Some Ethical Issues in Employer Worker Relation
Some Ethical Issues in Employer Worker Relation
Some Ethical Issues in Employer Worker Relation
EMPLOYER-WORKER
RELATIONS
CHAPTER 2
THE ISSUE OF MININUM WAGE IN THE
PHILIPPINES
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WORKER
employees and laborers who work for wage
and salary in a business establishment
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ETHICAL ISSUES IN RELATION TO WORKERS
CAN BE SEEN FROM TWO PERSPECTIVES:
▰ Issues focused on ▰ Issues focused on the
employers’ duties workers’ duties
toward the workers toward the employer
▻Contractualization ▻Fiduciary duty
▻Just wage ▻Conflict of interest
▻Right to form a labor ▻Whisteblowing
union 4
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ETHICS OF LABOR
CONTRACTUALIZATION
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CONTRACTUALIZATION
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CONTRACTUALIZATION
▰sales assistant
▰members of the crew
▰security guards
▰janitors
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▰Critics of contractualization in the Philippines
usually point to former Senator Ernesto Herrera’s
penning in 1989 of Republic Act 6715: An Act to
Amend to the Labor Code of the Philippines as the
main culprit for the widespread contractualization
practices.
▰Advocates of RA 6715 respond that it is not RA
6715 but rather it is former President Ferdinand
Marcos’ Presidential Decree 442 (Labor Code of
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the Philippines) that is to blame.
▰Supporters of Herrera explained that PD 442 paved the
way for the Department of Labor and Employment to
issue Department Order 10
▰Department Order 10- opened the floodgates for
rampant contractualization
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“ Companies and the contracting
agencies described
contractualization as a means to
promote cost efficiency and a way to
avoid having labor unions.
12
▰Cost-reduction is a legitimate strategy for business especially because
of many exigencies that businesses in the Philippines are facing.
What becomes ethically questionable is when businesses desire
unreasonably big profits at the expense of the workers.
IF YOU ARE THE WEALTHIEST PERSON IN THE COUNTRY
WITH PROFITS FROM YOUR BUSINESS THAT OVERFLOW IN
YOUR COFFERS, WOULD YOU NOT CAREFULLY STUDY YOUR
POLICIES ON CONTRACTUALIZATION SO THAT THE
WORKERS WOULD ALSO RAISE THEIR STANDARD OF LIVING
JUST LIKE YOU? 13
Some favors and sees nothing wrong about
contractualization. They point to the benefits of the
said practice.
Benefits:
▰Employers do not encounter the ordinary problems
of workers who become lax and less productive
because of the protection of job tenure
14
▰Many employers believe that when a worker is contractual, he or she
is likely to be more serious and productive for at least two reasons:
▻Fear of being terminated
▻Aspiration to be rehired
▰Contractualization frees the employees from many headaches
brought by the high cost of employee benefits
▰More workers are given opportunity to work because after five
months, contractual workers would be replaced by a new batch of
contractual workers. 15
Unconscientious contractualization undermines basic
rights of the worker:
▰Right to security of tenure
▰Right to other benefits of workers (insurance, maternity
benefits)
▰Right to organize
▰Right to join unions
16
▰Some employers would say that they allow
contractual workers to organize and join
unions.
▰In fact, the law defines clearly that the
contractual worker has several rights of the
same nature with regular workers.
17
“The contractual employee shall be entitled to all the
rights and privileges due a regular employee, including
but limited to the right of working conditions and
standards, service incentive leave, rest days, overtimes
and holidays, health, safety, and social welfare benefits,
self-organization and collective bargaining, and security
of tenure.”
▰In reality, workers cannot exercise these rights because
they are afraid of losing their job. 18
▰Critics also say that contractualization of
workers degrade the value of work and the
worker. Work is simply reduced to a commodity
that can easily be bought and sold. The worker is
also reduced to a commodity that can easily be
replaced on the whims and caprice of the
employer. Hence, the contractual worker is
usually marginalized in the workplace.
19
▰Further, contractualization violates fundamental
justice. In many instances, the business
establishment accumulates huge profits with the
help of the contractual worker. But the
contractual worker only receives minimum wage
and benefits mandated by the law.
20
The argument for questionable practices of labor contractualization in
the Philippines find support in the recommendation of DOLE to
seriously consider the need to revisit and revise the Labor Code of the
Philippines.
▰Review the Labor Code provisions on contracting and subcontracting
and security of tenure to discuss, among others:
▰Guaranteeing the right to security of tenure, self-organization and
collective bargaining;
▰Imposing stricter penalties for violators;
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▰Clarifying through collective bargaining and/or tripartite mechanisms
what activities may or may not be contracted out;
▰Allowing subcontracting that is done in good faith and due to the
exigencies of business;
▰Intensifying enforcement of labor standards and policies on
contracting and subcontracting; and
▰Reviewing the proposal on definite and indefinite period of
employment
22
▰It is not far-fetched to assume that one of the main
reasons why poor Filipinos decide to work abroad even if
it is against their wishes and despite the many dangers
that accompany it, is the absence of job security of labor
contractualization.
