Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities

Ethical Responsibilities Task
Student’s Name
Institution
Employees’ Rights and Responsibilities
Different jurisdictions have varying entitlements and responsibilities of workers; however, there are basic concepts that cut across all the jurisdictions. The three most critical rights and responsibilities of workers can be summarized as workplace health and safety, privacy, and dignity (Newton, 2014). Workplace health and safety outlines the steps that employers must take to ensure that workers are safeguarded against work hazards. Throughout the human experience, injuries have been a common occurrence in the workplace but recent times have seen tougher rules against physical risk (Newton, 2014). Every workplace should be kept free of hazards. Another employee right is their right to privacy. Although employers have the right to keep track of what it is going on at the workplace, there are exceptions to this rule. They should be personal space that an employer cannot cross unless they are clearly invited or given permission to do so. Every employee has the right to be left alone; where supervision does not cross to become intrusion or overseeing to become spying. Lastly, it has been established that the workplace environment should naturally nurture dignity (Newton, 2014). That is to say, the worker should possess self-worth and be respected by all others. The workplace culture should enforce policies and structures that recognize the employees and shun ridicule, embarrassment, or annoyance.
Employers’ Ethical Responsibilities
The employer-employee relationship goes beyond economic boundaries as it has significant implications for all those involved. Since the employer is in a position of power, they must ensure they protect the welfare of their workers and can do so by ensuring they offer fair pay and the enforcement of organizational and legislative safety nets for employees (Berkley & Watson, 2009). An ethical employer must always keep in mind the welfare of the employees as they do that of shareholders and other stakeholders. The organization policies that offer employees safety nets against discrimination and workplace safety, for instance, should be implemented with gusto even if they might reduce a company’s profitability. The same loyalty the employer has to their shareholder should be the same as that they provide to their workers.
Ethical Business Dilemma
Imagine the business has been through a rough couple of years characterized by reduced sales and profits for the company. The shareholders and other stakeholders are questioning the manager’s ability to continue running the company and are calling for his or her replacement. Luckily, before the annual general meeting, one comes across a lucrative business deal that may see the company come out of the red. However, getting the contract is contingent on providing a kick-back to the procurement off...