One primary area of tension in an organization is balancing individual employee rights and organizational rights. The question becomes when the company can appropriately require an individual to give up their rights to privacy, self-determination, and self-control. This very brief overview of employee rights and responsibilities is designed to help you start spotting ethical issues before they become legal issues.

Personal Code:

Core to the Western ethical tradition is the notion that each person is to be treated with dignity and respect. Thus, as individuals, we have (in the words of the American Declaration of Independence), the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We also have a corresponding responsibility to be "self-regulating," responsible for our actions and our words. In this process, we do what is right simply because the action is right, not because anyone is watching or because we might get punished.

Thus, each of us has the opportunity to treat each person with respect and to follow our own ethical code of behavior regardless of what the community might expect.

Community Values:

Each community has expectations about how individuals treat others within that community. Beginning with the family, we have expectations of loyalties and responsibilities simply because of an accident of birth - we were placed in a particular family.

Further social groupings or contexts include our ethnic, cultural, or national community. Again, we are expected to treat people who are like us with dignity and respect. The challenge for every community is determining who is in that circle - who is to be given respect. Thus, in many communities, we see the challenge of accepting those of another nationality as worthy of respect. As well, all of us find ourselves in multiple groups simultaneously.

Another challenge is determining when a person is an adult, able to make decisions and claim the rights and privileges of adulthood. Earlier in America, not giving African-Americans and women full rights as citizens was justified because people in those groups were supposedly not capable of making informed, adult decisions. Thus, the majority males were unethically privileged and able to claim the rights of employment, promotion, and management of property and resources.

Organizational Codes:

Many companies have historically treated their employees as children, adopting a patriarchal attitude that stated employees did not have the ability to make decisions or manage without lots of rules in place telling them what to do. Thus, only those in charge made decisions, rules were put in place, and people down the line were supposed to salute smartly - not challenge authority.

Codes of Ethics: That model has changed in the past 10 years. As responsibility for decision making is moving further down the organizational ladder, companies are adopting Codes of Ethics which state that all employees are responsible for treating each other with respect and dignity. No longer is it acceptable for all decisions to be made in the CEO's office. Employees have a right - and an obligation - to speak up.

Use of Company Property: The tension result when employees comes to the workplace, expected to give their all to the company. Historically, people had very specific breaks and lunch hours with no flexibility. During their working hours, they were not to have individual needs or preferences or attend to personal business. With emerging, flexible work environments (including tele-commuting), issues of use of company property (telephone, computer, fax) become more complex. As we work to balance work and family life, issues of when people should be able to take time off for family responsibilities become more difficult.

Dress Codes: Employees were also not expected to have any dress preferences. Everyone was expected to wear a particular uniform to work. As we have realized that strict rules may not make sense, learning to balance between individual preferences and organizational needs requires discretion. Issues such as a right to display religious symbols, such as a cross or Star of David, or dress, such as a yarmulke or head scarf, come to the fore.

Security: Finally, as issues of security have become critical in the past five years, concerns such as identification tags, employee tracking, and monitoring the content of telephone and computer conversations are now on the radar screen. Again, leadership must exercise discretion in balancing between individual needs for privacy and organizational needs for security. All individuals must understand their responsibility for realizing the context of security and acting accordingly.

Legislative Regulations:

As laws are passed, administrative agencies are tasked with regulating various businesses, passing regulations to interpret the laws that give the agency its authority, and enforcing those laws. Many laws address issues of employee rights and responsibilities:

United States Constitution, 4th Amendment: The fourth amendment to the Constitution has been the bulwark of safeguards for privacy. The rule for companies is that no information needs to be released to a governmental agency unless (a) a search warrant is presented; or (b) the information is regularly collected as part of the regulatory process. Thus, companies have strict limits on what personal information they may give to government agencies.

Financial Information: Companies are required to disclose financial information to the IRS, state tax agencies, state agencies monitoring worker's compensation and unemployment compensation.

