College of Business Administration

Seminar in Business Ethics and Social Institutions

Discussion Questions for July 19, 2006:

1. What are some implied rights of the social contract?

2. What are some implied duties/responsibilities of the employee?

3. Should office dating be allowed? Why or why not?

a. How many of you have dated a co-worker?
b. What are your company’s policies?

4. What rights are at issue by smoking in/around/near the workplace?

a. Whose rights take precedence?
b. Consider the legality of employers to offer incentives to quit smoking...what about weight loss incentives?

5. Does outsourcing infringe on the American employee’s rights?

a. What rights and duties does the American employer have?
b. What are the long-term effects of outsourcing?

6. What are the implications of the National Labor Relation Board’s decision to re-classify certain workers as “management”?

a. Would this decision violate workers’ constitutional rights? What about their ethical rights?

7. What sort of employee monitoring do most companies have?

a. Is there a point, within the law, where the monitoring of employee activities goes too far?
b. Should employers have a right to monitor (or even fire employees for) content on personal home-based blogs?

8. Can Affirmative Action exist without Reverse Racism?

9. What is employment at will?

a. What are some exemptions from the EAW doctrine? Are these exemptions justified?
b. Does Employment At Will “work” without checks and balances?
c. What are the long-term effects of regulations and limitations on EAW?

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