Ethical Issues: Workplace Harassment and Discrimination as Well as the Misuse of Authority by Superiors

Matthew Warner

Published by: Psytext

          Understanding that there are many mitigating factors that affect workplace performance, and many of them are associated with the employee's themselves. These will allow you to formulate systems that towards finding the best methods to boost corporate or morale, and overall productivity.  The moral topics I would like to focus on are Unitarianism connotations, coupled with deontology methodology. We will discuss the elements associated with the worker and employee relationship, the workplace, atmosphere and overall structure of a positive work environment. Harassment and discrimination are arguably the largest ethical issues that impact business owners today. Making regulations that management and staff must abide by, such as specifying certain jobs should only be performed by management, is one strategy to stop this. Rules  are intended to establish limits in the workplace, which can assist in reducing the likelihood of power abuse by leaders and provide a better work atmosphere.

A theory I believe is a good fit for this issue is the "Virtue of Ethics" because we require instruction, education, and resources in order to become the best versions of ourselves.  The "Virtue of Ethics" affirms that personnel need training, information, and resources to be able to stop the problem from arising in the first place in order to resolve it. Due to my own life experience, I also firmly believe that without the right tools, it is impossible to excel in the profession. Another theory I believe would be a good fit is Kantian Deontology.  Kantian Deontology is a method of using philosophical connotations to determine what is moral and immoral.  I believe this theory would help reduce the rise of negative instances in the workplace.

          Deontology or philosophical aspects of running a workplace can also be associated with some of the current situations that will affect your employees. Taking into account how they feel, will help for more positive methods of workplace interactions. Small and large-scale business owners have a list of responsibilities set aside from their employees. Because of these responsibilities, they will have a specific type of mentality. Leadership framework and protocols play an important role in these systems, and knowing how to implement them correctly will make difference between a functional, or non-functional work environment (Gallo, 2015). 

          Regardless of whether or not it is direct, discrimination can still be felt by those who it is being directed towards. It may come in many forms, but it is still prevalent and an issue that needs to be addressed. Harassing other employees may be something that is difficult for a new staff member to deal with. Making complaints to management is not a simple task, and doing so before your probation period is over is going to make it that much difficult to continue working with anyone who is causing an issue. But not mentioning any issues of harassment will make it harder for you to maintain your employment.  The main cause of safety issues in the workplace is usually financial. Employers should not be coaxing employees to do jobs that are unsafe, or without required safety equipment. Coworkers and other staff members should not be actively conducting themselves into the workplace in an unsafe manner. If they are, somebody's policy should be in place to reprimand these individuals before they do any damage to themselves, or those around them (Holton, 2014). Speaking out about ethical issues between your employees is something that needs to be taken with a certain level of consideration. You are still going to have to work with these people, so getting them in trouble may not be the best way of handling the situation. For instance, if you notice some of the people you work with bending, breaking or simply disregarding the rules to their own advantage is reporting their behavior's in the best interest of the company itself? In some ways it is, but in others there's ways around handling these types of difficult situations. If you are a trustworthy and honest employee, you may also feel like you do not need to speak up if you notice something wrong. But not doing so, may leave you vulnerable for being blamed for the same negative action (Gotterbarn, 2018).

(Stats Canada 2017)

          Utilitarian ethical issues in the workplace are understandable and implementable connotations that can and will affect one's ability to be productive. An example of an ethics issue in the workplace would be one of workload for employees. If an employee has more drive intimidation than others, but is receiving more work and the same pay rate, then this may be an ethical issue. Unless you are planning on working with the individual to push them toward a better position, or pay raise, then they are simply being taken advantage of, perhaps and hopes that this will happen but will not happen in the future.  Interestingly enough, the workplace ethics are not only associated with how the employer treats the employee, but how other employees all treat each other. Discrimination is a common element in all forms of society, and is still prevalent in the workplace. There are different forms of discrimination. Sexual discrimination, racial discrimination, age discrimination personal appearance discrimination or sexual preference. These can isolate or ostracize an employee and stop them from being as productive. This means it is very important to manage this basic element. One of the ways to stop discriminatory practices is to have meetings with your staff members that will explain what discrimination means, and how it will be dealt with. This can also be presented in the form of a company policy, or even a handbook. Some workplaces have signs in the employee areas that will be gentle reminders of their procedures, rules and protocols. Another way of combating issues of diversity, is having a fully diversified workforce of mixed individuals (Hotlton, 2021). This will provide more of a balanced structured environment, and keep the task focused on exactly that. 

          One of the new issues that needs to be addressed is the social media aspect. Our communication networks have changed drastically in the last 10 years, and the way we see ourselves and others has also changed. The effect social media has on the workplace can cause emotional trauma for some of the employees, whether they are at work or not. The standard remedy for this t the limitation of the use of social media at the workplace. Instead, having a group social media account that is focused on your company, and shares in all of your achievements would be a more inclusive way involving social media in the workplace. This would change it to a workplace tool, as opposed to a personal social system (Fathima, 2021).

          If you are planning on maintaining a work environment with long-term, viable employees, then managing them appropriately is your best path to success. Some industries do not want to maintain long relationships with their staff. This is indigenous to restaurants, the hospitality industry and some forms of the entertainment sector. This is because those types of industries do not value their employees the same way as other types of businesses do. Businesses like restaurants are usually mostly cash based, there are many other ways for the owners and managerial staff to earn income that has nothing to do with the satisfaction or happiness of their employees (Gotterbarn, 2018). They can also rely on the education system to train staff members for them and then not continue with further employment, if they have a new tier of staff members coming next year.

          In conclusion, the level of education associated with the type of position, and the difficulty it takes to find valuable staff members. In most cases, employers are aware of the treatment delegated towards the staff members, but are doing so in order to generate profit, or gain a level of control over the individual. Understanding these polar opposites will help the manager, owner or person in charge make the crucial leadership decisions that will make or break their corporation in the future. 

References

       Fathima, A. (2021, July 26). Ethical issues in business: What are they and how to handle

them. Tech Talk Down Under. Retrieved September 26, 2022, from

https://www.zoho.com/en-au/tech-talk/ethical-issues-in-business.html

          Gallo, A. (2015, August 12). How to speak up about ethical issues at work. Harvard

Business Review. Retrieved September 26, 2022, from

https://hbr.org/2015/06/how-to-speak-up-about-ethical-issues-at-work 

          Gotterbarn, D. (2018). The code affirms an obligation of computing professionals to use

their skills for the benefit of society. Code of Ethics. Retrieved September 26, 2022, from

https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics 

          Holton, L. (2021, May 26). 8 ethical issues in business. MYVA360. Retrieved September

26, 2022, from https://myva360.com/blog/8-ethical-issues-business-face-today

         Alina Köchling, Marius Claus Wehner, "Discriminated by an algorithm: a systematic review of discrimination and fairness by algorithmic decision-making in the context of HR recruitment and HR development", (2022), published by: spring.com

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40685-020-00134-w

          Neeta Kantamneni, "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marginalized populations in the United States: A research agenda", (2022), published by science direct

https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1&q=+workplace+discrimination+scholarly+articles+2020&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1665478242293&u=%23p%3DzY7DI0ozOR4J 

          Stats Canada, "Job satisfaction by age group and sex, Canada, provinces and regions (x 1,000)1 2 Frequency: Occasional Table: 22-10-0111-01 (formerly CANSIM 121-0002)", (2017) published by: Stats Canada 

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2210011101