Business and society ethics sustainability and stakeholder management 9e chapter 18

Identify the advantages and disadvantages of polygraphs, integrity tests, and drug testing as management instruments for decision making.. Elaborate on the right to health and safety i

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Chapter 18

Employee Stakeholders: Privacy, Safety,

and Health

Learning Outcomes

1 Articulate the concerns surrounding the employee’s

right to privacy in the workplace.

2 Identify the advantages and disadvantages of

polygraphs, integrity tests, and drug testing as

management instruments for decision making.

3 Discuss the right to safety and the right to know, and

summarize the role and responsibilities of OSHA.

4 Elaborate on the right to health and safety in the

workplace, with particular reference to violence in

the workplace, smoke-free workplaces, and

family-friendly workplaces.

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Employee Stakeholders:

Privacy, Safety, and Health

• The global recession has shifted the balance

of power from employees to employers

• Employees are more willing to accept

things they don’t like for fear of losing their jobs

• An employee’s right to privacy varies from

state to state

• An employee’s concerns about safety and

health on the job now includes workplace violence

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Right to Privacy in the

Workplace

• The right to privacy in the workplace varies

from state to state

• Four major workplace privacy issues

-• Collection and use of employee information

in personnel files

• Integrity testing

• Drug testing

• Monitoring of employee work, behavior,

conversations, and location by electronic means

Collection & Use of Employee

Information by Employers

• Background checks of applicants and current

employees have become a source of concern for privacy advocates Only the state of

California limits their use significantly.

• The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) applies to

employer use of employee consumer reports, including credit reports, criminal background checks, and other information.

• The EEOC monitors employer use of

background checks when discrimination occurs.

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Integrity Tests

• The Employee Polygraph Protection Act

(EPPA)of 1988 Banned most private-sector use of the lie detector

• Lie detectors may still be used by employers

that provide security services, protection of nuclear facilities, shipment of toxic waste, and the like

• Many companies use question and answer

integrity tests (honesty tests)

• Personality tests measure maturity,

extroversion, emotional stability, and the like

Uses of Integrity Testing

9

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Drug Testing (1 of 2)

• Drug testing is an umbrella term including

drug and alcohol testing, and substance

abuse

Arguments for drug testing – drug use causes

-• accidents and injuries

• theft

• a propensity to make poor decisions

• deaths, injuries, ruined lives

• Employers have an ethical responsibility to

employees and public to provide a safe

workplace, secure asset protection, and a safe place to transact business

Drug Testing (2 of 2)

Arguments against drug testing –

•Violates due process rights

•Invades privacy rights

•False positives from common foods and

medicines

•Ignores employee’s actual performance

© 2015 Cengage Learning 11

Guidelines for Drug Testing

1 Written policies, applied impartially.

2 Clear reasons for drug testing should be documented.

3 Notify employees and applicants of drug testing, the right to

refuse, and the consequences of refusal

4 If random testing, tell employees of the safety and security

needs that justify testing.

5 All testing should be done uniformly and impartially.

6 Collection, transportation and analysis of specimens should

meet legal, technical, and ethical requirements.

7 Qualified review of positive results prior to employer

notification.

8 Employee or applicant should be informed and given the

chance to explain before the employer is notified.

9 The report to employer should contain only the information

Monitoring Employees on the Job

• Employee monitoring occurs at the

majority of mid- to large-sized firms

Technology changed the pervasiveness and

nature of monitoring -

• Videotaping

• Recording phone calls and voice mail

• Reading computer files

• Monitoring emails and web access

• GPS

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Effects of Employee Monitoring -

• Invasion of privacy

• Unfair treatment

• Creates stress and tension

• Excessive pressure to be productive

• Produces low morale

• Creates a sense of job insecurity

• The Electronic Communication Privacy Act

of 1986 is the only privacy protection

available for electronic monitoring

Policy Guidelines

on the Issues of Privacy

1 Obtain informed consent before acquiring information

2 Disclose the nature of any surveillance

3 Set controls to avoid unauthorized spread of information

4 Collect and use only job-relevant medical

and health data

5 Require reasonable suspicion before doing drug tests

6 Respect and preserve the boundary between work and home.© 2015 Cengage Learning 15

Workplace Safety

• The primary U.S law governing worker

safety is the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

• Sets safety and health standards for

workplaces

• Applies to all private employers that

engage in interstate commerce

The Workplace Safety Problem

Two events are forerunners of workplace

means in practical terms.

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OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standards

1 Update inventories of hazardous chemicals in the

workplace.

2 Assemble material safety data sheets.

3 Ensure that hazardous chemicals are properly

labeled.

4 Train workers on the use of hazardous chemicals.

5 Prepare and maintain a written description of the

hazard communication program.

6 Consider any problems with trade secrets from the

disclosure requirements.

Workplace Violence -

• One of the four leading causes of death in

the workplace

• The leading cause of death for women

• Despite this, nearly 70% of firms do not have

a program to address workplace violence

• Contributing factors:

• Greater tolerance for violence

• Easily available weapons

• Economic stress

• Difficult job market

• Insufficient support systems

© 2015 Cengage Learning 19

Workplace Violence -Who is Affected?

Workers are most at risk who:

•exchange money with the public

•deliver passengers, goods, or services

•work alone or in small groups

•work late at night or early morning

•work in community settings with extensive

public contact

•work in high-crime areas

• OSHA’s “general duty clause” mandates that

employers provide safe workplaces– is not specific to violent acts.

Employers are held liable for an unsafe act

when -

1 The employer neglected to keep the

workplace free from a hazard.

2 The hazard was one that is generally

recognized by the employer or the industry.

3 The hazard was already causing or likely to

cause serious harm.

4 Elimination or removal of the hazard was

feasible.

© 2015 Cengage Learning 21

Right to Health in the Workplace

• To control health care costs, firms have

taken drastic steps, including banning

smoking

Smoking in the workplace

-• Growing anti-smoking sentiment in the U.S

and globally

• Passive smoke kills thousands in the U.S

each year

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

classifies second-hand smoke s a known

The Family-Friendly Workplace

Work-Life balance -

•A state of equilibrium where the demands of

a person’s personal and professional life are equal

•A desirable state for most workers, but

difficult in recessionary economic times

Popular Family-friendly benefits -

1.Dependent care flexible spending accounts2.Bring a child to work in an emergency

3.On-site mother’s room

4.Child-care referral service

5.Domestic partner benefits

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Family and Medical Leave Act

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

-•Designed to make life easier for employees with family or health problems.

FMLA employee rights

-•12 weeks of unpaid leave in 12-month period

•Reinstatement in old or equivalent jobs

•Health benefits during leave periods

•Protection from retaliation

• Americans with

Disabilities Act (ADA)

• Background checks

• Broad brush EAP

• Chief privacy officer

• Employee monitoring

• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)

• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

• Family-friendly

• Integrity tests

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Key Terms

• USA Patriot Act

• Work / life balance

• Workplace violence

Key Terms