Is There an Obligation to Ensure That Employees in a Business Are Being Treated Fairly?

If I was in Jane’s position I would ask / inform Brad about what I saw. She has the ethical and moral obligation to report that issue to the owner. It would be one thing if she saw this happening and Greg was getting these tickets because he was there the longest or was the more senior technician. In that case I do not think there is anything wrong with the top technician getting his own stack of work orders. The fact that she walked in on them and Eddie said he would fire her if she told anyone means that Eddie is doing something wrong and unethical. It is highly likely that that the past head of the payroll department was fired for the exact same whistleblowing. It is also highly likely that the owner will ignore this situation because of his close relationship to Eddie. If I was threatened to be fired at work I would definitely tell just because I was threatened. I have learned from my first job out of college that if someone above you says they will get you fired if you tell on them, they are definitely doing something wrong and normally are the ones to get fired or leave. If Brad chose to not fix or correct the situation, I would tell the other technicians what was happening then quit and look for a new job. I wouldn’t want to start my new career in an unethical environment.

Is there an obligation to ensure that employees in a business are being treated fairly? If so, upon whom does that obligation fall?

Employers have a moral obligation to look out for the welfare of their employees. “Employees should be treated as stake holders in the company and should be paid fairly and equally” (Josephson, 2016). It is also the duty of the employer to make sure that managers do not abuse their power or mistreat subordinates. Any employee should be free to bring up any ethical issue without fear of retaliation. This obligation falls onto Brad because he is the owner of the business. He also has the obligation to correct this huge issue of conflict of interest between Eddie and Greg. Greg should not be able to work under Eddie because they are brothers. Jane also has the obligation to ensure that employees are being treated fairly because she is the head of the payroll department and this issue directly conflicts with employee pay, workload and compensation.

References

Aloladetlc, S., & Adofikwu, A. R. (2016, August 11). THE BASIC RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF PARTIES IN EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP. Retrieved June 18, 2017, from http://www.thelawyerschronicle.com/the-basic-rights-and-obligations-of-parties-in-employeremployee-relationship/

Josephson, M. (2016, December