Business Ethics- Course Materials Only

Employee Bill of Rights

Recent events of employee dissatisfaction and general staff upheaval are threatening the continued operations of Giggle, Inc., a large internet search company, and management believes that a strong employee bill of rights would be a positive step to address the turmoil.  I.M. Reale, the new senior executive vice-president for human resources for the Company has been tasked with the responsibility of developing a new employee bill of rights.  Because he is rather clueless as to how to approach this assignment, he has called you in as a consultant (actually he wants you to do all the drafting but be sure he gets the credit).

Please develop the employee bill of rights.  What would such a document look like?  I.M. Reale, the consummate professional that he is, has left you with the following instructions:

1) make sure the bill of rights is clear and practical and not theoretical;

2) it should use negative injunctions that are more precise than “you should” statements;

3) it should be written in lay language (none of that legal mumbo jumbo—I think he has a strong dislike for lawyers—imagine that);

4) it should be succinct; and

5) it needs to be enforceable and not dependent on good will to work.   

 Learning Activity #2

A legal way for companies to summarily screen inappropriate applicants is by having a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ).  BFOQ acts as a form of legalized discrimination, in which applicants can be legitimately screened for reasons that would normally be considered unfair.  Using only one paragraph, identify a specific job and provide an example of an applicant that can be legitimately screened for that position.  Be sure to clearly identify the BFOQ(s) and explain why the applicant should be screened.