What are the ethical implications of requiring that employees dedicate long hours and extensive travel time to their careers?
For organizations that require employees to dedicate long hours and extensive travel time to their careers, the ethical implications or concerns that emerge come from the perspectives of the employer and those of the employees. For the employers, there are ethical issues in terms of balancing fairness and ethics of duty. For the employees, there are ethical concerns regarding being able to aptly provide and support one’s family, ethics of duty, and obligation to keep oneself in a healthy disposition. According to Weinstein (2009), “one of five fundamental ethical principles is fairness, and that we demonstrate fairness in everyday life by how we allocate scarce resources. The most precious commodity you have is time, both in your professional and your personal life” (Weinstein, 2009, par. 4). If employees dedicate too much of their time at work, their families would miss seeing and having them around and as expected, they would not be able to perform their roles and responsibilities as parents. Likewise, the stress that they have to endure due to working long hours could have a compromising toll in terms of health, emotional, and psychological well-being.
What obligations, if any, does a manager or employer have to enable employees to create a balanced professional and private life?
A manager or employer should have the obligation to inform and communicate to the employees the nature of role and responsibilities that would require longer work hours or travelling extensively. If employees could not comply due to family or personal priorities, then, employers have the option to select other personnel who could abide by their professional requirements (without duly risking health or personal life). Likewise, they must abide with the Work Life Balance Award Act, a bill which was reportedly created for the purpose of designing and implementing organizational policies that would ensure observing and adhering to balancing work – life roles and responsibilities . As such, there are strategies for balancing work and personal or private life such as offering flexible work arrangements, and designing benefit programs that cater to the needs and demands of the employees .
References
Alligood, S. (2012). Work-Life Balance – An Employer Obligation? Retrieved from xenium: http://www.xeniumhr.com/hr-resources/hr-articles/work-life-balance-an-employer-obligation
Weinstein, B. (2009, March 27). The Ethics of Work-Life Balance. Retrieved from Bloomberg Businessweek: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090327_513083.htm
