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Ethics in HR and Employee Rights
Ethics are the fundamental principles of right and wrong.
What is seen as right and wrong varies in time, by culture, by
situation, and by the people involved.
Ethical behavior is is consistent with those principles.
Employee Rights
Right of free
consent
Right of
privacy
Right of
freedom of
speech
Right of
freedom of
conscience
Right to due
process
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Corporate Ethical Principles
Ethical companies act according to four principles:
1. In their relationships with customers, vendors, and
clients, ethical companies emphasize mutual benefits.
2. Employees assume responsibility for the actions of the
company.
3. The company has a sense of purpose or vision that
employees value and use in their day-to-day work.
4. They emphasize fairness.
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Standards for Identifying Ethical Practices
1. HRM practices must result in the greatest good for the
largest number of people.
2. Employment practices must respect basic human rights of
privacy, due process, consent, and free speech.
3. Managers must treat employees/customers equitably & fairly.
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Legal & Ethical Climate of Global HRM
Ethical
Challenges
Weaker environmental
regulations
International business
maze
Trade agreements
Parent country laws
“Gift giving” or “greasing”
Host country regulations
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) makes
it illegal for employees of American corporations to offer
money or other items to foreign officials in order to gain an
unfair competitive advantage
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Legal & Ethical Climate of Global HRM
Regulations
regarding
employment
discrimination
vary from
country to
country
The U.S. has some of the more stringent
anti-discrimination laws
Many countries have not created this kind
of enforcement
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 applies to
overseas operations of U.S. corporations
Ethical dilemmas between profits and the preservation
of basic human rights may also exist
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Incentive Pay for Executives: Ethical Issues
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Incentive pay for executives lays the groundwork for
significant ethical issues.
When an organization links pay to its stock performance,
executives need the courage to be honest about their
company’s performance even when dishonesty or clever
shading of the truth offers the tempting potential for large
earnings.
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What Can HR Do?
 Create
a culture of ethics in your organization:
 Get buy-in from upper management.
 Establish an ethics policy.
 Train employees in ethical decision-making.
 Provide a “safe place” for employees to report unethical
behavior.
 Enforce sanctions against unethical behavior.