Download Workplace Responsibilities and Rights

Workplace Responsibilities and
Rights
“One final question. As far as you know, have you any
family history of loose-cannonism or whistle-blowing?”
Confidentiality
• Keeping secret all information that the
employer or client may wish to protect from
rivals (proprietary information or trade
secrets)
• Has limits: e.g., when confidentiality is
invoked to hide misdeeds
Confidentiality: Justification
• Autonomy – ability of individuals and
corporations to control information about
themselves
• Without confidentiality, could not maintain
privacy and self-interest insofar as it involves
privacy
• Ethical theories recognize “rights” to autonomy,
“duties” to respect autonomy, the “utility” of
protecting autonomy, or the “virtue” of respect for
others
Confidentiality
• Changing Jobs
– Obligation to protect confidential information
does not cease with job change
– Obligation may be spelled out in employment
contract
– Obligation must be balanced against personal
right to seek career advancement
Conflict of Interest
• Occurs when employees have interests that if
pursued could keep them from meeting their
obligations to serve the interests of their employer
or client
• Can be in form of
– Gifts, bribes, or kickbacks (“A gift is not a bribe if you
can eat, drink, or smoke it is a day”). Sometimes
company guidelines are elaborate
– Investment interest in competitor’s business
– Moonlighting (e.g., if it harms performance)
– Insider information
Professional Rights of Engineers
• Right of Professional Conscience – the right to
autonomous judgment in morally complex
decisions.
• Right of Conscientious Refusal – the right to
refuse to engage in unethical behavior. May be
limited in borderline cases.
• Right to Recognition – the right to monetary and
nonmonetary forms of recognition for their
accomplishments. (important in promoting skill
development)
Employee Rights
• Privacy – the right to control access to and
use of information about oneself
• Equal Opportunity – the right to advance
without discrimination based on one’s race,
sex, age, politics, or religious outlook
Whistleblowing
• Whistleblowing - when an employee or former
employee conveys information about a significant
moral problem to someone in a position to take
action on the problem, and does so outside regular
in-house channels
• Can be external whistleblowing (outside the
organization) or internal whistleblowing (inside
the organization)
• Can be open whistleblowing (identify openly
revealed) or anonymous
Commonsense Procedures
• Insure that actual or potential harm is serious and
has been adequately documented
• Proceed in a tactful low-key manner. Both
informal and formal conventional avenues should
be exhausted on a timely (prompt) basis
• Be accurate in your claims with documentation of
facts and events surrounding your actions
• Avoid isolation - consult with trusted colleagues,
professional societies, and a lawyer
• Evaluate personal sacrifice and risk to family and
fellow workers
Loyalty
When is whistleblowing an act of disobedience
and disloyalty to an organization?
Types of Loyalty
• Agency loyalty - filling one’s “contractual” duties
to an employer, regardless of motive.
• Attitude loyalty - meeting one’s moral duties to a
group or organization willingly, with personal
attachment and affirmation, and with a reasonable
degree of trust.
Collegiality and Respect for
Authority
• Collegiality - the central elements include
– respect for colleagues, valuing their professional
expertise and devotion to the social good
– common commitment to the moral ideals of the
profession
– connectedness through participation in cooperative
projects based on mutual obligations and support
• Respect for executive authority - honoring
institutional right given to a person to exercise
power based on the resource of an organization
Summary
• Loyalty, collegiality, and respect for authority are
not excuses or justification for shielding
irresponsible conduct
• Whistleblowing is a serious matter that deserves
careful reflection
• Maintaining confidentiality and avoiding harmful
conflicts of interest are important aspects of
teamwork and trustworthiness
• The engineer’s autonomous moral judgement is
fundamental to identifying morally reasonable
courses of action in the workplace