Chapter
18
Employees and the Corporation
 The
Employment Relationship
 Workplace Rights
 Privacy in the Workplace
 Whistle-Blowing and Free Speech in the Workplace
 Working Conditions Around the World
 Employees as Corporate Stakeholders
Figure 18.1
Rights and duties of employees and employers
Employee rights/Employer duties
Employee duties/Employer rights
 Right to organize and bargain
 No drug or alcohol abuse
 Safe and healthy workplace
 No actions that would
endanger others
 Privacy
To treat others with respect and
 Discipline fairly and justly applied without harassment of any kind
 To blow the whistle
 Honesty; appropriate disclosure
 Equal employment opportunity
Loyalty and commitment
 To be treated with respect for
fundamental human rights
 Respect for employer’s property and
intellectual capital
The right to a secure job
Restrictions on employers:
 An employer may not fire a worker because of race, gender,
religion, national origin, age, or disability.
 An employer may not fire a worker if this would constitute a
violation of public policy, as determined by the courts.
 An employer may not fire a worker if, in doing so, it would
violate the Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification Act.
 An employer may not fire a worker if this would violate an
implied contract, such as a verbal promise, or basic rules of “fair
dealing.”
Privacy in the workplace: Issues
Electronic monitoring
Companies can gather, store, and monitor information about
employees’ activities. This may be at odds with an employee’s
right to privacy.
Romance in the workplace
If office romance goes sour, one of the people may sue, charging
sexual harassment. When one person in a relationship is in a
position of authority, s/he may be biased in an evaluation of the
other’s work.
Employee drug use and testing
Two-thirds of companies test employees or job applicants for
drugs.
Privacy in the workplace: Issues (continued)
Alcohol abuse at work
U.S. businesses lose an estimated $67 billion per year in reduced
productivity directly related to alcohol abuse.
Employee theft and honesty testing
The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that employee theft
of cash, merchandise, and property costs businesses $40 billion to
$50 billion a year.
Drug testing
Drug testing is used on three occasions:
Pre-employment screening—Some companies test all job
applicants or selected applicants before hiring.
2. Random testing of employees—In many companies, workers in
particular job categories or levels are eligible for screening at
any time.
3. Testing for cause—This test occurs when an employee is
believed to be impaired by drugs and unfit for work.
1.
Figure 18.2
Pros and cons of employee drug testing
Arguments Favoring Employee Drug
Testing





Cooperates with U.S. “War on Drugs”
campaign
Improves employee productivity
Promotes safety in the workplace
Decreases employee theft and
absenteeism
Reduces health and insurance costs
Arguments Opposing Employee Drug
Testing









Invades an employee’s privacy
Violates an employee’s right to due
process
May be unrelated to job performance
May be used as a method of employee
discrimination
Lowers employee morale
Conflicts with company values of
honesty and trust
May yield unreliable test results
Ignores effects of prescription drugs,
alcohol, and over-the-counter drugs
Drug use an insignificant problem for
some companies
Whistle-blowing
Whistle-blowing
When an employee believes his or her employer has done
something wrong or harmful to the public, and he or she reports
alleged organizational misconduct to the media, government, or
high-level company officials.
Conditions for whistle-blowing
 The unreported act would do serious and considerable
harm to the public.
 Once such an act has been identified, the employee has
reported the act to his or her immediate supervisor and has
made their moral concern known.
 If the immediate supervisor does nothing, the employee has
tried other internal pathways for reporting the problem.
Fair labor standards
Approaches to establish fair labor standards for multinational
corporations:
 Voluntary corporate codes of conduct
 Non-governmental organizations labor codes
 Industry-wide labor codes