..._____________ INTRODUCTION This memo is intended to discuss the ethical dilemma and issues stemming from not hiring someone based on their off-duty activities. This memo encompasses a thorough analysis of the ethical situation, alternative solutions and a recommendation designed to resolve the ethical dilemma and issues, and future implications of said recommendation. FACTS SUMMARY The following is a list of facts directly significant and relevant to the ethical dilemma: ShopRight held interviews for qualified applicants ShopRight's hiring practice is based on Mr. Santos' bias against smokers ShopRight doesn't hire smokers ShopRight's health insurance plan is affected by hiring smokers ETHICAL DILEMMA The ethical dilemma facing Mr. Santos is whether someone's off-duty behavior should affect them being considered for a position within the company which they are qualified for or not. ETHICAL ISSUES Invasion of Privacy – This ethical issue is more related to the individual personally rather than their qualifications. What a person does with their time while off-duty is their business and should not affect whether they are hired for a position or not, it's an invasion of their privacy. Unfairness to Qualified Applicants – Whether a person smokes or not, does not determine whether they can handle the floor manager position. A person's credentials should be looked at for hiring purposes, not their lifestyle. Board of Directors, ShopRight...
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...Corporate “Citizen” Ian S. Davis Webster University Abstract A small, but observable amount of undocumented immigrants come from Asian countries, primarily south and eastern Asian countries. Pew statisticians place that number at approximately four percent (475,000) of the undocumented population (Batalova, Terrazas, 2010). According to Tony Choi, a South Korean illegal immigrant who has been in the United States since he was 8, “Many Asians consider schooling, and life in general, in the West as superior to that in their home countries. Moving to the United States, particularly in pursuit of better education, can be part of an upward strategy for many South Koreans who later become unauthorized immigrants” (Lim 2013). Choi and his family came to the United States during the financial crisis of 1997 due to his father’s failed business. Often documented immigrants come for educational purposes but do not understand the visa program, and apply for a tourist visa which runs out very quickly. They end up staying ignorantly beyond their authorized time in pursuit of a better education and employment opportunities. One of the largely overlooked aspects of the North American Free Trade Agreement is how the trade pact catapulted illegal immigrants over the borders in record numbers. A flood of highly subsidized corn inundating the Mexican market has exiled millions of rural farmers. Prior to the enactment of NAFTA, Mexican bureaucrats claimed that manufacturing jobs would...
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...company money by not having to buy more supplies. The Body Shop also created a company with strong values that customers stood by which was the reason their success. Legal- the Body Shop avoided animal testing and used all natural ingredients to avoid any lawsuits. They knew the products were safe since people have been using them for years. Ethical- Anita Roddick, owner of The Body Shop, reflected her personal ethical beliefs into her work. She was against animal testing and made a great effort to make sure her company and the suppliers also felt the same way. She also wanted her employees to fit a certain image and hired accordingly, some could argue this can cause some ethical problems. Philanthropic- The mission statement of The Body Shop is “To dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change” and the entire company was based around this. They contributed a part of their earnings to environmental change. Roddick shared her information about certain products with other companies in hopes of reducing animal testing. She preached to her customers about animal rights, environmental causes and spread her message. Some tensions arise from the components of corporate responsibility. Anita’s ethical and philanthropic values were reflected in her hiring procedures. This can cause some legal actions taken by applicants who thought they were given and unfair advantage. Some other tensions could arise between the economic and philanthropic...
