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Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

Chapter 14: Employee Rights

and Responsibilities

Table of Contents

Chapter Summary

Learning Objectives

Lecture Outline

Critical Thinking Challenges

Case: Fidelity Deals with Workplace Bullying and Harassment

Supplemental Cases

Extra Teaching Video

Chapter Summary

Chapter14 begins by exploring employer and employee rights and how they affect the

employment relationship. Next, it discusses privacy rights regarding employment records and

free speech rights. The next section focuses on balancing employer security and employee rights.

Learning Objectives

After students have read this chapter, they should be able to accomplish the following objectives:

• Explain elements of employment contracts, including noncompete and intellectual

property agreements.

• Define employment at will and discuss how wrongful discharge, just cause, and due

process are interrelated.

• Discuss issues associated with employee privacy, free speech, and whistle-blowing.

• Analyze workplace monitoring, employer investigations, and other steps taken to ensure

a safe and productive workplace.

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

responsibilities. Trends include concern about privacy, free speech and conduct challenges, and

heightened awareness in organizations about data and information security. Other trends are the

expansion of worker protection laws and additional restrictions on employer conduct resulting

from increased awareness of issues such as workplace bullying and harassment and activism in

government agencies and legislatures.

Lecture Outline

14-1. Employer and Employee Rights and Responsibilities

• Rights are powers, privileges, or interests derived from law, nature, or tradition.

• Statutory rights are rights based on specific laws or statutes passed by federal, state, or

HR Perspective: Building Cars by Building Workers

Henry Ford paid the workers in his automobile assembly plant more than most employers at the

time. He also took an interest in their well-being outside of work. He created a group within the

company called the Sociological Department, which visited employees at their homes to help

them manage household finances and family health. This department had agents, many of whom

were immigrants, who helped workers manage household finances and family health and buy

homes.

HR Headline: Google Fires Employee over Diversity Memo

Google’s leadership decided to terminate software engineer James Damore for

circulating a controversial memo about the company’s efforts to hire and promote

women within the high-tech firm. The reason given was that statements made about

Google’s strategies to hire more women and minority engineers conflicted with its

policies against workplace discrimination and harassment.

At the crossroads of this decision at Google is the issue of free speech in organizations.

From both legal and morale perspectives, Google’s interest in promoting an inclusive

culture that values individual differences is outstanding and commendable. However,

the firing decision may conflict with the National Labor Relations Act, which allows

employees to organize and express dissenting views of corporate decisions and actions.

Consequently, companies might encourage employees to have healthy debates about

these issues without fear of discipline, thus supporting a strong culture of diversity.

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

their advantage or disadvantage for the company to take such an active interest in their

lives?

Students’ answers will vary. They should consider that many of the workers were

immigrants who were unfamiliar with the language and the American lifestyle. His

assistance helped the workers succeed and helped the company by inspiring loyalty in the

workers.

2. What are some of the things Henry Ford did that you think have merit? If you were

running a company, what practices of his might you adopt?

Students’ answers will vary. They should consider that today’s workers are not in the same

situation. Most are Americans savvy in running their own lives.

14-1a. Contractual Rights

• Contractual rights are rights based on a specific contract between an employer and an

employee.

Teaching Tip: Ask students why a company would want a noncompete agreement. It protects

the company’s trade secrets by preventing an employee from being hired by a competitor and

protects the company’s client list from being solicited by the employee setting up a new

competitive business.

• An area often covered in employment contracts is protection of intellectual property and

trade secrets.

14-1b. Implied Contracts

• Several concepts from law and psychology influence rights in the employment relationship,

14-2a. Employment at Will

• Employment at will (EAW) is a common-law doctrine stating that employers have the

right to hire, fire, demote, or promote whomever they choose, unless there is a law or a

contract to the contrary, and employees can quit at any time with or without notice.

14-2b. Just Cause

• Just cause is reasonable justification for taking employment-related action.

14-2c. Due Process

• Due process occurs when an employer is determining if there has been employee

wrongdoing and uses a fair process to give an employee a chance to explain and defend

his or her actions.

Discussion Starter: Ask students to suggest questions that should be asked to ensure due

process if a fellow employee has been accused of theft.

14-2d. Organizational Justice

• Organizational justice is the fairness of decisions and resource allocations in an

organization.

o The elements of organizational justice, as shown in Figure 14-4, include

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

▪ Procedural justice is the perceived fairness of the processes used to make

decisions about employees.

