7-12
Ethical Behavior
Conforming
to moral
standards or conforming to
standards of conduct of
profession or group
–Adapts to social norms and
in response to needs and
interests of those affected
7-12
Areas of Concern for Class
Employee
privacy
Testing and evaluation
Organizational research
Terms
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Privacy – the state of being free from unsanctioned
intrusion into one’s behavior or personal information
Confidentiality - discretion in keeping secret
information
Ethical dilemma – any situation that has the potential
to result in a breach of acceptable behavior
Ethical choice – considered choice among alternative
courses of action in which the interests of all parties
have been clarified and the risks and gains have been
evaluated openly and mutually
Legally acceptable behavior with
respect to privacy
EEO legislation – meaning and extent of
unfair discrimination and how to avoid it
 Professional standards and federal
guidelines – appropriate procedures for
developing and validating assessment
instruments
 Challenges of providing individual
privacy and freedom of information

Does an employer have the right to search an
employee’s computer files or review the
employee’s email or voice mail?
Can companies keep information about the
employee in separate files (the employee’s file
and the supervisor’s file) and allow the
employee access to only one?
Can employers use private investigation
agencies to collect information about their
employees?
Can an employer give employment
information about an individual to a potential
creditor or to a landlord?
Fair information practices
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act
(1986) – prohibits outside interception of
electronic mail by 3rd party without proper
authorization; allows monitoring by employer
 Employees should:
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Know company’s written policy
Abstain from personal internet use if in doubt
Use own email account
Limit personal surfing/emailing to times outside office hours
When composing email or downloading info, ask yourself if
you’d post in on your office door
– When it comes to privacy in the workplace, assume you
don’t have any
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To establish a fair information practice policy,
employers should:
– Set up guidelines & policies to protect information in the
organization
 Limit information collection
 Ensure accuracy, timeliness, completeness of info
 Limit external disclosures
– Inform employees of info-handling policies
 Type and use of information
– Become thoroughly familiar with state & federal laws regarding
privacy
 Regularly review for compliance
– Establish a policy that any manager or non-manager who
violates privacy principles will be subject to discipline or
termination
Employees’ physical privacy
Can employers physically search
employees in the workplace?
We already heard that employers can
electronically monitor you at work, but can
they hire a private investigator to monitor you
outside of work?
To ensure employee’s physical
privacy
Base the search/seizure policy on legitimate employer
interests
 Include all types of searches
 Provide adequate notice to employees before
instituting the program
 Instruct those conducting the search not to touch any
employee (or to limit touching)
 Conduct search away from other employees and on
company time
 Don’t observe in areas in which there is a reasonable
expectation of privacy
 Ask if employee would like attorney present during
investigative interview
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Testing and evaluation

Making employment decisions
– Tests
– Interviews
– Situational exercises
– Performance appraisals

Ethical issues
– Fairness
– Propriety
– Individual rights
Suppose you are in the middle of the hiring
process at a company for which you really
want to work. Also suppose the company
expects you to submit to a round of testing
– personality tests, intelligence tests, ability
tests.
What type of treatment would you expect
regarding the testing procedures?
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Responsibilities to those evaluated
– Guarding against invasion of privacy
– Treating employees with respect
 Standardizing procedures
– Test accuracy - Minimizing erroneous
acceptance & rejection decisions
 Ensuring validity of instrument
– Contrasting social consequences of proposed test with
potential consequences of alternatives or none
 Providing reasonable opportunities for retesting
and reconsideration
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Obligations to employers
– Conveying accurate info regarding
expectations for usefulness
– Providing reliable, valid, fair info within limits
of resources
– Balancing vested interest of employer with
government regulations and with those
evaluated
In her last job, a worker’s job title was HR assistant and her
responsibilities were to help the HR director by taking
employment interviews developed by the HR director and create
documents from them, create the database corresponding to the
compensation plan developed by the HR director, and creating a
system to organize employee files containing performance
evaluations conducted by the HR director.
She learned a great deal from this HR director during her tenure
with the company, but she is currently updating her resume to
look for a new position.
When she lists her experience, can she say that she has
experience creating employment interviews, creating
compensation systems, and creating performance evaluation
systems?
Suppose you work for a large organization and
there is talk that the employees are going to
file suit against the company for improper
hiring and promotion practices. The head of
HR asks you to conduct research into the
company’s previous decisions but asks you to
keep your findings secret. You find that the
company has been discriminating against
minorities.
What would you do?
Organizational Research
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Some common ethical dilemmas
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Misrepresentation of qualifications and collusion
Misuse of data
Manipulation and coercion
Value and goal conflict
Technical ineptness
Some methods for addressing the issues
– Clarify roles
– Reduce role conflict
– Clarify norms
Who do you think will blow the
whistle?
Those working for organizations perceived by others to be
responsible to complaints or not responsible to them?
Those who hold professional or nonprofessional positions?
Those with positive or negative attitudes toward their work?
Those with long or short service with the company?
Those who have recently been recognized for good
performance or those who have recently received poor
evaluations?
Women or men?
Those working in large or small work groups?