Honest Work: Chapter 1 Cont. on Workplace Ethics

1. (more) Workspace Ethics HW Chapter 2

2. From Last Class… • Capitalism affects the workspace with a preference for profit over people. • Kant’s “respect,” where we treat people as ends rather than means, suggests a way to prefer people over profit in a capitalist system, as we obtain greater profit with authentic “emotional labor.”

3. ….To this class • Employee rights • Employer responsibilities

4. Workplace Ethics Overall Claim • Workplace problems concern mostly identification of unethical behavior. • Learning to identify issues related to ethics requires education. • Hence, workplace ethics is more about education. • Employers have a responsibility to change unethical behavior. • Thus, employers have a responsibility to educate employees how to identify unethical behavior, both in themselves and others.

5. Employee Rights

6. 1. “Bullying” has many forms, but is always disrespectful.2. Employees deserve respect (it may also be more profitable)3. So, Employees have a right to not be bullied.

7. Problem: Identifying Workplace Bullying • Most workplace bullying is “passive,” isolating the victim from socializing. However, victims can be self-isolating, or be accidentally isolated, or protected from conversations, etc.

8. Resolution: Identifying Workplace Bullying • If the isolation persists in duration and frequency, then bullying can be identified. • Downside: identification requires greater suffering to the victim.

9. Employee Rights

10. 1. “Danger” has many forms, but asking employees to be in harms way is often disrespectful.2. Employees deserve respect (it may also be more profitable)3. So, Employees have a right to not be put in harm’s way.

11. Problem: Identifying Danger • Most cases of placing employees in dangerous conditions involves unknown dangers: unknown pollutants, unknown conditions, etc.

12. Response: Fullest Possible Disclosure • To be fully respectful to employees, employers must explain in fullest detail possible all known dangers.

13. Employee Rights

14. Employee Rights 1. “Job Security” has many levels, but fully and honestly informing employees about their employment future is respectful2. Employees deserve respect (it may also be more profitable)3. So, Employees have a right be fully informed of their future prospects.

15. Problem: Identifying Future financial Health Most companies hold regular reports to their staff to share with them the financial health of the company in order to help identify future fiscal health. But, market conditions cannot be fully predicted. Nor can all aspects of a fiscal health be reported.

16. Response: All employees are stockholders Though radical, certainly the most respectful way to treat the future prospects of employees is to make them stockholders in the company, giving them fully transparency to its fiscal health AND allowing the employees themselves to be part of the decision-making process for the future status of their employment.

17. Employee Rights

18. Employee Rights 1. “Discrimination” has many levels, but ignoring non-essential appearance and abilities of employees is respectful2. Employees deserve respect (it may also be more profitable)3. So, Employees have a right to be judged on merit rather than appearance.

19. Problem: Identifying Appearance Discrimination Most workplace discrimination is based on hidden or subtle appearance features rather than consciously identifiable differences.

20. Response: Destigmatizing Appearance A workplace must work to train its managers to eradicate stigmatizing of appearances; There is no such thing as “ugly,” “beauty,” “fat,” “handicapped,” “dumb,” etc.

21. Workplace Ethics Overall Claim • Workplace problems concern mostly identification of unethical behavior. • Learning to identify issues related to ethics requires education. • Hence, workplace ethics is more about education. • Employers have a responsibility to change unethical behavior. • Thus, employers have a responsibility to educate employees how to identify unethical behavior, both in themselves and others.