14-2e. Alternative Dispute Resolution

• Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods include arbitration, peer review panels,

ombuds, and mediation.

o Arbitration is a process that uses a neutral third party to make a binding decision,

thereby eliminating the need to involve the court.

▪ Compulsory arbitration requires employees to sign a pre-employment

agreement stating that all disputes will be submitted to arbitration.

HR Competencies & Applications: Setting Up an Alternative Dispute Resolution Process

Key Competencies: Relationship Management, Business Acumen; HR Expertise:

Organization/Structure of the HR Function, Organization/Employee Relations

Setting up an ADR requires determining the organization’s readiness for ADR, identifying key

stakeholders among both formal and informal leaders, researching the various ADR options,

designing the program, getting feedback from employees, designing the rollout strategy and

communication plan, and reminding employees about the process periodically.

1. Have you worked at a job where ADR was used? If so, what type of ADR was there, and

how effectively did it work?

Students’ answers will vary. Those with experience using ADR should consider fairness

when judging the effectiveness of the ADR process used.

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

text messaging, and using technology to monitor employees.

• Bring your own device (BYOD) is the practice of employees using their own mobile

14-3d. Employee Rights and Personal Behavior Issues

• Some of the major concerns about employee personal behavior on or off the job include

HR Competencies & Applications: Caught in the Crosshairs

Key Competencies: Leadership & Navigation, Consultation; HR Expertise:

Organization/Employee Relations, Workplace/Employment Law Regulations

Finding a way to balance the individual right to bear arms with the requirement to create a safe

workplace can challenge human resource professionals, and gun control is certainly a

controversial political topic.

1. How do you feel about the right to bear arms and whether companies should be limited in

restricting employees from having weapons on the premises?

Students’ answers will vary. They should consider the laws, the type of business, and the

reasons to be armed or unarmed.

2. What restrictions would you recommend to companies regarding weapons in the

workplace?

Students’ answers will vary. They should consider reasons to impose restrictions to

determine which restrictions should be applied.

14-4. Balancing Employer Security and Employee Rights

14-4a. Workplace Monitoring

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

• The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, led to passage of the USA PATRIOT Act,

which expanded legislation to allow government investigators to engage in broader

HR Ethics: Is Somebody Out There Watching Me?

Companies in trucking and service industries have started to utilize GPS technology to track

drivers’ movement and operating practices. There are few regulations limiting employers’ ability

to track employees, and no federal laws prohibit employers from using GPS. Further, with the

exception of Delaware and Connecticut, there is no requirement that employers even tell workers

that they are being tracked.

1. What are the costs and benefits of implementing a tracking program but not telling

employees about it? Should companies tell employees that their actions are being tracked?

Students’ answers will vary. They should consider the employees’ right to privacy and the

importance of trust in the relationship between employer and employee.

2. What are the possible reactions employees might have if they are advised up front that their

activities will be tracked? What could be done to improve their reactions?

Students’ answers will vary. They should consider that employees would be unhappy about

being tracked. Explaining the benefits, such as increasing employee safety or tracking

equipment usage, could improve the reactions.

14-4b. Employer Investigations

• The U.S. Constitution protects public-sector employees in the areas of due process,

search and seizure, and privacy at work, but private-sector employees are not protected.

• Workplace investigations can be conducted by internal or external personnel.

o The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act enables employers to hire

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

o Honesty tests are widely used in pre-hire screening.

• Employee substance abuse is concerning for employers.

o Figure 14-6 identifies some of the negative effects of substance abuse in the

workplace.

14-5. Human Resource Policies, Procedures, and Rules

• Policies act as general guidelines that help focus organizational actions.

• Procedures provide customary methods of handling activities and are more specific than

14-5a. Employee Handbooks

• An employee handbook is a physical or electronic manual that explains a company’s

essential policies, procedures, and employee benefits.

HR Competencies & Applications: Taking Your Handbook Online

Key Competencies: Communication; HR Expertise: Organization/Employee Relations,

Organization/Technology & Data

Using technology to disseminate policies and other important employment information can be

efficient and effective.

14-6c. Challenges in Employee Discipline

14-6d. Termination: The Final Disciplinary Step

• Termination occurs when an employee is removed from a job at an organization.

o Terminating an employee should be done face-to-face.

Critical Thinking Challenges

1. Identify how overreliance on the employment-at-will doctrine can create problems for

supervisors and employees. What are the ramifications if companies default to EAW

rather than dealing directly with employee conduct problems?

