Ethical Issues and Employees Essay

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 1080 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1+

Page 1 of 4

Monitoring Employee Communications

The workplace is highly complex, and while there is a great deal of emphasis placed on practical aspects such as management of resources and operational strategies, there is less attention paid to ethical issues. With the evolution technology, there is an increasing potential for businesses to benefits from its application, concurrently, there are many different ethical issues which may need to be considered (Tavani, 2013). An increasingly controversial issue has been the rights of employees to privacy when using workplace computers for personal communications (Blanchard, 2016). This may be argued as becoming increasingly complex, as not only are employees using the workplace equipment, they may also be using their own devices which are attached to workplace networks, or where employees may placer information that can be accessed on social media (Buettner, 2015). The ability to monitor employee communications, need for commercial confidentially, and the desire of employees for privacy creates a dilemma, regarding to what extent it is acceptable for employers to monitor their employees' communications.

One may argue that from an ethical perspective, adopting a deontological approach, the employer should monitor as much as they see fit, as long as it remained within the law. Deontological ethics is the school of thought seen with the work of Kant. The idea is that the correct actions in an ethical dilemma may be assessed by examining the duties which exist (Sullivan, 2008).

Stuck Writing Your "Ethical Issues and Employees" Essay?

View All Our Example Ethical Issues and Employees Essay

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

The defined primary stakeholders for a company are defined as the shareholders or the owners (Elliott and Elliott, 2015). Therefore, while the management of a firm may need to make many considerations about the way they operate, the primary concern should be the needs and interests of the owners. There are other considerations with regard to duty; the management need to abide by the law, as this is also a duty. This places the argument regarding the level of monitoring that should be undertaken in a very clear context; the employer can, and even has a duty, to undertaken as much surveillance as they see fit, This may include surveillance to ensure employees are performing their jobs, as well as more protective measures, such as ensuring there is no corporate espionage taking place.

Adopting this approach, the employer will need to look at the legal position, to ensure any monitoring take place in line with the law. In the US there is a very little to stop an employer monitoring the electronic communications of an employee in the workplace (FindLaw, 2016). Employees have very few rights to privacy in the workplace, the emails on the computer, even if personal, are considered the property of the company, and as long as the employer has a valid business purpose, they are allow to monitor all….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Ethical Issues And Employees" (2017, January 31) Retrieved May 20, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/ethical-issues-employees-2163888

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Ethical Issues And Employees" 31 January 2017. Web.20 May. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/ethical-issues-employees-2163888>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Ethical Issues And Employees", 31 January 2017, Accessed.20 May. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/ethical-issues-employees-2163888
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example