No open-access location is known for this record yet.
No open-access location is known for this record yet.
INTRODUCTION In this country, serious tension always has existed between the individual's right to privacy and exercise of personal freedoms, on the one hand, and the need to protect the interests and welfare of the community, on the other. This tension, however, has now exploded into the public consciousness as a dominant issue in the workplace. It was the advent of the industrial revolution and the emergence of large business organizations that first gave rise to the struggle for achieving a correct balance between the employer's right to run the business effectively and the employee's right to privacy. For example, many 19th century industrialists made sure their employees attended church. In the 1910s Henry Ford hired 100 investigators whose job it was to determine whether employees' life styles and finances were worthy of bonuses (Smith, 1993; Wren, 1972). These advisors visited the workers' private residences ... to insure that their homes were neat and clean, that they did not drink too much, that their sex life was without tarnish, and that they used their leisure time profitably (Wren, 1972: 200-201). In the 1950s, use of psychological and personality profiles in employment decisions became fashionable. Among the items to which a job applicant had to respond on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, for example, was I deserve severe punishment for my sins (Smith, 1993). It was not until the 1960s that such intrusive tests became obsolete. Today, the forces most responsible for renewed intrusions on one's privacy in the workplace are employers' concerns for productivity, safety, and costs. Advances in technology, rising health care costs, and an explosion of related legislative rulings have made privacy the focal point of the employer-employee debate (Brown, 1996; Rosenblum, 1991). Technological advances have allowed an employer to have a wealth of information on an employee just by entering a social security number into the computer. Further, electronic mail and computer files can be screened and read without an employee's knowledge (Lomax, 1997). Employers have traditionally justified and defended such practices on the basis of the need to promote safety and security, and to protect their legitimate business interests. They insist that they must be allowed to hire the best qualified workers, to assess employee productivity, to minimize risk of accidents and promote a safe working environment, to control cost and become more competitive, to minimize conflicts of interest, to prevent theft and sabotage, to protect trade secrets, and to maintain quality control (Brown, 1996; Kallman, 1993; Losey, 1993; Rosenblum, 1991). Employees, on the other hand, argue that these policies and practices are intrusive and infringe on their right to privacy. Others, including unions, argue that they are often counter productive and sometimes even result in the opposite of what they are designed to achieve. They are demoralizing and demotivating, result in increased job dissatisfaction and anxiety, and erode mutual trust and loyalty (Brown, 1996; Kallman, 1993; Reynolds, 1993) Where, then, does the right of an employer to deal with business necessities and to protect its legitimate business interests end, and the employee's right to privacy begin? The role play scenarios that follow permit participants to consider three specific hot privacy related issues, looking at them from the perspectives of the manager and the individual. Related research and writings to extend the discussion are then provided in the Discussion Leader's Notes section that follows. All sources cited in the Reference section to this manuscript, with the exception of Wren (1972), also would be excellent additional privacy-related materials to read in preparation for the exercise. Additional sources for gathering the most current information on privacy, including court rulings, are provided below: Institute for Business and Professional Ethics (A clearinghouse for information and news on privacy issues), DePaul University, 1 East Jackson, Chicago, IL 60604. …
Loading…
Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.