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...Corporate Social Responsibility The million dollar question; is a company responsible to society or are they in fact only focused on making money? In today’s society, I hypothesize that it’s both. Focusing on Professor’s social responsibility strategies of the obstructionist, defensive, accommodative, and proactive mindset, I personally feel that a majority of companies fall into the accommodative region. These companies focus a little on each of the identified types of responsibility of Economic, legal, and ethical. According to the U.S. Census Bureau there are 5,911,663 businesses with less than 500 employees and 20,425 businesses with over 500 employees. From these numbers one can rationally say that since the majority of the businesses fall below the 500 employee mark most of your responsibilities are at the discretion of a tighter knit group of decision makers and the ability to manage all of the financial burdens of being socially responsible are enormous. With larger companies there is an infrastructure of people that are hired directly to ensure that many social responsibilities are met. Granted we have seen several high profile companies (WorldCom and Enron) that have broken numerous laws, but they are still the exception because these companies are so large it became a mainstream event in regulations, news outlets, and economic impacts. The larger companies comprise less than 1 percent of all businesses in the U.S. so one has to question how many of these...
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...However, that individual has made it known that they have a degenerative progressive condition. A degenerative progressive condition or disorder is characterized by the loss of physical and mental abilities (Cavanagh, 1983). This paper will cover the ethical, legal, and business considerations of this scenario in addition to the decision with rationale regarding the mid-level management position. Question 1: Identify and explain at least three ethical considerations. Health Services professionals function in many ways and carry out a variety of roles that include professional-client relationships. In these professional-client relationships ethical guidelines are created to set a standard of conduct by which an organization is governed. It’s a check between the right and the wrong of an action. The first ethical consideration encountered is whether or not to extend an employment offer to a candidate with a degenerative progressive condition. The candidate’s physicians are unable to predict whether this condition will interfere with this candidate’s abilities in the near future or later in life. So the question becomes should we hire someone “who may or may not” be able to perform their duties? The second ethical consideration is allowing the uncertainty of the disability to affect the decision to extend an employment offer to this individual. One of the goals of an organization is to obtain competent and reliable staff, but is it morally acceptable to disregard...
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...regulated community specifically, with air and water quality permitting and waste abatement issues. The premise behind a short but effective slogan is designed to captivate the reader or audience to ponder on such a short quote. The message trend sends to a specific targeted group. As business owner of RBES, the writer has taken on a responsibility to the name of Rio Bravo Environmental Services. The name has a local and regional flare, with the intention to attract business within the realm and to feasibly facilitate services to the customer. RBES is tasks with providing knowledgeable personnel (environmental technicians) to complete remediation and permitted projects. RBES has undergone several implications by which the company’s owner, the writer has had to overcome. The ethical behavior of an environmental service company is a marketable to constituents as responsible acts and decision elevate the reputation of a sound decision making company. From a personal experience, the writer has proven to governmental entities and privately owned companies that as a new business, RBES has become a HUB vendor in the Fort Bliss expansion tiers. RBES needed to resolve certain aspects and unsettling decisions recently...
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...company’s hiring policy which includes criminal background and credit history checks, has a disparate impact on African-American, Hispanic, and male applicants. And the material fact of this case is whether Defendant’s hiring criteria of conducting criminal background and credit history checks is consistent with business necessity. Since the Defendant was charged by the EEOC with unlawful discrimination in this case, the source of law is the Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964. “Title VII prohibits discrimination in hiring, firing, trainings, promotion, discipline, or other workplace decisions on the basis of an employee or applicant’s race, color, gender, national origin, or religion” (Bennett- Alexander & Hartman, 2011). As a federal law enforcement agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has obligations to investigate violations of Title VII and enforce laws against discrimination in workplace. In addition to the EEOC’s unique role, Title VII requires federal district courts to take the Title VII discrimination case for judicial review only after the EEOC has first disposed of the claim (Bennett- Alexander & Hartman, 2011). And according to the case, since the EEOC accepted applicant Katrina Vaughn’s discrimination complaint about Defendant’s violation of Title VII by rejecting hiring her based on her credit history information, the legal issue of this case before the court is after accepted Vaughn’s complaint and conducted investigation through legal process...
