7-12

Ethical Behavior
Conforming
Conforming to
to moral
moral

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

7-12

Areas of Concern for

Class
Employee
Employee privacy
privacy

Testing
Testing and
and evaluation
evaluation

Organizational
Organizational research
research

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

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

Does an employer have the right to search an

employees computer files or review the
employees email or voice mail?

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?

Can employers use private investigation

agencies to collect information about their
employees?

Can an employer give employment information

about an individual to a potential creditor or to
a landlord?

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

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

Employees physical privacy

Can employers physically search
employees in the workplace?

We already heard that employers can

electronically monitor you at work, but can
they hire a private investigator to monitor you
outside of work?

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

Testing and evaluation

Making

Tests
Interviews
Situational exercises
Performance appraisals

Ethical

employment decisions

issues

Fairness
Propriety
Individual rights

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?

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

 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

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?

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?

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

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?