Ethical Issues In Human Resources

Ethics and Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management is a business function that is concerned with managing relations between groups of people in there capacity as employees, employers, and managers. Within Human Resource Management its part of there responsibility to make sure employees are treated equally and ethically in order to maintain a good relationship with the employer.  Some of you may ask the question what is ethics?  The term ethics can be defined as "a branch of philosophy, concerned with analyzing what is right or wrong in peoples behavior or conduct. Ethics and morality are terms that are often used interchangeably in discussions of good and evil.  The term ‘ethics’ is usually applied

to persons (comes from the Greek ethos, meaning character) and ‘morality to acts and behavior (moral comes from the Latin moral is, meaning customs or manners"(Rose, Amanda). 

Part of Ethics and Human Resource Management is being aware of ethical issues that are presented within a business. These unethical issues take place within the organization and can be caused by both employees and the employer.

Organizational Ethics and HR Management

Beginning with the owner of an organization down to the managers and hr managers you have the choice to follow the code of ethics and run a organization ethically.

"Managers and HR professionals influence the ethics of people in organization. How those ethics affect work and lives for individuals may aid in producing a more positive work outcome" (Koonmee, 2010).

Yes, the gains in the beginning may seem reasonable to "cut corners" and do what it takes to make the business be as profitable as possible. In the long run these tactics may catch up to you.  For example, company such as KFC and McDonald's have been dealing with issues involving
animals rights because of parts of animal that is being used to make the food. Although the food may be approved for health people still hear about whats being put into food and the parts of animals that are used. This creates bad publicity and makes people question eating there food.

"The expansion of the Internet has led to more publicity about ethical issues, including ethics electronic job boards and postings." (Eversole, 2008)

HR Role in Organizational Ethics

Human Resources plays a large roll in making sure the organization functions ethically. It's the HR Managers role to handle all situations presented in a ethical way making sure that everyone within the organization is treated equally. It's important when hiring an HR Manager to make sure that he/she entails good morals and values so they can be represented to the organization and employees correctly. Here are examples of questions the HR Manager asks himself when determining if the behaviors meet the code of ethics.

• Does the behavior or result meet all applicable laws,regulations and government ethics?
• Does the behavior or or result meet both organizational standards and professional standards of ethical behavior?

Compensation

Compensation misconduct happens when there is a misrepresentation hours and time worked, falsifying work expense reports, personal bias in performance appraisals and pay increases, deliberate inappropriate overtime classifications and accepting personal gains/gifts from vendors. An example would be accepting personal wages from a vendor in order to use them to contribute to the organization you are employed by.

Employee Relations

Another type of ethical misconduct within the workplace is employee relations. This can include employees lying to supervisors and coworkers, executives/managers e-mailing false public information to customers and vendors, misusing/stealing organizational assets and supplies, and intentionally violating safety/health regulations. Stealing office supplies and using them for personal gains would be an example of ethical misconduct within employee relations.

Staffing and Equal Employment

Staffing and Equal Employment misconduct is another example of ethical misconduct. This includes discriminatory favoritism in hiring and promotion,  sexual harassment of other employees, EEO discrimination in recruiting and interviewing, and conducting inappropriate background investigations. An example would be hiring people based on looks rather then if they are actually fit to fulfill the position correctly.

 Important HR Management Ethical Areas

• Staffing
• Training
• Labor Relations
• Legal Compliance
• Compensation
• Development
• Performance Management
• HR Policies

Consequences of Proper Ethics

• Job Satisfaction
• Reduced Turnover
• Decreased absenteeism
• Organization commitment
• Higher job performance
• Ethical Decision Making

Organizational Culture

Organization Culture can be defined as shared values and beliefs within an organization. Every organization has a culture, and that culture influences how executives, managers, and employees act in making organizational decisions. Organization Culture is said to be one of the major influences of maintaining a ethical environment and leads to following these four elements.

Four Elements of ethics 

• A written code of ethics and standards of conduct.
• Training on ethical behavior for all executives, managers, and employees.
• Advice to employees on ethical situations they face, often made by HR.
• Systems for confidential reporting of ethical misconduct or questionable behavior.

Workforce Demographics and Diversity

Organizations are bound by law to treat the people they employ fairly and not to
discriminate against identified groups. Therefore, Human Resource management must adapt and create a more diverse workforce in all aspects of the organization. Racial/Ethnic diversity has become a increasing percentage of the labor force. The encourages business to conform to cultural traditions, languages, and religious traditions that may come along the diverse employees. It's requried that organizations have a racial/ethnic diverse workplace in order to give all Americans equal opportunities. Woman now make up about 50% of the workforce many are single, seperatd,divorced or widowed which makes them the financial supporters within there family. One ethical issue that comes along is most woman must take time off of work in order to have a child. Human Resources in organizations has made adaptations and granted woman maternity leave in order to best benefit the child and mother. Due to the economy many individuals are forced to work longer before they retire resulting in a aging workforce. Many of these older individuals may have trouble learning new technology since they haven't grown up with it and this may cause an ethical issue.  Luckily, many Human Resource Departments have programs to teach he older generation so they can adapt to a changing world. 

Ethical Issues in Human Resource Management within Multinational Corporations

Organizations in today's generation rely more on business internationally then ever before and it continues to grow rapidly. Not only are we continuing to trade with other countries but recruiting employees for global operations, management, and strategic alliances which is heavily relying on the HR Department. There are three types of employees that are being recruited from other countries expatriate, host-country, third- country national. Expatriate is a citizen of one country who is working in a second country an employed by an organization headquartered in the first country. The second type is host-country national in which a citizen  of one country who is working in that country and employed by an organization headquartered in a separate country. The last international employee is third -country national a citizen o one country who is working in a second country and is employed by an organization headquartered in a third country. These international employees raise ethical issues that may need to dealt with by Human Resource Management.

Lack of Cultural Awareness

Many of the international employees have never been to a another country so they are unaware of the cultural. Its the managers duty to train the employees that will be traveling and have them become aware of the culture in the country they will be traveling to. For instance, language is essential whether the employee has to be trained the language or possibly even be assigned a translator to travel with. Another large part is cultural traditions. If an employee is to embark on a cultural tradition in a negative way it could cause a business deal to go bad and affect the company in the long run.
  
Bribery

Employees overseas may be face with bribery and have to act properly on it. If trained correctly they will know the correct way to act on the situation if presented. The employee wouldn't want to act in a way that would offend person who is bribing because that could also ruin a business deal but he also wouldn't want to act unethically.

Privacy

Privacy can be a large issue for many companies, especially in Europe. Employees may be forced to act on a privacy restriction and will need to be trained to act properly if the situation comes along. For instance choosing what works better for the corporation, whether it be an American restriction or a European Restriction.

Compensation

Compensation always plays a large factor to be aware of as a manager. For instance, companies may require different salaries for different positions. If the employee is going to be traveling or working with another country its always a good idea to make sure he's being paid properly.

Works Cited

"Ethics in Human Resource Management   ." Ethics in Human Resource Management. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.

 LUKÁCS, Edit, and Doina UDRESCU. "ETHICAL ISSUES IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT."

Mathis, Robert L., and John Harold. Jackson. Human Resource Management. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-western, 2003. Print.

Noe, Raymond A. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2007. Print.

"What Are the Ethical Issues in Human Resource Management in Multinational Corporations?" Small Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

"Why the Path to Good Ethics Starts in Human Resources." Why the Path to Good Ethics Starts in Human Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.