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...Assignment 2: Employment Laws Carla Griffin Dr. Queensberry Health Services Human Resource Management July 29, 2012 This paper will discuss employment laws that need to be most closely monitored in your organization and state, a sample job description for the role I am employed within an organization and how I would protect the organization from claims that what employees are asked to do once hired were not a part of the job description, the steps that should be taken to protect the organization from possible litigation when hiring a new employee, and steps you should take to protect your organization from possible litigation when terminating an employee. Flynn, Mathis, & Jackson (2007) states that, “Equal employment opportunity is a broad concept holding that individuals have equal treatment in all employment related actions” (p.56). Anti-harassment laws, equal pay laws, Civil Rights laws, etc. fall under the equal employment opportunity umbrella when it comes to employment within an agency. With all of the new age innovative technology, the use of mass media, and especially electronic mailing systems as a means of preferred communication; privacy has been a concerning issue for both employees and employers. Privacy laws in the workplace should be closely monitored in my current organization and state because of the amount of use of innovative technology. Most employers utilize and provide employees with access to interoffice electronic mailing systems, use...
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...of the preventative and ethical situations that are occurring in this case. Questions: 1. Do you feel that Karen is an independent contractor or an employee? What is your rationale for this decision? I feel that Karen is an employee. The reason for this first of all is that she has been there for five years and the company has changed her title from Human resources temporary to Human Resources Consultant. Karen is also doing similar work to others she works with and that is why they changed her title. Overall, Karen has been consistently requested to work on multiple jobs for the utility and should be considered an employee after five years. 2. What factors do you feel help contribute to Karen being an employee? I think that the fact they utility changed her title from Human Resources Temporary to Human Resources Consultant is the main contributing factor to her being an employee. The other would be how the company has consistently for five years keep hiring her for project after project. 3. What factors favor her being a contractor? The fact that Karen never received a W-2 form would be one factor. The other would be that she does have a contract with the utility. Karen also contracts her services to others other than the utility which would make her a contractor. 4. What are some potential legal implications in the case? What should the utility do to rectify any wrongs in this situation? Some legal implications that may arise from the...
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...business plan decision. Implementing the decision is the make or break point of a plan. A plan could be good in the process of creating the plan but without proper implementations strategies a plan is destined for failure. In this paper Nik will discuss determining factors affecting decision implementation, evaluate the resources and actions required for his decision, and evaluate the ethical implications from stakeholder’s perspectives. Implementation factors Many major factors are a part of implementing a decision in a workplace. The determining factors to the success of a decision have a great deal to do with the implementation process. The process has to be planned carefully to include all of the factors that may fail. Factors that have to be put into consideration are making sure key players are happy with the plan, creating a proper timeline, making sure the proper allocation of resources are available, and a clear and measurable objective. Nik has decided to fine tune his plan to make sure that it is beneficial to him and the county of Kava. Nik has decided that hiring a managerial staff is critical and crucial so he made sure that Alex was on board to minimize resistance with the plan and made a time line of three weeks to have his staff hired and trained. Nik determined that he needed four managers to lead four teams of...
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... Abstract Military veterans have consistently experienced high unemployment rates. Challenging veterans’ efforts in finding and maintaining employment is the issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Exacerbating this problem, is civilian employers’ utilization of deficient hiring and employment practices. In particular, employers have developed a sense of fear and uncertainty about PTSD. These perceptions often prove to be a reason why employers choose not to select veteran candidates for employment. Additionally, organizations fail to successfully acclimate and socialize new veteran employees (who do or may suffer from PTSD) into the organization’s culture. Such failures can lead veteran employees to quit their job. Together, the deficient hiring and employment practices displayed towards former service members have significant ethical implications that serve as the catalyst for high unemployment rates for the veteran population. To minimize these implications and to improve veteran employment opportunities, organizations’ human resources (HR) departments must develop and incorporate new approaches to hiring and employing veterans who do or may suffer from PTSD. Keywords: PTSD, invisible disability, human resources, implicit bias Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Unethical Business Practices and their Influence on Veteran Unemployment Since the onset of World War II, United States military veterans...
