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 18 Employee Stakeholders: Privacy, Safety, and Health
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3. © 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
Learning Outcomes
Articulate the concerns surrounding the employee’s right to privacy in the workplace.
Identify the advantages and disadvantages of polygraphs, integrity tests, and drug testing as management instruments for decision making.
Discuss the right to safety and the right to know, and summarize the role and responsibilities of OSHA.
Elaborate on the right to health and safety in the workplace, with particular reference to violence, smoke-free workplaces, and family-friendly workplaces.
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4. © 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
Chapter Outline
Right to Privacy in the Workplace
Workplace Safety
The Right to Health in the Workplace
Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

5. Right to Privacy, Safety, Health
The status of workers’ rights is ill-defined.
Right to safety
Thousands injured on the job annually.
Right to health
Thousands suffer from work-related health problems.
In today’s uncertain work environment, employees are more hesitant to ask for their rights to be respected.
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Right to Privacy
Right to:
Keep personal affairs to oneself
Autonomy
Determine when, how, and to what extent private information is communicated to others.
Privacy in the workplace is in flux as new technological options are introduced.
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

7. Workplace Privacy Issues
Collection and use of employee information in personnel files.
Integrity testing.
Drug testing.
Monitoring employee’s work, behavior, conversations, and location by electronic means.
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8. Collection and Use of Employee Information
Privacy Act of 1974
USA Patriot Act
Background checks/screening
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
Two significant loopholes:
Employers can opt to do the background checks themselves instead of using outside providers.
FCRA does not cover the interview process.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
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Integrity Tests
Polygraph
Lie Detector
Highly controversial in business
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
Banned most private-sector use of the lie detector
Integrity tests
Also controversial, but viewed as a substitute for polygraph tests
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10. Arguments For Drug Testing
High cost of drug abuse
Increased rate of accidents and injuries
Increased rate of theft
Increased propensity to make poor decisions
Ruined lives
Ethical responsibility to employees and public to provide
Safe workplaces
Secure asset protection
Safe places to transact business
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11. Arguments Against Drug Testing
Violates due process rights
Invades privacy rights
False positives from common foods and medicines
Ignores employee’s actual performance
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12. Drug Testing: State and Federal Legislation
State laws
Restrict drug testing to reasonable cause and suspicion
The U.S. Department of Labor maintains a website with state drug policies
Federal laws
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Specific regulations for drug testing in organizations
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

13. Employee Assistance Programs
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
Extend into a variety of employee problem areas.
A proactive way of dealing with employee problems
Employees are valuable members of the organization.
It is better to help troubled employees than to discipline or discharge them.
Recovered employees are better employees.
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14. Monitoring Employees on the Job
Employee monitoring occurs at the majority of mid- to large-sized firms.
Technology changed the pervasiveness and nature of monitoring.
Videotaping
Recording phone calls and voice mail
Reading computer files
Monitoring s and web access
GPS
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15. Effects of Employee Monitoring
Invasion of privacy
Treats employees unfairly
Creates stress and tension
Excessive pressure to be productive
Produces low morale
Creates a sense of job insecurity
The Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 is the only privacy protection available for electronic monitoring.
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning

16. The Workplace Safety Problem
Two events are forerunners of workplace safety initiatives
The death by cyanide poisoning of an employee of Film Recovery Systems.
The poisonous gas leak at the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal, India.
Right-to-know laws
Employers have a duty to provide employees with information on the hazards of workplace chemicals and to make sure that workers understand what the information means in practical terms.
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Workplace Violence
A major problem posing challenges to management.
Companies make few efforts to address workplace violence.
Continued violence in the future because of:
Greater tolerance for violence
Easily available weapons
Economic stress
Difficult job market
Insufficient support systems
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Prevention
OSHA’s “general duty clause” mandates that employers provide safe workplaces– is not specific to violent acts.
Employers are held liable for an unsafe act when:
The employer neglected to keep the workplace free from a hazard.
The hazard was one that is generally recognized by the employer or the industry.
The hazard was already causing or likely to cause serious harm.
Elimination or removal of the hazard was feasible.
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19. Right to Health in the Workplace
Smoking in the workplace
Growing anti-smoking sentiment in the U.S. and globally
Passive smoke kills thousands in the U.S. each year
Benefits of smoke-free workplaces:
Lower employee healthcare costs.
Smoke-free workplaces help smokers to quite.
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20. Family-Friendly Workplace
Work/Life balance
A state of equilibrium where the demands of a person’s personal and professional life are equal.
A desirable state for most workers, but difficult in recessionary economic times.
Family-friendly benefits
Dependent care flexible spending accounts
Flextime
Family leave above time required Family and Medical leave Act
Domestic partner benefits
Adoption assistance
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21. Family and Medical Leave Act
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Designed to make life easier for employees with family or health problems.
FMLA employee rights
12 weeks of unpaid leave in 12-month period
Reinstatement in old or equivalent jobs
Health benefits during leave periods
Protection from retaliation
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22. Family-Friendly Workplace (continued)
FMLA employer rights
Companies with fewer than 50 workers are exempt.
Right to demand that employees obtain medical opinions or certifications; may require additional opinions.
Do not have to pay employees, but must continue health benefits.
If employee and spouse are at the same firm, the total leave for both may be limited to 12 weeks.
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23. © 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
Key Terms
Background checks
Broad brush EAP
Chief privacy officer (CPO)
Drug testing
Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA)
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
Employee monitoring
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Family-friendly
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24. © 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
Key Terms (continued)
Integrity tests
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Polygraph
Privacy Act of 1974
Privacy impact statement
Privacy in the workplace
Right-to-know laws
Smoking in the workplace
Type 1 error
Type 2 error
Work / life balance
Workplace violence
USA Patriot Act
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning