Rights and Responsibilities of Employees
An employee has a right to a hazard-free and safe work environment. Moreover, the employer has must offer access to information regarding safety in the workplace. Also, employees must contribute their health and work safety according to the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) . Secondly, employees have a right to fair treatment by other employees and employer. If particular violations occur in a company, employees have ‘whistleblower' rights. Employees must be treated fairly and receive payment according to work complement and agreements after hiring. Thirdly, employees have a right to privacy. The law states that if the equipment belongs to the company, the employer has a right to access the information contained in the equipment. However, if the equipment belongs to the employee, the employer has no right to access such information ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) . Some of the employees' responsibilities include avoiding putting others or themselves in danger, doing the work or responsibilities they were hired to do, and following employer's instructions.
Ethical Responsibilities of the Employer
Moral Responsibility
Employers must make decisions that uphold or improve employee welfare. An employer should offer good wages, excellent working conditions, and health benefits ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) . Moreover, employees are essential stakeholders in a company, and they must be treated fairly. Additionally, employers should offer not only good working conditions and fair pay, but also show genuine concern about employees’ welfare even if there may be associated costs that may affect profitability.
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Loyalty
Employers should be extremely loyal to employees. There should be no layoffs unless such a decision is entirely necessary. Events such as plant closings, layoffs, or other dramatic issues have adverse financial and psychological impact on the entire company and its workforce ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) . Hence, such decisions should be implemented with a high level of sensitivity and caring regarding the announcement and implementation of the decision.
Ethical Business Dilemma
An ethical dilemma describes a moral situation where a decision has to be made between two choices that have significant outcomes. Ethical dilemmas may occur due to particular attitudes or behaviors as shown in the example:
A common ethical dilemma is taking credit for other employees’ work. The company is built on the value of teamwork and coordination. In particular projects, employees are required to work in groups to develop new products, create marketing campaigns, or improve services. However, rarely do each team member contribute equally to the outcome or final product. If only three members of a five-member team completed an assignment, should the three members take credit and point out that the other two members did not contribute to the final outcome? The situation poses an ethical dilemma because if the three members point out the other two members in a negative light, it could cause resentment at the workplace. On the other hand, the two members will resent the two members who did not participate in the assignment. As part of the ethical training program, the employees should resolve the ethical dilemma.
Evaluation of Ethical Business Dilemma
Utilitarian Approach
Utilitarianism is an ethical philosophy that insists that an action can only be morally upright if it causes happiness or when there is an absence of pain and the action is morally wrong if it causes pain or unhappiness ( Chonko, 2018) . According to the ethical dilemma mentioned earlier, the two choices would cause unhappiness because each decision will cause the unhappiness of some team members. If the three members point out that the two members did not participate in the assignment, the two members would be unhappy. On the other hand, if the two members take credit for work they did not do, the other three team members would be unhappy. Therefore, both actions would be morally wrong. The best action would be a solution that maximizes happiness in the team. If all employees contributed to the assignment, all members would be happy.
Relativist Approach
Relativism is an ethical philosophy that insists that there is no absolute truth and that truths vary according to culture and individuals ( Chonko, 2018) . According to the ethical business dilemma mentioned earlier, there would be no absolute truth. The three members who took part in the assignment believe that the two members who did not participate were ethically wrong. On the other hand, the two members who did not participate in the assignment did not see anything wrong with their actions and that the other three members are supposed to ‘cover up’ their inactions in the assignment. Therefore, in this case, the actions of the team members can only be right or wrong according to individual perspectives.
Ethical Decisions
Zero Tolerance on Harassment
No company should tolerate workplace harassment. Workplace harassment refers to unwelcome conduct from a customer, boss, vendor, or colleague whose behavior, actions, or communication ridicules, mocks, disparages, demeans, or puts down an employee ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) . Intimidations, physical assaults, or threats are severe forms of bullying and harassment ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) . Harassment may also include offensive pictures, offensive jokes, pornographic images, offensive images, or objects. Interfering with a worker’s ability to conduct his or her responsibilities is also a form of harassment. Furthermore, employees may also experience the adverse effects of harassment even if they were not the primary targets because harassment creates a negative work environment. Ultimately, a negative work environment affects the overall organization performance. In the US, workplace harassment is discriminatory and illegal because it violates Age Discrimination in Employment Act, American with Disabilities Act, or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) .
Workplace Diversity and Equal Employment
Workplace diversity involves appreciating individual differences. It also involves learning from different employees regardless of cultural differences and utilizing the differences to improve organizational performance. Workplace diversity includes not only race but also education, gender, age, ethnicity, background, and personality ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) . On the other hand, equal opportunity means that all employees are treated similarly or equally and not disadvantaged by biases or prejudices. Equal opportunity allows the best candidates to earn positions based on knowledge, qualifications, and experience. Workplace diversity and equal opportunity are ethical decisions that have a positive impact on organizational performance. They ensure that the company not only attracts top talent but also retains their best employees. Furthermore, they encourage a positive work environment while allowing employees to achieve individual and organizational objectives.
Ethical Dilemmas involving Ethical Decisions
Zero Tolerance on Harassment
Implementing a zero tolerance on harassment may pose certain ethical dilemmas to employees. When an employee faces harassment from a senior executive, they may face various challenges. If the employee reports the issue, they are likely to face many obstacles because of the colleague’s senior position in the company and the employee may risk losing their job. Also, if the employee fails to report the incident, the perpetrator will continue harassing the employee.
Workplace Diversity and Equal Employment
There are ethical dilemmas associated with managing an increasingly diverse workforce. The management is supposed to accommodate all the cultural differences in the workplace ( Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015) . Accommodating all the cultural differences may be quite challenging especially if it involves religion and beliefs. Furthermore, accommodating all the cultural differences may be time-consuming and slow down decision-making processes. On the other hand, failure to accommodate all the cultural differences may appear as a form of discrimination, and an employee can file a lawsuit against the company.
References
Chonko, L. (2018). Ethical Theories. Retrieved from http://www.dsef.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/EthicalTheories.pdf
Ferrell, O. C., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases . Nelson Education.