Identification Information: Companies are also required to submit information about citizenship status. Verification of authorization to work in the United States is made through social security numbers and immigration documentation (known as green cards or work permits). Monitoring of work status has greatly increased since the destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Civil Law:

This area of law is enforceable by citizens rather than by government agencies. Many laws have both civil and criminal provisions.

Civil Rights Act of 1965: Known as Title VII, this law radically changed the landscape for employee rights. Prior to this law, no particular legislation addressed rights of religious freedom.

American's with Disabilities Act: This particular law broadly regulates what must be done for people who have disabilities, both physical and emotional. The general rule is that an employer must "reasonably accommodate" those who have disabilities.

Criminal Law:

This area of law has seen much change in the past years.

The USA Patriot Act: Passed after 9/11 when the Twin Towers went down, this law makes sweeping changes to the Federal government's access to information. The federal government has extensive authority to track electronic communications (e-mail).

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: This act puts in place specific protection for "whistle-blowers," those employees who report misconduct on the part of their employers. Many are concerned that the protection is not strong enough and thus may still not provide the security needed for people to come forward and talk about wrong-doing in their company.

The Problem: The Case of the Cell Phones

You have been hearing complaints in the break room and around the water cooler that one or two members of the administrative staff are "constantly" on their cell phones talking to either friends or their children. As you poke around, you find out that the receptionist, a single mom, is on her cell phone multiple times a day, which means that either the main company phone is answered slowly or that others have to pick up the phone in order to avoid it being unanswered. When asked, she says that she is just checking up on her children to make sure they are OK or that she is fielding calls about her children. Other employees also use their cell phones for personal business, however being available to answer the company phone is not as important for some employees as for others.

The Virtuous Option

In three to four coherent paragraphs, compare and contrast your options using the Reputation Lens.

In the process, consider the following questions:

Components of the Practice: Consider the (a) standards of excellence, (b) rules that must be followed, (c) internal goods achieved, and (d) external goods achieved by the ethical actor in their role.

Expectations of the Community: What do the stakeholders expect of an "excellent" person in the decision-maker's role?

Core Virtues: Considering your options, which one best meets the requirements of the core virtues: integrity, courage, justice, and civility?

Unity of Life: Now, reflecting on the options, which one best meets the ethical actor's requirements for unity of life? Which on best exemplifies the standards of a life as a whole?

Core Benefits: Which option is most consistent with the ethical actor's core beliefs? Which option has the potential to energize and transform both the ethical actor and the community?

Be Responsible

Choose an Option

Select one option to implement within your Division:

Restrict the use of cell phones at work for all employees. Cell phones can only be used during breaks and at lunch.

Restrict the use of cell phones only to those whose primary task is answering the phone for the company. Those people can use their cell phones during breaks and at lunch.

Do not make any change in company policy but talk to the receptionist who seems to be the problem and put a formal complaint in her personnel file. Handle these situations in the future on a case-by-case basis.

Explain Your Decision

Now, write an inter-office memo that explains your decision to your colleagues. As you write the inter-office memo, please consider your audience. The purpose of the memo is to inform your colleagues of your decision and the reasons for your choice. The memo should be between 400-600 words long. Write the memo so that other team members can see the ethical problem, know what your decision was, and understand the rationale for your decision.

Return to Awareness

In a coherent paragraph or two indicate how you have corrected for personal bias and your own blind spots - hubris - and have attended to the common good:

Discuss whether or not the ethical analysis made sense. Did you like the result? What were the problems with the process? What are the sticking points?

Did you like the results? Do you get a sense that you would follow these results in real life? Why or why not?

What insights do you have about this problem that you would like to share with others? What information would you appreciate from them?

How would adding the world of emotion and conscience help?

Consider the spiritual perspective - spirituality is defined as that which gives life and work meaning and purpose. As you begin to see yourself in light of the community, how can you (and others in the organization) begin to discipline your desires so you can live fully in the present with faith and trust, avoiding self-righteousness and self-deception?