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...In conceptualizing the idea of ethics in a workplace, it is important to understand and evaluate the outcomes or implications of any given action. Whether this decision lies in your control, or you are simply an observant of your colleagues’ actions, it is critical to your well-being and credibility that you choose the positive moral action. Let's examine what corporations are doing to address the ballooning issue, other possible consequences on ignoring professional ethics in a workplace, and what corporations can do to ensure they provide and maintain an ethical and legal business environment. Survey Method and Results According to a recent survey of more than 2,300 workers by KPMG LLP, illegal or unethical behavior in the workplace has soared. More than three fourths of those surveyed said they had observed unethical behavior, including deceptive sales practices, unsafe working conditions, mishandling proprietary or confidential information, discrimination, and sexual harassment (Allesandra Losciale, Newsday). Issue Vocalized Due to ever changing demands on business performance from internal and external forces, corporations need to recognize the growing problem with ethics. It comes in many forms, from lying to your boss, to forging financial documents for company or personal gain. Lot of these unethical decisions have been the downfall of companies, and have led to imprisonment of executives. We as a business community need to familiarize ourselves with potential issues...
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...development. United Nations (UN) – was established on October 24, 1945, by 51 countries committed to persevering peace through international cooperation and collective security. International trade occurs when a firm exports goods or services to consumers in another country. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) occurs when a firm invests resources in business activities outside its home country. Stock of foreign direct investment – refers to the total cumulative value of foreign investments. Multinational enterprise (MNE) – is any business that has productive activities in two or more countries. International Business – is any firm that engages in international trade or investment. Chapter 2 Political economy – the political, economic, and legal systems of a country are interdependent; they interact and influence each...
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...The Responsibility Project ETH/316 The Responsibility Project The short film that was reviewed on The Responsibility Project website is titled Selling to the “Cool Kids.” The ethical principles of a large organization, Abercrombie and Fitch will be reviewed. More specifically we will be reviewing comments the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Abercrombie and Fitch made and the ethical implications they caused for the large retailer. The short film Cool Kids gave insight into one of the more taboo social traits of some Americans, overweight is an automatic descriptor of unattractive. As previously stated, the issue that was uncovered was initiated by the CEO Mike Jeffries of Abercrombie and Fitch. He stated, “There are the cool and popular kids, and the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids […] A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t below.” (Bennett, 2013) The Cool Kids provided an earlier statement citing “He doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store; he wants thin and beautiful people.” (Bennett, 2013) The comments made by Jeffries led to an outrage of controversy for the retailer. Business Insider wrote a follow up article regarding retailers not marketing or even making clothing extra large clothing. Feeling the pressure from Jeffries comments the Abercrombie and Fitch spokesperson has “no comment” for the article (Lutz, 2013). This reiterates not only the controversy but the rationalizing of a business leader...
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...How Computer Fraud and Abuse Evolved Before 1984 there was little that could be done about computer fraud. In 1984 the Counterfeit Access Device and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was the first legislation on computer fraud. The act made it a misdemeanor to illegally retrieve financial and credit information by computer. Also, the act made it illegal to cause harm to other computer systems. Around this time, what constitutes computer crime was still an ongoing discussion. As a Federal Act, only half of the states passed similar statues. (History of Computer Crime) The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act can be violated in two ways, either by an outsider trespasses into a computer or by someone on the inside who exceed their given authorization and go beyond their standard expectation. The first person who was charged for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was Robert T. Morris Jr. He caused harm to many universities and government computers by releasing a worm and was the creator of the first computer virus. He argued that he had only just exceeded his authorized access and not accessed the computers without authorization. To exceed authorization defined by the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act as “to access a computer with authorization and to use such access to obtain or alter information in the computer that the accesser is not entitled so to obtain or alter." The court found Morris guilty of acting without authorization. (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)) As the internet...
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