Business Ethics Task 2: Employees' Rights and Responsibilities and Employer's Ethical Responsibiliti

Three Employees' Rights and Responsibilities

Business Ethics Task 2: Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities and Employer’s Ethical Responsibilities Western Governors University Cecilia Bonde 7/30/2017 Note: In using this template for formatting your task, please be sure to delete the bullet-pointed items and this note from your completed document (leave only the bolded headers). These bullet-points serve only as helpful tips for you in writing your task. A1. Three Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities • Chapter 7 from the textbook gives a number of examples of the rights extended to employees as well as the responsibilities employees have to their employer. • Identify 3 rights and responsibilities (3 total, not 3 each) AND explain why each is important or significant. • Aim for a minimum of one paragraph of content for this section. A2. Two Ethical Responsibilities within the Employer/Employee Relationship • Consider what ethical duties an employer owes to an employee. • Aim for a minimum of two paragraphs of content for this section (one for each ethical responsibility). • Use Chapter 5 of the textbook A3. Personal Ethical Dilemma • Reflect on your work/professional experience. What ethical dilemmas have you witnessed at place(s) of work that you can apply here? Describe the situation and discuss why it was unethical. • Aim for a minimum of one paragraph of content for this section. • Use the "Code of Ethics and Codes of Conduct" exercise in Unit 11 A4. Dilemma from both the Utilitarian and Relativistic Perspective • First, describe the theories of utilitarianism and relativism. Then, discuss how each theory applies to the dilemma you describe in A3. Imagine, you are a utilitarian, how would view the dilemma? How would a relativist view the dilemma? • Aim for a minimum of one paragraph of content for this section. • Use Chapter 2 from the textbook A5. Two Common Ethical Decisions That Employees May Face • Again, reflect on your work/professional experience. What ethical decisions have you had to make at your place(s) of work that you can apply here? • Aim for a minimum of two paragraphs of content for this section (one paragraph foryour discussion of each ethical decision). • Use the "Introduction to Workplace Ethics" exercise in Unit 10 A6. How an Individual Might Justify an Unethical Decision • Consider that each decision an employee must make can have a number of different potential outcomes - some ethical, some unethical. Think about how a decision can turn into a problem. What are some excuses you have used in the past to justify your actions? • Draw on your own work experience and day-to-day life here! • Aim for a minimum of two paragraphs of content for this section (one paragraph for your discussion of each ethical dilemma). • Use the "Introduction to Workplace Ethics" exercise in Unit 10 Additional Tips: • Suggested page length: ~4 pages (double-spaced) o This is only a suggestion – the evaluator will score your work based on the quality, not the quantity. • This paper can be written entirely in your own words – citing is not required unless you are directly quoting or significantly paraphrasing from the textbook (or other source). If you do cite, you will need to do so following proper APA standards which calls for both an in-text citation as well as a reference page at the end of the document. • This task can have no more than 30% unoriginal work as per the Turnitin report. If you have any concerns on originality, please be sure to review the Turnitin report prior to submitting for evaluation. • Articulation counts! Thoroughly proofread your paper to check for errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, organization and sentence fluency. If you feel that you are struggling with the mechanics of the writing process, please reach out to the writing center for assistance. Business Ethics Task 2: Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities and Employer’s Ethical Responsibilities Western Governors University Cecilia Bonde #000747030 7/30/2017 A1. Three Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities • Employees have the right to protection against discrimination o In the United States, it is against the law to discriminate based on sex, color, race, national origin, or religion. All persons in the workplace must be treated equally when considering promotions, raises or bonuses. • Employees are responsible for not disclosing private information regarding their employer. o Employees should maintain the confidentiality of proprietary information and trade secrets of their organization. This information, if released to a competitor, could be damaging to the corporation. When talking to competitors, employees must make sure that they do not release any proprietary information that could harm their company. Information, such as fees and schedules, can give an unfair advantage to a competitor if released. • Employees have a right to confidentiality of their medical information in the workplace. o Laws have been put in place over the years to help keep medical records in the workplace confidential. The Americans with Disability Act requires businesses to keep all medical records private unless needed for first aid from safety workers. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal act requiring companies with group health plans to keep all medical records private. A2. Two Ethical Responsibilities within the Employer/Employee Relationship • Employees expect that corporations will pay a fair wage for the work they produce. By paying employees a salary that is comparable to the market rate, the company is ensuring that their employee won’t be looking to leave at the first opportunity to earn more money. • Employees want to feel valued by their employer. They want honest feedback and want to be recognized when they do a good job. When recognition is given for a job well done, it reinforces the need of every person to be appreciated. The recognition reinforces the behavior that led to the great work done by the employee. A3. Personal Ethical Dilemma • I work for a small company that employs around 350 employees. The company has promised its employees an annual bonus if the business reaches a goal of ten percent net profit for the year. The company made several expensive purchases this last fiscal year and hired multiple positions. The company did not meet the 10 percent net profit mark. The company not only advised there would be no bonuses for this year, but they also advised there would be no raises at all. The company owner even discontinued providing extras like plastic silverware and paper products for the employee break room. The executive team states that this has been a decent year and that the company is not in financial trouble but that expenditures were very high this past year. Employees who are bringing in a huge profit and are under paid for the market in are not being given any increase this year. Multiple employees are considering moving to a different company. Not providing yearly raises because the company overspent is not an ethical business practice. Removing simple benefits like plasticware and paper plates due to lower than expected revenue is unethical. Budgeting should include the basic employee raises and benefits. A4. Dilemma from both the Utilitarian and Relativistic Perspective • The goal of utilitarian ethics is to provide the greatest happiness for the most people. The morally correct action is one that positively impacts the greatest number of people. From a utilitarian standpoint, withholding salaries and benefits to the employees due to the inability to budget correctly, is ethically wrong since the majority of employees saw no benefit from the profit from the last fiscal year. • Ethical relativism states that actions are only wrong within the context of the framework that based on a person’s culture, society, or personal feelings. From a relativist viewpoint, the company should not be judged as ethically wrong because this opinion comes from a person who is not objective and does not understand the entire scenario. A5. Two Common Ethical Decisions That Employees May Face

Boeing and Airbus are the only and the topmost preferable aircraft manufacturer in the country. But they also on have enough power as in the manufacturer business there is huge cost investment and high switching cost. Therefore if only one long term contract is discarded then the company can attract heavy expense. Due to having delicate business, the bargaining power of suppliers is really low. But if considered like the company also has low switching cost because of having only two manufacturers and if the company will switch from them then it will involve high costs for the company. Thus he suppliers power can be said comparatively medium.

The airlines industry has tough competition between the companies. Although there are a few companies prevailing like, Ryanair, Air Lingus etc. still the company EasyJet receives a heavy risk because the company will shift its working from Luton to Dublin. Due to which the company has to start its business there from the initial stage and competitor can take advantage of this aspect (Anna Aero 2009). Also the company will take time to adapt different culture of Dublin due to which other companies can attract their customers.

The value chain analysis refers to the process of analyzing the returns procured by the company the resources used by the company. Easyjet Company runs its business under the low cost carrier model (Ward 2015).