethics in the workplace
Group Practice
What Does the Employer Owe What do you owe your
you? employer?

Fair & Equal Work value your work

Environment refuse to look for the easy
Fair Pay way out
Safe working conditions take pride in the results of
On time paycheck your work
Harassment Free Follow ALL Guidelines
-Dependable, Avoid Gossip,
DO not steal

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Ethical Problems are inevitable in all levels of the work
place.

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Ethics is something that is learned and chosen
throughout one's life.

Ethics is having the ability

to make the right decision
even under strenuous
circumstances.

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 How would you deal with this situation?
How would you ethically solve this problem

-This is Sarah she is a server at a

fine dining restaurant. She
complains to you about a
customer.

“What to do?
“This table comes in all the time
and they tip me horrible I am
going to say something next time
they come in!.”

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Ethical or Un Ethical?............

This is Chef Ryan he has

finished all of his work for an
upcoming banquet and
receives a call from his mom
which he hasn’t spoken with
in a while.

“No one will notice if I take this

personal call at work really
quick.”After all I am the Boss and
I am ahead of Schedule”
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 ETHICS HELP A LOT IN
EFFECTIVE PRODUCTIVITY AS
WELL AS A GREAT BALANCE
OF RESPONSIBILITIES IN
YOUR LIFE ON PERSONAL &
PROFESSIONAL FRONT. 31
Ethics in Your Professional and Personal Life

Employees, having strong

ethics in personal and
professional life, need no
explanation, unlike those
employees for whom
work ethics is a growing
problem.

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 Common Workplace Ethics

Time Management,
RESPONSIBILITY
Dependability & Punctuality

Integrity
& Teamwork
Loyalty

Positive Attitude Professionalism

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 Act in a Professional Manner

• Be on Time!
• Be Polite!
• Be Respectful!
• Be Dependable!
• Show Initiative!

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 Initiative…What’s that??

• Initiative is the ability to get a job done

on your own, without someone
constantly reminding you.
• People with initiative often come up with
new ideas and ways to solve problems
• Self motivated people often volunteer for
the challenging assignments
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 Act in a Professional Manner

• Avoid gossip
• Do not use
profanity
• Be trustworthy

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 Keep your Personal Life Private
• Avoid discussing personal problems at work
• Keep personal phone calls to a minimum make
them on your break

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 Do not Steal!
• Stealing is illegal and unethical at all times
• Taking office supplies or food from the storeroom is
stealing
• Taking cash from the cash register is stealing
• Letting your friends eat without charging them is
stealing

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 Do Not Waste Resources!
• Wasting resources costs the company
money and can lead to environmental
problems.
• Encourage your employer to recycle if
they aren’t already!

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 Things to remember….

Act in a Professional
Manner

Keep Your Personal

Life Private

Do Not Steal

Do not Waste
Resources 40
 Independent Practice:

Dealing with unethical Situations- What Would

You DO?
Directions: Below are real life situations that
COULD happen in the workplace. Explain how you
would ethically deal with the following scenarios.
Describe in detail what you would do if you found
yourself in the following situations.
Due: at the end of class if you need more time you
may finish at home and turn in tomorrow.

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 Work place Ethics:
Objectives: Essential Question:

• Understand the importance • Do you have the ability to

of work place ethics…How make ethical decisions in
do they correspond to your the workplace?
personal life?
• Identify ethical and
unethical scenarios
• Identify ethical quality's &
characteristics

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