▰Kabataan Party-list representative Raymond Palatino:
“If there are employment opportunities in the country, the
youth would no longer have to stop schooling and work
abroad.” 23
2
THE ISSUE OF JUST
WAGE
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The Issue Of Just Wage
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Labor union
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▰When all attempts to reach agreement between the
employer and worker fail, the workers usually resort to a
labor strike.
▰Strike occurs when an organized body of workers
withholds its labor to force the employer to comply with its
demands
▰Just as the right to organize and form a union is a basic
right of the workers, the right to strike is also a basic right.
41
William Shaw cited the work of Austin Fagothey and Milton
Gonsalves to explain the condition for a morally justified labor
strike.
▰There must be a just cause such as unjust wages and inhuman
working conditions
▰There must be proper authorization from the members of the union
and from the proper government body (DOLE)
▰The labor strike must be the last resort, which means that all
attempts and efforts by both parties had already been exhausted,
yet there remains a deadlock in the CBA 42
▰Some employers may view the labor union as a
counterproductive and as a hindrance to the success of a
business. However, building a healthy relationship between
the employer and the labor union would actually in turn,
improve worker’s efficiency and productivity. Furthermore,
a smoothly functioning labor union contributes to a steady
workforce and a more stable economy in general. Thus, a
labor union is a valuable component in the aspiration to
reduce the inherent tensions between capital and labor.
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4
FIDUCIARY DUTY OF THE
EMPLOYEE
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▰If the employees have fundamental rights to ensure that
their work and working condition improve their lives
and well-being, they have also corresponding moral
duties toward the employer that they serve.
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▰The basic principle that underlies the duties of the
employees toward the employer is captured in what is
now famously known as the theory of agency.
▰Online Legal Dictionary: “a consensual relationship
created by contract or by law where one party, the
principal, grants authority for another party, the agent, to
act on behalf of and under the control of the principal to
deal with a third party.”
46
EMPLOYEE
▰agent
▰acts in behalf of the principal
▰has specific duties toward his or principal
EMPLOYER
▰principal
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Fiduciary Duty
FIDUCIARY
▰Latin word: Fidere meaning “To trust”
▰a person who has been entrusted with the care of another’s
property or other valuables and who has a responsibility to
exercise discretionary judgment in this capacity solely in
the interest of this person’s interest 49
THREE MAIN PRINCIPLES
ACCORDING TO JOHN
BOATRIGHT:
▰Candor- agent’s moral duty to be always truthful and honest to his
or her principal
▻The employer or the owner of the business has the largest stake on
the business because of his or her investment of money, time,
effort, and other psychological factors. If the business fails, it is
the owner who usually incurs the greatest loss. Thus, the fiduciary
must always disclose all relevant and vital information to the
principal. 50
THREE MAIN PRINCIPLES
ACCORDING TO JOHN
▰Care- duty ofBOATRIGHT:
the employee to take good care of all the assets
entrusted to him or her by the owner of the business.
▻Company theft even of small things is a violation of the duty of
care expected from the employee. Protection of copyrights, patent
rights, trade secrets, and other intellectual properties is also
expected from the employee. The employee must not be negligent
with regard to company time, company property, and other
company assets.
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THREE MAIN PRINCIPLES
ACCORDING TO JOHN
▰Loyalty BOATRIGHT:
▻The duty of loyalty is a very broad obligation that covers many
things.
▻Pertains to the employee’s obligation to act in the interest of the
beneficiary and to avoid taking any personal advantage of the
relationship.
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5
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
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CONFLICT OF INTEREST
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▰The employee has the moral duty to be loyal to the
employer. But what if the employee discovered company
activities and operations that are illegal, unethical, and
harmful to the public or to the environment?
▰In some instances, the employee has the moral duty to
break its loyalty towards the company and think of his or
her greater responsibility towards the public.
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WHISTLEBLOWING
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WHISTLEBLOWING
For Velasquez, whistleblowing is morally justifiable under certain conditions.
▰ Whistleblower must have sufficient and accurate evidences of the
wrongdoing.
▰ The whistleblower must have already exhausted all means to resolve
the issue internally with his or her superiors.
▰ There should be a high probability that whistleblowing would be lead
to the correction of the wrongdoing.
▰ The wrongdoing must be something so serious that it justifies the
potential harmful effects to the whistleblower and his or her family and
to 62
EFFECTS OF
▰Financial Effect
WHISTLEBLOWING
of Whistleblowing
The whistleblower may lose his or her job.
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THANK YOU!
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