Ethical Behavior

1
Ethical Behavior
7-12

• Conforming to moral standards or conforming to
  standards of conduct of profession or group
• Adapts to social norms and in response to needs
  and interests of those affected

2
Areas of Concern for Class
7-12

• Employee privacy
• Testing and evaluation
• Organizational research

3
Terms

• Privacy the state of being free from
  unsanctioned intrusion into ones behavior or
  personal information
• Confidentiality - discretion in keeping secret
  information
• Ethical dilemma any situation that has the
  potential to result in a breach of acceptable
  behavior
• Ethical choice considered choice among
  alternative courses of action in which the
  interests of all parties have been clarified and
  the risks and gains have been evaluated openly
  and mutually

4
Legally acceptable behavior with respect to
privacy

• EEO legislation meaning and extent of unfair
  discrimination and how to avoid it
• Professional standards and federal guidelines
  appropriate procedures for developing and
  validating assessment instruments
• Challenges of providing individual privacy and
  freedom of information

5
Does an employer have the right to search an
employees computer files or review the
employees email or voice mail?
6
Can companies keep information about the employee
in separate files (the employees file and the
supervisors file) and allow the employee access
to only one?
7
Can employers use private investigation agencies
to collect information about their employees?
8
Can an employer give employment information about
an individual to a potential creditor or to a
landlord?
9
Fair information practices

• The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1986)
  prohibits outside interception of electronic
  mail by 3rd party without proper authorization
  allows monitoring by employer
• Employees should
• Know companys written policy
• Abstain from personal internet use if in doubt
• Use own email account
• Limit personal surfing/emailing to times outside
  office hours
• When composing email or downloading info, ask
  yourself if youd post in on your office door
• When it comes to privacy in the workplace, assume
  you dont have any

10

• To establish a fair information practice policy,
  employers should
• Set up guidelines policies to protect
  information in the organization
• Limit information collection
• Ensure accuracy, timeliness, completeness of info
• Limit external disclosures
• Inform employees of info-handling policies
• Type and use of information
• Become thoroughly familiar with state federal
  laws regarding privacy
• Regularly review for compliance
• Establish a policy that any manager or
  non-manager who violates privacy principles will
  be subject to discipline or termination

11
Employees physical privacy
Can employers physically search employees in the
workplace?
12
We already heard that employers can
electronically monitor you at work, but can they
hire a private investigator to monitor you
outside of work?
13
To ensure employees physical privacy

• Base the search/seizure policy on legitimate
  employer interests
• Include all types of searches
• Provide adequate notice to employees before
  instituting the program
• Instruct those conducting the search not to touch
  any employee (or to limit touching)
• Conduct search away from other employees and on
  company time
• Dont observe in areas in which there is a
  reasonable expectation of privacy
• Ask if employee would like attorney present
  during investigative interview

14
Testing and evaluation

• Making employment decisions
• Tests
• Interviews
• Situational exercises
• Performance appraisals
• Ethical issues
• Fairness
• Propriety
• Individual rights

15
Suppose you are in the middle of the hiring
process at a company for which you really want to
work. Also suppose the company expects you to
submit to a round of testing personality tests,
intelligence tests, ability tests. What type of
treatment would you expect regarding the testing
procedures?
16

• Responsibilities to those evaluated
• Guarding against invasion of privacy
• Treating employees with respect
• Standardizing procedures
• Test accuracy - Minimizing erroneous acceptance
  rejection decisions
• Ensuring validity of instrument
• Contrasting social consequences of proposed test
  with potential consequences of alternatives or
  none
• Providing reasonable opportunities for retesting
  and reconsideration

17

• Obligations to employers
• Conveying accurate info regarding expectations
  for usefulness
• Providing reliable, valid, fair info within
  limits of resources
• Balancing vested interest of employer with
  government regulations and with those evaluated

18
In her last job, a workers job title was HR
assistant and her responsibilities were to help
the HR director by taking employment interviews
developed by the HR director and create documents
from them, create the database corresponding to
the compensation plan developed by the HR
director, and creating a system to organize
employee files containing performance evaluations
conducted by the HR director. She learned a
great deal from this HR director during her
tenure with the company, but she is currently
updating her resume to look for a new
position. When she lists her experience, can she
say that she has experience creating employment
interviews, creating compensation systems, and
creating performance evaluation systems?
19
Suppose you work for a large organization and
there is talk that the employees are going to
file suit against the company for improper hiring
and promotion practices. The head of HR asks you
to conduct research into the companys previous
decisions but asks you to keep your findings
secret. You find that the company has been
discriminating against minorities. What would you
do?
20
Organizational Research

• Some common ethical dilemmas
• Misrepresentation of qualifications and collusion
  
• Misuse of data
• Manipulation and coercion
• Value and goal conflict
• Technical ineptness
• Some methods for addressing the issues
• Clarify roles
• Reduce role conflict
• Clarify norms

21
Who do you think will blow the whistle?
Those working for organizations perceived by
others to be responsible to complaints or not
responsible to them? Those who hold professional
or nonprofessional positions? Those with positive
or negative attitudes toward their work? Those
with long or short service with the
company? Those who have recently been recognized
for good performance or those who have recently
received poor evaluations? Women or men? Those
working in large or small work groups?