Week 6/7 Flashcards
What are the possible ethical issues today?
- Accidental/purposeful misuse of AI
- Gig economy - freelancers, temporarily outsourcing
○ Companies not providing the same benefits (healthcare, dental, etc…) - Lack of social welfare
- Modern day slavery
Employee rights
- A lot has improved but ethical issues are still present.
- Employees are the backbone of the company.
Employee rights & duties compared to the past
An employer’s obligations- not only payment anymore, but a range of other rights.
Employee rights (7)
- Freedom of speech
- Fair wages
- Due process (fair treatment)
- Participation and association
- Health and safe working conditions
- Privacy
- Freedom from discrimination
Employee duties (3)
- Comply with labor contract
- Respect employer’s property
- Comply with the law
- Respect employer’s property
Issues involved with employee rights and duties (7)
- Whistleblowing
- Pay, Different forms of work
- Promotion, Firing
- Organization of trade unions
- Working conditions, work/life balance
- Drug testing, data protection
- Equal opportunities, racism
Civil Liberties in the past
Employment at will (no longer the case)
Enlightened egoism
- Some companies go beyond what is necessary in order to respect employee’s rights
- In doing so, they outperform others
- Some well-known companies implemented it first.
What are Labor Unions
- Unions fight to protect workers from abuses of power at the hands of employers
Collective bargaining
- Negotiations between the representatives of organized workers and their employers.
Union tactics (3)
- Strikes
- Boycotts
- Corporate campaigns
Personnel Policies
How the organization handles the hiring, firing, paying, and promoting of the people who work for it.
Hiring process:
- Stage 1: Screening
- Stage 2: Testing
- Stage 3: Interviews
Stage 1 of the hiring process
Screening: Employers strive to hire people who will enable the organization to produce the products or services it seeks to provide or to promote its other goals.
Involves pooling and ranking candidates based on their qualifications.
Possible ethical problems of screening:
- Wrongful discrimination (race, gender, age, religion, nationality)
- AI systems
- Stereotypes (Heavy work for men)
Stage 2 of the hiring process:
Testing: Tests are generally designed to measure the applicant’s verbal, quantitative, and logical skills
Testing must be Valid and Reliable, define both:
- Validity- the test measures the skill or ability it is intended to measure
-Reliability- refers to whether test results are replicable.
Stage 3 of the hiring process:
Interviews: Interviewers should strive to free themselves as much as possible from unconscious biases, stereotypes, and preconceptions.
What commonly occurs as a ‘moral issue’ in an interview?
When moral issues arise in interviewing, they almost always relate to the way the interview was conducted.
2 ways of assisting the moral issues in interviews
- Objectivity (without bias)
- Situational interview
Promotion policy
- As with hiring, the key moral ideal here is fairness
- What factors should be assessed for promotion?
○ Seniority (Loyalty)?
○ Performance?
○ Nepotism?
§ This is known as favoritism–> Creates a bias which is unfair for others.
○ Inbreeding?
§ Sometimes corporations choose to select employees in the same company opposed to hiring new candidates.
What are the basic principles in handling disputes (2):
- (a) Just cause- requires that the reasons for discipline and discharge relate to job performance.
Due process- refers to the fairness of procedures and that everyone is treated the same when handling these situations.
Employees who perform poorly can be fired, but what must they provide (2)
- Severance pay
- Sufficient warning
