Moral Rights in the WorkplaceChapter Six

Jerry Estenson

Framework

• Work is important and a highly valued human activity because it is necessary to acquire other central human goods.

• Work and moral rights are connected because opportunities to work can be jeopardized by the actions of others.

Rights in the work place• Remember rights cannot be bought, sold, or forcibly

taken away• Legal– Derived from legislation and judicial rulings

• Contractual– Negotiated in good faith or a result of a policy or

procedure• Respect owed human beings. This is the domain of

moral rights in the workplace– Freedom– Equality– Autonomy

The rights equation

• Greater the rights = Greater the obligation

Right to work

• First definition is based on employee requirement to join a union– This is done to eliminate

“free rider” (those who enjoy the benefit without contributing)

– Collective bargaining view as way to balance power in the workplace

Right to work - Macro

• Basis for Catholic Church and UN declaration of work as a human right– Means to an end– Expression of a meaningful human life

Who should provide jobs?

• Private Industry and the free market

• Government• Safety Net

Private Industry

• Who should they be required to hire?• How long should they be required to employ?• At what rate should workers be paid?– What about property rights of employers?

Government

• Employer of “Last Resort”• Government employment drains from the

public

Safety Net

• Unemployment Insurance• Tax Incentives to hire folks on welfare

Rights in the Workplace

• Employment at will– Trade off for the elimination of slavery and

indentured servitude– Employee free to quit employer free to fire for:• Good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally

wrong.

Changes in the “At Will Doctrine”

• Never applied to government workers• Civil rights protections• Union activity protections• OSHA whistle blowing• Whistle blowing• Employee handbooks as “implied contracts”• Practices such as payment of bonuses as

handled in the past

Termination of employment

• Magna Carta doctrine – limit the authority of the King

• Due process required– Seen as inefficient

• Just cause required• All an attempt to balance power in the

workplace. Employees cannot be bought and sold.

Participatory Decision Making

• Who has authority– Authority is given with consent of those governed

• McCall – Employees should be treated as autonomous decision makers free of coercive interference by others. Human dignity is tied to the ability of humans to guide their own life and activities.

Benefits of Participation

• Reduces possibility of alienenatation• Reduces burnout• Workers may not have specific expertise but

do have other valuable knowledge• May appear inefficient but creates a high

degree of buy in and quick execution

Health and Safety

• Who determines the degree of risk a worker should take?– The individual– Experts– Senior Managers– Government

• Who has perfect knowledge?• Who is thinking beyond first generation

solutions to a problem?

Privacy in the workplace• Right to be left alone within a personal zone of

solitude• Right to control information about oneself• Important because it establishes boundaries • Workplace violations– Infringes on personal decisions that are irrelevant to work

contract– Personal information that is irrelevant to work contract

that is collected, stored or used without consent– Polygraphs, drug tests, surveillance, background checks,

psychological tests

Break Down our options in the Discussion Case

• Right involved• Actors involved– Interest of the actors

• Ethical recommendation

What rights are in jeopardy

• Urine Test• Commission payment• Abortion discussion• HIV• Email• Psychological test• Exposure to hazardous

material