Running Head: Business Management
Running Head Business Management
Summarize the employment-at-will doctrine discussed in the text and then evaluate three (3) of the six (6) scenarios described by determining: The employment-at-will doctrine refers to the legal rule that was put in place in the nineteenth century that gave the employers the power to terminate the employment of an employee without giving them any warning and for any reason available even when the employees are not guilty of the legal wrong done. This doctrine arose from the idea that human beings have the freedom to choose they way they want to dispose of that which they own such as their labor.
The employment at will doctrine varies in the different states in America, and there are some exceptions to this rule. One of the exceptions of the employment at will is that the employers are not supposed to use this doctrine to intimidate the employees. This was put in place when the employees started forming the unions that would help them in fighting for their rights. The second exception is that the employment at will is about the rights of the civil laws. The civil laws offer protection to the people from the termination of their employment as a result of the color, race, sex, nationality, age or even by their disability.
The third exception to this doctrine is the vengeance on the whistleblowers (Muhl, 2001). One of the three scenarios that I will address in this paper is the first scenario which depicts how John a message on his Facebook account that criticized the most important customer of the company. In accordance to the employment at will doctrine, some issues need to be looked into to check out on whether John’s employment should be terminated or not. In this scenario, John opted to criticize the most valued customer of the company publicly and since as one of the employees his actions have the possibility of giving out a negative image of the company. There is, therefore, need to assess his words so that the company can determine if he had the intention of improving an issue or he was venting (Rubin, & Stait, 2011).
By the utilitarianism theory in the theory of ethics, since there are many stakeholders involved in this case, I would call for the evaluation of the consequences associated with the Acts of John. The decision will then be made putting in mind the well-being of the company as a whole. By the National labor relations act, the actions of John were made individually rather than as a group. I can thus recommend for the legal termination of John’s employment. One of the primary actions that I can take to limit the liability as well as the impact on the operations is the implementation of a policy that clearly explains the code of ethics and the standards that the employees are supposed to follow in the company.
The policy should clearly stipulate the expected conduct and also the views on how the employees are supposed to indulge in beneficial networking in the various social media platforms. The other action that I can take to alleviate such kind of incidences in the future and to ensure that are the employee's conduct is I lie with the laid down code of ethics is to offer training to all the employees and ensure that they comply through the signing of an agreement. The second scenario that I will look at in this paper is where Bill is found out to have been using the BlackBerry that was issued to him by the company to run his personal businesses. The company has the power to monitor the items which it has given to the employees to use in the process of attending to their day to day chores in the business.
To make the decision on whether to terminate Bill’s employment or not, I would first consult the human resource department in the organization. In this, I would enquire if there are any specific guidelines in the employees’ manual that brings out the disciplinary actions or procedure that needs to be taken to facilitate the process of termination of the employment. As the manager, I would then call for the legal termination of Bill’s employment due to his misuse of the company’s facilities that has been assigned to him. The primary action that I would take to limit liability, as well as the impact on the business operations, is putting in place a policy that calls for the signing an agreement that outlines the very rules that the employees are supposed to follow when using the company’s equipment.
The ethical theory which best supports my decision is the deontology theory. In this theory, the choices that are made by an individual are laid down by some duties which they are supposed to adhere to at all times (Halbert, & Ingulli, 2012). In most of the companies, there are always a set of rules that depicts how the equipment issued by the company are supposed to be used, and that is for the official businesses related to the specific company only. The third scenario that I will look at is that of the department supervisor who is asking for the permission from the manager to terminate the secretary’s employment in the company due to the insubordination. In this scenario, the manager realizes that the insubordination that the department supervisor was talking about is the refusal to develop reports that reflect false expenses.
From the past records, the secretary in this company has been receiving quite admirable reviews due to her work well done and thus, this call for the need o have a meeting to discuss the various issues that are involved in this scenario. Under the doctrine of the employment at will, the termination of an individual should not be granted at due as stipulated by the public policy exception. This is because; the law is against all the acts that revolve falsification of documents. The primary action that I would take to limit liability, as well as the impact on the business operations, is the implementation of a program that is directed at the training of the employees as well as the other management team on the various standards that governs the organization.
The other action is the putting in place of reminder training annually to remind the employees that which they are supposed to comply with as long as they are in the organization. The ethical theory which well holds my decision is the utilitarianism theory. This is because in case that the secretary’s employment is terminated, there are so many consequences that the company would have to handle. The calling for an internal and formal investigating in the company to check out the actions of the supervisor would greatly assist in the uncovering of other wrong actions that have a negative impact on the operations of the company. Examine your state’s policy on employment-at-will.
Analyze at least one (1) real-world example of an employee or employer utilizing your state’s employment-at-will doctrine in the last five (5) years. Include a summary of the main issue and the outcome in the identified real-world example. In the state of Maryland, the employment at will refers to the power of the employees to terminate the employment period of the employee at any time and for any available reason which can be either viable or not. According to the law of this state, the employers have the power to fire the employees due to the failure of following the laid down rules, showing up at the workplace while having bad moods and also the failure to respect the other people while at work.
An example of a real world case of either an employee or an employer who made use of the states of Maryland employment at will doctrine is that of Coleman v. the Court of Appeals in the state (Carpenter, & Charlotte, 2012). In this case, Daniel Coleman through the self-care terms of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FLMA) filed a lawsuit against the state. The act depicts that the employees who are eligible should be given 12 workweeks abscond annually if they are undergoing any health condition that can be said to be serious and that which makes the employee unable to handle their tasks in the workplace effectively. In the case, Daniel Coleman argued that the provisions of the medical leave as outlined in the Act should be taken as a kind of effort that is unified to prevent the instances of gender discrimination which authorizes the employees in the state to sue their employers as outlined in the self-care provision.
According to Coleman, the aim of inhibiting the gender discrimination in the state tends to abrogate the immunity among the individuals. In response to this, the state argued that the provisions that are outlined in the act focus on the types of discrimination that are said to be discrete and hence they should be looked at on the individual level. In addition to this, the state stipulated that the Eleventh Amendment immunity in the state hinders the kind of lawsuits that are an employer in the state through the self-care provision. References Carpenter, M., & Charlotte, D. (2012). Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland . Cornell University Law School. Retrieved from: Halbert, T., & Ingulli, E. (2012). Law and Ethics in the Business Environment . Mason: Cengage Learning. Muhl, C. J. (2001). Employment at Will. Monthly Labor Review Rubin, H., & Stait, D. (2011). Legal View: When Can an Employer Fire an Employee Over an Offensive Facebook Posting ?