Workplace Ethics. The concept of workplace ethics is far more complex than it appears at first glance. There are many facets including the companyÆs obligation to its employees; and workers duties to their employer. There are the companyÆs duties to related and unrelated third parties with customers and vendors counted among the related parties, and individuals that have no direct relationship with the company as unrelated parties.
Workplace ethics include characteristics such as trustworthiness, respect for others, personal responsibility for oneÆs actions, fairness in dealing with individuals inside and outside of the company, a caring and compassionate attitude, as well as good citizenship which includes a respect for the rights of others as well as a positive and enthusiastic attitude about work.
In the reading, Joanne Freeman quotes Dr. Rosenberg who suggests that business ethics is the gray area between what is legal and what is not. In my opinion, you can make this argument: There are things that are legal that are unethical, but there are few things that are illegal that are nevertheless ethical. Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King argued that people of good conscience had a duty to violate unjust laws; and therefore some unlawful actions were ethical and moral.
The employment at will doctrine is mentioned in this article as central to any discussion of business ethics. Freeman quotes Professor Howard Engelskirchen as stating that the at-will doctrine is ôcompletely inappropriate in todayÆs workplace.ö In researching this doctrine, I learned that it is generally accepted as meaning that an employer can terminate an employee at any time, with or without cause and with or without advanced notice - except in special and unusual situations such as when an employee has an employment contract or is a member of a trade union. Professor Engelskirchen suggests that employees should not be dismissed ex...