2. Discuss the impact on an individual employee and work unit if organizational justice is

not honored by managers. Recall any past work experience you may have in which a

supervisor “played favorites.” How did that impact your job performance and

commitment to the company? How did you react to the injustice?

3. Give some examples of how technology is creating employer–employee rights and policy

issues. Then suggest some possible actions that may be needed.

4. Assume that as the HR Manager, you have decided to prepare some guidelines for

supervisors to use when they have to discipline employees. Gather the information

needed, using Internet resources such as www.blr.com and www.workforce.com for

sample policies and other details. Then prepare a guide for supervisors on implementing

both positive and progressive discipline.

Positive Discipline Approach:

This approach builds on the philosophy that violations are actions that can be

constructively corrected without penalty. Managers focus on fact-finding and guidance to

encourage desirable behaviors, rather than using penalties to discourage undesirable

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

Managers may be reluctant to use discipline for many reasons. Some of the main ones

include the following:

• Organizational culture of avoiding discipline—if the organizational “norm” is to

avoid penalizing problem employees, then managers are less likely to use

discipline or to dismiss problem employees.

• Lack of support—some managers do not want to use discipline because they fear

that their decisions will not be supported by higher management.

disciplining an employee, particularly in regard to the ultimate disciplinary step

of termination.

Discharge: The Final Disciplinary Step:

The final stage in the discipline process is termination. Both the positive and progressive

approaches to discipline provide clear warnings to employees about the seriousness of

5. Management is developing a company workplace monitoring program to track

compliance with safety procedures at an offshore oil rig platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

The monitoring program is expected to help improve workplace safety compliance and

reduce injuries to workers as well as possible environmental problems. To assist HR in

developing the monitoring program, visit the SHRM website and conduct your own

research to identify best practices regarding monitoring of workplace activity.

A. What key components should be included in your company’s employee

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

monitoring program to best meet the needs of both employees and the company?

The information provided should reflect the monitoring level. For example, if

B. Explain how you will introduce this program to workers. Provide your rationale

for instituting monitoring equipment and reporting procedures. Convince workers

that this program is for their benefit as well as for the benefit of the company.

Case: Fidelity Deals with Workplace Bullying and Harassment

Fidelity, an investment company, has been tackling problems related to workplace harassment

and bullying for years and has taken several actions to maintain an ethical workplace; however, a

company has little control over the individual behavior of employees, and thus, maintaining a

positive work culture becomes difficult when the company is constantly plagued with ethical

issues.

1. Based on your understanding of this case, what could Fidelity do to reduce concerns

about workplace harassment and bullying? If you were the HR manager at Fidelity, what

policies would you develop to help reduce the prevalence of such misbehavior?

Students’ answers will vary. Some students may say that Fidelity can bring in

2. If you were an entry-level worker at Fidelity, how would the presence of workplace

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

harassment and bullying influence your opinion of the company? How would you protect

yourself from such misconduct?

Answers will vary. Students may state that they would be wary of entering a workplace

Supplemental Cases

How Special Is That Sandwich?

1. Based on your understanding of this case, what possible reasons could Jimmy John’s

management have for adopting this policy? If you were the HR manager at Jimmy John’s,

what pros and cons would you point out to management in terms of the effect of having

this policy?

2. If you were an entry-level worker at Jimmy John’s, how would the requirement to sign a

noncompete agreement influence your opinion of the company? What likely steps might

you take when you leave employment there?

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

Dealing with Workplace Bullying

This case explores the problems that occur when “bullying” bosses or employees are present in

1. Based on work experiences, identify examples of bullying that you have observed by

managers, supervisors, and/or coworkers. Discuss what was and was not done, both

appropriately and inappropriately, by your employer.

2. If you were an HR professional doing training, what content and policies regarding

bullying might you present to employees and managers?

George Faces Challenges

This case describes the problem facing a new department supervisor when HR policies and

discipline have been handled poorly in the past. (For the case, visit MindTap® at

1. What are the HR policies and processes that could have kept the problem from

happening?

Students’ answers will vary. The transportation department had a supervisor who

handled all the planning, organizing, and operating of the department. The supervisor

had delegated only minor duties to his staff and bailed out when he could no longer

Chapter 14: Employee Rights and Responsibilities

Students might use examples such as different types of models and actors for different

roles.

Extra Teaching Video

On the Job Video: Unite Here: Employee Rights and Discipline

This short video will help reinforce key points and may prompt additional discussion from the

class.