Chapter Six

Employee Stakeholders
And
The Corporation
Copyright 2003 by South-
Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 1
 Chapter Topics
1. Employee stakeholders: The workforce in
the 21st century
2. The changing social contract between
corporations and employees
3. Employee and employer rights and
responsibilities
4. Discrimination, equal employment
opportunity, and affirmative action
5. Sexual harassment in the workplace
6. Whistle-blowing versus organizational
loyalty
Copyright 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 2
 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
Within the context of the digital economy the following
changes with employees and stakeholders occur:
A shift to knowledge work
The concept of a job for life is dying
Compensation, income, and the social distribution of
benefits are shifting
Quality of work life is not inherent in the uses of technology
Five predicted trends in the work-life of employees
include:
Demographics will drive a growing focus on family,
personal, and spiritual matters
Employees will demand schedules that work for them
Internet-age values will take deeper root
A back-to-basics trend
It will get harder to tell work and home lifestyles apart
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 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
Several demographic trends that were
predicted have been and are being realized:
The workforce is aging
Managerial leadership positions are more
difficult to fill
Women entrants are increasing
Workforce cultures are mixing
The education gap continues
The level of education lags
The number of employees with disabilities is
expanding
Gay couples are denied health care insurance in
most companies
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 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
The trends in the workforce necessitate
accommodation from managers and
employees. Moral and legal conflict will
likely increase if action is not taken with
regard to:
Age discrimination
Sexual harassment
Health care provisions
Educational challenges
Paradigm shift toward a new work life
model
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 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
The following values Workforce 2000
were identified as related values
motivators for considered most
professionals: important include:
Recognition
Competitive pay
Respect and dignity
Benefits and
Personal choice
opportunities
Involvement at work
A fair deal
Pride in work
Being valued Quality of lifestyle
Decent relationships Financial security
Self-development
Health and wellness
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 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
Generational analysis looks at
differences among world views,
attitudes, and values of generations
of Americans:
GI generation
Silent generation
Baby boomers
Generation X
Generation Y
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 The Changing Social Contract
Between Corporations and
Employees
The social contract that has
historically defined the
employee/employer relationship is
known as the employment-at-will
(EAW) doctrine.
The EAW remains the cornerstone
of U.S. labor law.
At issue is the continuing debate
over the nature of property and
property rights.
Copyright 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
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Employee And Employer Rights
And Responsibilities
The ideal relationship between employer and
employees is one based on mutual respect
and trust.
A right can be understood as a moral claim.
The moral foundation for employee rights is
based on the fact that employees are
persons.
The evolving social contract between
employers and employees still recognizes
employers power over physical and material
property, but the contractual relationship
aims in principle at balance, mutual respect,
integrity, and fairness.
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Employee And Employer Rights
And Responsibilities
Employers are obliged to:
Pay employees fair wages for work performed
To provide safe working conditions
Employees are responsible for:
Fulfilling their contractual obligations to the
corporation
For following the goals, procedural rules, and work
plans
For performing productively
Timeliness
Avoiding absenteeism
Acting legally and morally
Respecting the intellectual and property rights of the
employer
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Employee And Employer Rights
And Responsibilities
Major types of employee rights in
the workplace include:
Right not to be terminated without just
cause
Right to due process
Right to privacy
Right to workplace health and safety
Right to organize and strike
Rights regarding plant closings
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Employee And Employer Rights
And Responsibilities
Employees right to privacy remains
one of the most debated and
controversial rights. Areas centered
around issues of privacy include:
Technology use
Polygraph and psychological testing
Workplace surveillance
Internet use
Drug testing
Genetic discrimination
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 Discrimination, Equal
Employment Opportunity, And
Affirmative Action
Recently, discrimination has surfaced in a
number of categories including:
Racial profiling
Income disparities
Ratio of female compensation compared to male
Examples of discriminatory practices have
been found in:
Recruitment
Screening
Promotion
Termination
Conditions of employment
Discharge
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 Discrimination, Equal
Employment Opportunity, And
Affirmative Action
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes
discrimination on the basis of gender, race, color,
religion, or national origin in any term, condition,
or privilege of employment illegal.
The Civil Rights Act of 1992 extended punitive
damages to victims of employment
discrimination.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
prohibits employers from discriminating against
individuals based on their age.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits
discriminatory payment of wages and overtime
based on gender.
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 Discrimination, Equal
Employment Opportunity, And
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action programs are a
proactive attempt to recruit applicants
from minority groups to create
opportunities for those who would be
excluded from the job market.
Affirmative action as a doctrine is
derived from several ethical principles
that serve as bases for laws:
Principle of justice
Utilitarian principle
Rights principle
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 Discrimination, Equal
Employment Opportunity, And
Affirmative Action
Reverse discrimination is alleged to occur when an
equally qualified woman or minority member is given
hiring preference over white males.
Notable court cases that illustrate how affirmative
action and discrimination issues have been addressed
include:
The Bakke case
The Weber case
The Stotts case
The Adarand Constructors v. Pena case
The Hopwood v. Texas case
The Grutter v. University of Michigan Law School case

Copyright 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson

Learning 16
Sexual Harassment In The
Workplace
Sexual harassment remains among the
most prominent civil right issues in the
workplace.
Forms of sexual harassment include:
Unwelcome sexual advances
Coercion
Favoritism
Indirect harassment
Physical conduct
Visual harassment
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 Whistle-Blowing Versus
Organizational Loyalty
DeGeorge has identified five conditions
when whistle-blowing is morally justified.
Five instances when whistle-blowing is
not justified have been suggested.
There have been twelve guidelines that
offer factors which should be considered
before deciding to blow the whistle on
an employer.
Four managerial steps to prevent
external whistle-blowing have been
suggested.
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