1. Archie B. Carroll Ann K. Buchholtz
Business & Society Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management Eighth Edition
Archie B. Carroll
Ann K. Buchholtz
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

2. Chapter 17 Employee Stakeholders and Workplace Issues
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

3. © 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
Learning Outcomes
Identify the major changes that are occurring in the workforce today.
Outline the characteristics of the new social contract between employers and employees.
Explain the employee rights movement and its underlying principles.
Describe and discuss the employment-at-will doctrine and its role in the employee’s right not to be fired.
Discuss the right to due process and fair treatment.
Describe the actions companies are taking to make the workplace friendlier.
Elaborate on the freedom-of-speech issue and whistle- blowing.
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4. © 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
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
Discussion Questions
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

5. Global Competition and the Social Contract
The social contract between organizations and their workers has been reshaped.
Driven by global competition and the economic recession.
The trend toward more expansive employee rights
Right not to be fired without good cause
Right to due process and fair treatment
Right to freedom of speech in the workplace
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Employee Loyalty
Loyalty remains important
Employers must earn employee loyalty through demonstrating:
Trust
Respect
Commitment
Uncertainty from the global economic recession made employees feel more loyal to their employers.
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7. Training and the New Social Contract
Outplacement
Assistance provided to laid-off employees.
Is an important ethical responsibility.
The duty to treat employees well does not end when they are terminated.
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8. The Employee Rights Movement
Private property
Individuals and private organizations are free to use their property as they desire.
Historically, private corporations did not have to recognize employee rights.
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Employee Rights
Rights
From the Principle of Rights perspective, rights are justifiable claims that utility cannot override.
Sources of employee rights
Statutory rights
Collective bargaining rights
Enterprise rights
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10. 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.
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11. The Right Not to Be Fired Without Cause
Good cause norm
The belief that employees should only be discharged for good reasons.
Prevails in the United States today.
Employment-at-will doctrine
The relationship between employer and employee is a voluntary one that can be terminated at any time by either party.
Is a fairly unique concept in the world.
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12. Legal Challenges to Employment-at-Will
Public policy exceptions
Protects employees from being fired for refusal to commit crimes.
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.
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13. Terminating an Employee
Know what an employer should and should not do when terminating an employee.
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14. The Right to 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.
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15. Alternative Dispute Resolution
Open-Door Policy
Hearing Procedure
The Ombudsman
The Peer Review Panel
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16. Concerns with the Open-Door Policy
The process is closed.
One person is reviewing what happened.
Tendency for a manager to support another manager’s decision.
A hearing procedure helps open up the process because employees can elect representation.
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17. © 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
The Ombudsman
Has been used in Sweden since 1809 to curb abuses by government against individuals.
Ombuds handle the concerns of employees who believe they have witnessed wrongdoing.
They keep the problem from getting out of hand.
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

18. Factors for a Successful Peer Review Panel
People in the process are respected members of the organization.
Elected, rather than appointed, committee members.
Provide training in dispute resolution, discrimination, fairness, legalities, and ethics for everyone involved.
Representatives of both employees and management should be involved in decision making.
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

19. Mandatory Arbitration
A process where 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.
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

20. Freedom of Speech in the Workplace
Whistle-Blower
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.
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Whistle-Blowing
What are the key elements in the whistle- blowing process?
Be able to list and describe the consequences of whistle-blowing.
What should employees think about before going ahead and blowing the whistle?
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22. Government Protections for Whistle-Blowers
1978 Civil Service Reform Act
Michigan Whistle-Blowers Protection Act of 1981
Sarbanes-Oxley Whistle-Blower Protections
Know the different protections offered by SarbOx.
False Claims Act
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23. Management’s Responsiveness to Whistle-Blowing
Whistle-blowing occurs after less dramatic channels of communication have failed
Managers must be clear that they invite suggestions.
Managers must refute commonly held assumptions and organizational myths that discourage communication.
Managers should tailor rewards so that employees share more directly in cost savings or sales increases from ideas they offer.
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

24. © 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
Key Terms
1978 Civil Service Reform Act
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
Collective bargaining
Due process
Employee Rights
Employment-at-will doctrine
Enterprise rights
False Claims Act
Good cause norm
Good faith principle
Hearing procedure
Implied contracts
Mandatory arbitration
Michigan Whistle-Blowers Protection Act of 1981
Ombudsman
Outplacement
Open-door policy
Peer review panel
Private property
Public policy exception
Social contract
Statutory rights
Whistle-blower
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning