Workload 3 SETS
ms_ami
initial_post_4801_unit_7.docxInitial Post 4801 Unit 2 D1
Hi Class,
Ethics of Workplace Privacy
Employees are protected by the law against arbitrary searches by employers and infringement on their privacy. However, the employer has the right to search without requesting the employee. However, this action is only applicable whenever the employer is inspecting the items belonging to the company such as the employee’s locker or car. If the vehicle belongs to the employee, the employer has no right to search. Otherwise, that will be considered as an invasion of the worker’s privacy.
An employer has the right to watch a nanny’s behavior whenever the nanny is on the employer’s premises and taking care of the employer's children. The employer has a right to listen in to the phone calls and messages of the nanny, as long as the phone being used belongs to the employer. The employer can read the emails of the nanny, force the employee to take a drug test to ensure the employee is not drugging the kids or acting under the influence of narcotics.
However, it is not allowed for the employer to install security cameras in sensitive places such as bathrooms or toilets. These cameras can be installed in public places such as kitchen, living room or in the yard. The employers are allowed by the law to have these cameras in such public places. The employer should however not invade the privacy of the employees.
References
Berenbeim, R. (1990). Employee privacy. New York, N.Y.: Conference Board.
Espejo, R. (2011). Privacy. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Lane, F. (2003). The naked employee. New York: AMACOM.
Hi Class,
Whistleblowing
Whistleblowing is a process where an employee communicates on non-ethical issues done in an organization. One of the real life experience I had had of whistleblowing when a fellow employee in a bookstore I was working in who had been denied leave for over five years decided to report the act to the worker’s union. This action prompted a harsh reaction from the union which gave the management of the bookstore an ultimatum within which it should have provided a list of the dates its employees are scheduled to go for leave.
Also, the union streamlined other issues within the workplace besides the granting of leave to employees. Before this time, I felt the pressure to express my despair since I was also expecting to get a leave but was afraid that would cause trouble between my employer and me.
In the years before 2013, the Bank of America was accused of getting rid of employees it suspected would blow the whistle. This came as a result of the great fraud that was taking place in the company which posed the danger that if notice, the bank would be closed or face different serious legal battles. Edward O’Donnell was one of the whistleblowers who led the court into gathering enough evidence about the shoddy mortgage deals that the Bank of America was undertaking.
The whistleblower was awarded $57 million for his act. As much as the code of ethics is supposed to regulate exposure of the internal issues of an organization to the public, some issues are better exposed than hidden. I would not be hindered from blowing the whistle whenever I think it is necessary to. This is because some management structures are not receptive of people who grumble and complain. Therefore, it is better to raise the whistle and solve the issue rather than complain and get fired leaving the issue unsolved.
References
Harrell, K. (1983). Whistleblowing. Monticello, Ill.: Vance Bibliographies.
Johnson, R. (2003). Whistleblowing. Boulder: L. Rienner Publishers.
Vandekerckhove, W. (2006). Whistleblowing and organizational social responsibility. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate.
