Lecture Business and society - Chapter 17: Employee Stakeholders and Workplace Issues

Contents: The New Social Contract, The Employee Rights Movement, The Right Not to Be Fired Without Cause, The Right to Due Process and Fair Treatment, Freedom of Speech in the Workplace.

Chapter

17

Employee Stakeholders

and Workplace

Issues

Learning Outcomes

1 Identify the major challenges occurring in the

workforce today.

2 Outline the characteristics of the new social contract

between employers and employees.

3 Explain the employee rights movement and its

underlying principles.

4 Describe and discuss the employment-at-will doctrine

and its role in the employee rights.

5 Discuss the right to due process and fair treatment.

6 Describe the actions companies are taking to make

the workplace friendlier.

7 Elaborate on the freedom-of-speech issue and

whistle-blowing.

Chapter Outline

• The New Social Contract

• The Employee Rights Movement

• The Right Not to Be Fired Without Cause

• The Right to Due Process and Fair Treatment

• Freedom of Speech in the Workplace

• Summary

• Key Terms

Employee Stakeholders and Workplace Issues

• The social contract between

organizations and workers continues to evolve, and is different from contracts of the past

• Three employee rights issues-

• Right not to be fired without good

cause

• Right to due process and fair

treatment

• Right to freedom of speech in the

workplace© 2015 Cengage Learning 5

The New Social Contract

• Today’s worker has held 11.3 jobs on

average All realize their jobs are

vulnerable, and they receive a smaller portion of the economic pie

• They are more mobile, less loyal, and

The Changing Social Contract

The Employee Rights

Movement

• Public sector employees have

constitutional protections We focus on employees in the private sector, not

subject to constitutional control because

of the concept of private property

• Individuals and private organizations are

free to use their property as they desire.

• Although labor unions have been

successful in improving pay, benefits and working conditions, they have not been as active in pursuing civil liberties

The Meaning of Employee

Rights

• We approach the topic from the

perspective of the Principle of Rights, justifiable claims that utility cannot

override

• We will also cover legal rights

Sources of employee rights

-1 Statutory rights

2 Collective bargaining rights

3 Enterprise rights

3 Models of Management

Morality

Moral management

-•Employees are viewed as a human

resource that must be treated with dignity and respect

Amoral management

-•Employees are treated as the law requires

Immoral management

-•Employees are viewed as factors of

production to be used, exploited,

and manipulated

The Right Not to Be Fired

Without Cause

Good cause norm

-•The belief that employees should only be

discharged for good reasons

•This belief prevails in the United States

today, though it conflicts with reality

Employmentatwill doctrine

-•The reality is that the relationship between

employer and employee is voluntary and can

be terminated at any time by either party

•The central issue is changing views of the employment at will doctrine

Legal Challenges

to Employment-at-Will

Public policy

exceptions-•Protects employees from being fired for

refusal to commit crimes or for utilizing legal rights.

Implied contract

exception-•Protects employees who they believe have

contracts or implied contracts.

Good faith

principle-•Employers may lose lawsuits to former

employees if they cannot show that employees had opportunities to improve their performance before termination © 2015 Cengage Learning 12

Moral and Managerial Objections to Employment-at-

Will

1 Employees deserve respectful treatment

2 Employees do not have the option of

being arbitrary or capricious with

employers Employers should bear the same responsibility

3 Employees are expected to be

trustworthy, loyal and respectful with

employers Employers should show

employees the same consideration

Dismissing an Employee With

Care

1 Fire employees in a private space.

2 Be mindful of employees’ logistics.

3 Preserve the employee’s dignity.

4 Choreograph the notification in

advance.

5 Use transparent criteria for layoffs.

What NOT to do When Terminating an Employee

1 Don’t fire on a Friday.

2 Don’t say that downsizing is

The Right to Due Process

and Fair Treatment Due Process -

•The right to receive an impartial

review of one’s complaints and to be dealt with fairly

•The right of employees to have

decisions that adversely affect them

be reviewed by objective and

impartial third parties

The Requirements of a Due Process System

1 It must be a procedure; it must follow rules;

it must not be arbitrary.

2 It must be visible and well-known so that

potential violators and victims are aware of it.

3 It must be predictably effective.

4 It must be institutionalized – a relatively

permanent fixture in the organization.

5 It must be perceived as equitable.

6 It must be easy to use.

7 It must apply to all employees.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Concerns with the Open-Door

Policy

-• The process is closed.

• One person is reviewing what

happened

• There is a tendency for a manager to

support another manager’s decision

• A hearing procedure helps open up the

process because employees can elect representation

The Ombudsman

• An ombudsman is neutral and promises

confidentiality.

• An ombudsman can handle employee

concerns in a way that keeps the

problem from getting out of hand

• The procedure has been used in

Sweden since 1809 to curb abuses by government against individuals

Factors for a Successful

Peer Review Panel

1 Be sure that people involved in the

process are respected members of the organization.

2 Committee members should be elected

rather than appointed.

3 They must receive training in dispute

resolution, discrimination, fairness,

legalities, and ethics for everyone

involved.

4 Representatives of both employees and

management should be involved in

decision making.

© 2015 Cengage Learning 21

The Future of ADR

• The use of ADR is growing because of

time and cost savings over litigation

• But some employers require new hires

to sign contracts waiving their right to sue their employer in favor of

mandatory arbitration

Arbitration

-• A neutral party resolves a dispute between

two or more parties and the resolution is

binding

Mandatory arbitration

• The parties must agree to arbitration prior to

any dispute occurring, and be bound.

Freedom of Speech in the

Workplace

• While the U.S Constitution protects an

individual's speech from government

interference, this does not apply to an

employer, and some forbid conflicting

political views

WhistleBlower

-• An organization member who discloses

illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices

under the control of their employers, to

persons or organizations that may be able

to effect action

Key Elements in the Process -

1.The whistle-blower

2.The act or complaint

3.The party to whom the complaint is made

4.The organization against which the

complaint is made

Two Views of Employee Responsibility in a Whistle-Blowing

Situation

Corporat

e Employe

r

Loyalty Obedience Confidentiality

Employe e

Traditional

(Has certain rights)

Public

Employe e

Corporat

e Employer

Whistle blowing

Responsibility Responsibility

(Has certain rights)

(Has certain

rights)

Emerging

A Checklist to Follow Before Blowing the Whistle

interest rather than personal or political gain?

blowing the whistle for yourself and your family?

inside and outside the organization, on which you can rely during the process?

claim?

records before drawing suspicion to your

concerns?

© 2015 Cengage Learning 26

Consequences of

Whistle-Blowing

4800 employees reported retaliation -

64% - exclusion from decisions & work activities

62% - cold shoulder from coworkers

62% - verbal abuse from management56% - almost lost job

55% - not given promotion or raise

51% - verbal abuse from coworkers

46% - cut in hours or pay

44% - relocated or reassigned

Management Responsiveness

to Whistle-Blowing

Whistle-blowing occurs after normal, less

dramatic channels of communication have

failed To encourage open communications -

1 Managers must be clear that they invite and

accept suggestions.

2 Managers must refute assumptions and

organizational myths that discourage

communication.

3 Managers should tailor rewards so that

employees share more directly in cost savings

or sales increases from ideas they offer.

• false Claims Act

• good cause norm

• good faith principle

• hearing procedure

• implied contract exception

• mandatory arbitration

• Michigan Blowers Protection Act