The marketing firm which I work in as the ethics officer prides itself on engaging in ethical business practices since it was founded. The culture of the company has made it mandatory for every existing and newly recruited employee to attend ethics training as a requirement for their stay in the firm. This year’s training which will be administered in conjunction with the firm’s human resource director and an outside consulting firm will predominantly focus on employee’s rights and responsibilities while working in the firm and the firm's employer's ethical obligations towards the employees. Moreover, during the training session, we will develop a workplace moral dilemma to give the employees in training a clear view of what is required of them and to evaluate their understanding of the ethical standards tolerable to the company. Furthermore, we will assess various decisions that can be made in certain situations and the courses of actions that might be warranted.
Rights and Responsibilities of Employees
During any training sessions, employees are entitled to several rights that must be granted to them by the firm. Any employee whether in the recruitment process already employed by the company has a right to have a safety and health representative (Sections 29-32 of the OSH Act) and, or be entitled to safety and health committee (Sections 36-41 of the OSH Act) which will take into consideration the health welfare of the employees during the training period (The State of Queensland, 2015) . Consequently, since the training period is considered part of employment, the employees in training have a right to be given pay slips that will cover the full details of their pay for the duration they will be in practice. Moreover, both working employees and those on the recruitment process are entitled to sick leave and public holidays which they have a right to be given in case they occur during the two-day annual training period.
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On the other hand, the employees that will be in training are required by the firm to fulfill certain obligations to make the training meaningful. Every employee will be required to attend the annual ethical training, perform any duties they may be given and follow instructions given to them by the instructors to the latter. Furthermore, they will be obliged to work hard towards achieving the ethical standards required by the company during training. Additionally, all the employees who will be in training will be required to adhere to the code of conduct workplace rules and to adequately undertake the training and assessment stated under the ethical training plan in addition to asking questions on matters that they may not understand (The State of Queensland, 2015) .
Responsibilities of Employer
Moreover, the employer will be required to adhere to some ethical responsibilities towards the firm's employees for the smooth running of the training period. During the training period, the employer will be required to be morally responsible by protecting and making decisions that will work to maintain the safety of the employees during the training period and to treat the employees as essential stakeholders in the firm (Josephon Insitute of Ethics, 2012) . Consequently, the employer will have to be open abou t the training details to the employees and provide them with the necessary information required for the successful completion of the training.
Ethical Dilemma
The employer of the marketing firm often emphasizes to the employees to adhere to the firm's ethical standards at all times. During a particular time when the company was marketing a drug for diabetic individuals, it was noted that a specific component in the drug might severely affect the kidneys of those who take the medication and therefore result in medical complications that could be avoided otherwise. However, this discovered flaw in the medicine will relatively affect sales if the public is notified. As employees of the firm, what can you advise your employer to do?
Utilitarian and Relativistic Perspective
From the utilitarian perspective, this dilemma will mostly favor the consumers of the drug since the drug might damage the kidneys to a point where it can lead to the death of whoever is consuming the drug. Therefore, the marketing company is ethically obligated to inform the public of the dangers the medicine might help to prevent catastrophes that might occur in the event the drug gains a large market and is consumed by many. Although the firm sales will drastically reduce, they will have done what is morally right and ensured the happiness of its consumers by providing no other medical complication arise from the use of the drug. On the other hand, from the relativism perspective, the firm might decide not to inform the public of the dangers that the drug might pose to those who consume it and instead work at maintaining or increasing their sales. Although this might not be morally right to other individuals outside the firm, this decision will be considered ethically acceptable to the firm.
Ethical Decisions
When working in a corporate setting, employees sometimes may be faced with a moral dilemma which will warrantee them to make decisions that are morally acceptable. In a situation where a customer service representative fails to go through with their service, he or she will decide to take responsibility for that mishap and by doing this he or she will have made an ethical decision. Consequently, during employee or recruits training process, if one decides to complete the availed training module on their own, they will be making an ethical decision.
These two decisions present an ethical dilemma in that the customer service employee who decides to be accountable for his or her failure may have otherwise opted not to acknowledge that it was their mistake not following through their service and instead place the blame on the customer. Consequently, the employee who decides to complete the training module on their own otherwise might have decided to skip some part of the training module and then justify it on their supervisor or superior not being there to show him or her the way forward.
References
All About Philosophy. (2018). Ethical Relativism. Retrieved June 2018, from AllAbout Philosophy: https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/ethical-relativism-faq.htm
Josephon Insitute of Ethics. (2012, December). Ethical Responsibilities in the Employer-Employee Relationship – Applying Ethical Principles. Retrieved June 2018, from Josephon Institute: osephsononbusinessethics.com/2010/12/responsibilities-employer-employee-relationship/
Santa Clara University. (2014, Agust 1). Calculating Consequences:The Utilitarian Approach to Ethics. Retrieved June 2018, from Santa Clara University: https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/calculating-consequences-the-utilitarian-approach/
The State of Queensland. (2015, July). Apprentice and trainee rights and responsibilities. Retrieved June 2018, from Queensland Government: https://training.qld.gov.au/apprenticeshipsinfo/information-resources/information-sheets/atis-003
