Responsibility and Accountability

Ideally, businesses and corporations should be striving to achieve ethical behaviors that are socially responsible to the communities they serve and society at large. Berkley and Watson (2009) state that balancing ethics, social responsibility and the rights of employers and employees can be extremely challenging for any organization. Ethics and corporate social responsibility work at various levels. Accountability starts with employees and their managers and continues with organizations’ responsibility to their employees and to the community. Usually, the most attention is given to stakeholders and shareholders, and while this is understandable and necessary, employees should be considered as the most important stakeholder. Organizations have a responsibility to their employees, however, when ethical decisions are being made, employees are the ones who tend to be ignored. Many decisions are made without input or consideration of how the outcomes of those decisions have an impact on employees’ lives. Correspondingly, it is necessary to recognize that employees owe the same responsibility and accountability to their employer.

How can an organization be responsible to its employees?  How are they held accountable?

For any organization it is critical that they understand and apply federal laws and regulations governing Human Resource Management. Human Resource Management is defined by Daft and Marcic (2015) as: “formal systems to ensure the effective and efficient use of human talent to accomplish organizational goals.” (p. 357). Organizations should have a structured Human Resources Department that is knowledgeable and competent in laws that protect not only the organization itself, also its employees.  One way to ensure organizational responsibility is to ensure that their hiring practices are ethical and fair. Over the years, laws have ben passed to prevent discriminatory practices to individuals in protected groups.   

Major Federal Laws Related to Human Resource Management:

• Civil Rights Act, Title VII (1964)-Prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, or national origin

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967, 1978, 1986) Prohibits age discrimination and restricts mandatory retirement

• Vocational Rehabilitation Act (1973)-Prohibits discrimination based on physical or mental disability and requires that employees be informed about affirmative action plans

• Americans With Disabilities Act (1990)-Prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals by employers on the basis of disability. Also, reasonable accommodations must be provided to allow performance of duties

• Civil Rights Act (1991)-Provides for possible compensatory and punitive damages plus back pay for cases of intentional discrimination brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Shifts the burden of proof to the employer.

Even though these laws should be implemented and are enforceable, we should all be aware that we still find ourselves with the challenges of unfair hiring practices and unequal pay practices.  Women are still being paid less than men for the same work and persons in protected groups such as persons with disabilities are still being discriminated against.

Have you ever felt discriminated against for any reason in your workplace or do you think that hiring practices and wages are fair?   Please feel free to post your opinions and comments!

References

Berkley, R. A., & Watson, G. (2009). The employer–employee relationship as a building block for ethics and corporate social responsibility. Employee Responsibilities And Rights Journal, 21(4), 275-277. doi:10.1007/s10672-009-9124-4

Daft, R., & Marcic, D. (2015). Understanding management (9e. ed.). Cengage Learning.