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Chapter 1 takes a close look at the problems posed by the real places we work. We all spend much of our waking lives in workplaces where we cultivate friendships (and, sometimes, enemies), develop shared responsibilities, make promises, and keep (or fail to keep) important commitments. What is the moral nature of the workplace?
Joanne B. Ciulla opens the chapter by discussing the need to treat people fairly and with respect in the workplace. Respect for our fellow humans is a basic ethical principle, but the work context can create some unique and difficult ethical problems.
Norman E. Bowie continues by explaining the Enlightenment German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s notion that persons should always be treated as “ends in themselves.” Because people are the source of moral authority, Bowie argues, they should be treated with respect at all times. One way to understand what it means to treat another person morally is to ask yourself: Am I respecting this person as another human being? Am I treating this person with dignity?
Arlie Hochschild explains how emotions play into the workplace. In many jobs, Hochschild writes, part of doing the job well is managing the emotions that one might express differently outside of the workplace. Think, for example, of the famous friendliness of the model flight attendant: always calm, always courteous, and always patient. Acting in this way is part of what makes a flight attendant a good flight attendant. But how does managing one’s emotions affect one’s sense of self-worth and humanity? When does managing one’s emotions make a person “inauthentic”?
Bruce Barry considers the problem of freedom of expression in the workplace. Although freedom of expression is a valued right in democratic countries, this freedom can be significantly constrained while at work. For example, employees have been fired for expressing their political views or for criticizing the company for which they work. To what extent should employers have the right to control their employees’ free expression? Does it matter whether the speech is public or private, or whether it happens at work or at home?
Jerry Goodstein and Kenneth D. Butterfield discuss the importance of restorative justice in workplace communities. Restorative justice is the communal process of restoring victims, reintegrating offenders and repairing the wider community in the wake of ethical transgressions. Goodstein and Butterfield explore the nuanced objectives of this process and its connections to moral concepts like forgiveness, atonement, moral relationships, and self-respect.
“The Changing Nature of Work,” an issue brief published by the Jobs with Justice Education Fund, explores modern alternatives to permanent, full-time work arrangements. The brief explains why such arrangements, like contingent work and fissured work, are becoming more and more prevalent in the economy, and it discusses how and why such arrangements should be regulated.
Appearance discrimination is not always discussed alongside other forms of discrimination. The Harvard Law Review essay presents real-world cases of workplace prejudice based on physical appearance. What role should a person’s appearance play in making decisions about hiring or promotions? How could the hiring process be made more fair to people who are judged unattractive?
The chapter closes with several cases dealing with concrete workplace problems: staying true to one’s values in job interviews, the morality of proper firing, the relevance of an employee’s home life to an employer, accommodating prejudiced clients, personal attractions in a work context, and workplace privacy.
By the close of Chapter 1, you should:
- Understand how the workplace introduces and influences relationships
- Understand the moral responsibilities to others shared by members of the workplace
Suggested Readings
David Callahan. The Cheating Culture. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2004.
An examination of the rise of cheating in American culture.
Conlin, Michelle. “The Big Squeeze on Workers.” Businessweek, May 13, 2002.
Gertrude Ezorsky, ed. Moral Rights in the Workplace. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987.
Bernard Gert. Common Morality. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ben Hamper. Rivethead. New York: Warner Books, 1992.
A fascinating look at life and work in the auto manufacturing business.
John Kaler. “Understanding Participation.” Journal of Business Ethics 21 (September 2000).
Paul LeBlanc. A Short History of the U.S. Working Class. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 1999.
Richard L. Lippke. Radical Business Ethics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1995.
Jared Sandberg. “Short Hours, Big Pay and Other Little Lies.” Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2003.
William H. Shaw, ed. Ethics at Work. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
David Sirota, Louis A. Mishkind, and Michael Irwin. The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving People What They Want. Philadelphia: Wharton School Publishing, 2005.
Robert C. Solomon. A Better Way to Think about Business. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Robert C. Solomon and Clancy Martin. Above the Bottom Line. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
Robert C. Solomon and Clancy Martin. Morality and the Good Life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
Patricia Werhane. “Individual Rights in Business.” In Tom Regan, ed., Just Business. New York: Random House, 1994.
Websites
Learn about the nature and history of the “work ethic” at http://workethic.coe.uga.edu/
Visit the Forum for Ethics in the Workplace at http://web1.desales.edu/default.aspx?pageid=10389
Read about the history of child labor at www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
Read about collective rights, labor law, and labor history by visiting the International Labor Rights Fund at www.laborrights.org/
Read a discussion of free speech in the workplace at http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-03/where-free-speech-goes-to-die-the-workplace
Read about the importance of forgiveness in the workplace at https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkwilliams/2015/01/05/forgiveness-the-least-understood-leadership-trait-in-the-workplace-2/#16370474b3f2
Read about trends in alternative work arrangements at https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/04/future-work-independent-contractors-alternative-work-arrangements-216212