Lecture 12 Pertaining to Chapter 8 EmployerEmployee Issues

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Lecture 12Pertaining to Chapter
8Employer/Employee Issues
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Chapter 8 - Objectives

• Define the term contingent workers and discuss
  why they are frequently employed in the IT
  industry.
• Outline key ethical issues associated with the
  use of contingent workers.
• Define whistle-blowing and the ethical issues
  associated with this action.
• Outline an effective whistle-blowing process.

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Outsourcing

• Outsourcing is another approach to meet staffing
  needs.
• With outsourcing, services are provided by an
  organization that has expertise in operating a
  specific client function.
• Offshore outsourcing is where the work is done by
  an organization using employees in a foreign
  country.

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Outsourcing

• With the shortage of application development
  staff, offshore outsourcing is popular.
• Lower salaries paid to offshore outsourced
  employees reduce overall project costs.

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Outsourcing

• Sending software development projects to another
  continent can increase project risks.
• Successful offshore outsourcing projects include
• Expertise in project technologies.
• Proficiency in the companys native spoken
  language.
• A large staff.
• A good telecommunications setup.
• Good on-site managers.

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Whistle-Blowing

• Whistle-blowing is a call to attract attention of
  others outside the employees company to a
  negligent, illegal, unethical, abusive, or
  dangerous act by the company that threatens the
  public interest.
• Actions taken by whistle-blowers may put them at
  great personal risk.

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Protection for Whistle-Blowers

• Whistle-blower protection laws allow employees to
  alert the proper authorities to employer actions
  that are unethical, illegal, unsafe, or violate
  specific public policies without concern for
  employer retribution.
• Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive federal
  law that protects all whistle-blowers.

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Legal Overview - False Claims Act

• The False Claims Act (Lincoln Law) was enacted
  during the Civil War.
• The goal was to entice whistle-blowers to come
  forward by offering them a share of the money
  recovered.
• The Qui Tam provision allows a private citizen to
  file a suit in the name of the U.S. government
  charging fraud by government contractors who
  receive or use government funds.

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Other Whistle-Blower Statues

• There are laws that protect whistle-blowers in
  specific industries.
• Environmental workers
• Clean Air Act
• Toxic Substances Control Act
• Clean Water Act
• Safe Drinking Water Act
• Comprehensive Environmental Response,
  Compensation, and Liability Act
• Nuclear workers
• Energy Reorganization Act

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Private Sector Workers

• Under traditional state common law, in the
  absence of an employment contract, an employee
  can be terminated for any reason or no reason.
• Many states have laws that protect workers from
  being fired because of an employees
  participation in protected activities.

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Dealing with a Whistle-Blowing Situation

• Assess the seriousness of the situation.
• Attempt to address the situation internally.
• Begin documentation.
• Consider escalation within the company.

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Dealing with a Whistle-Blowing Situation

• Assess implications of becoming a whistle-blower.
• Use experienced resources to develop an action
  plan.
• Execute the action plan.
• Live with the consequences.

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Summary

• A contingent workforce includes independent
  contractors individuals brought in through
  employment agencies on-call or day laborers, and
  workers on-site whose services are provided by a
  contract firm.
• The use of contingent workers enables the firm to
  meet its staffing needs more efficiently, lower
  its labor costs, and respond more quickly to
  changing market conditions.

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Summary

• Whistle-blowing is a call to attract attention of
  others to a negligent, illegal, unethical,
  abusive, or dangerous act that threatens the
  public interest.
• There are a number of laws to protect
  whistle-blowers.
• There are eight stages in an effective
  whistle-blowing process.

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Case 1 - Software to Assist in Managing
Contingent Workers

• Recruitment and Application Tracking Systems
  (RATS) software packages help manage and control
  the dollars spent on contingent workers.
• This software provides information that improves
  hiring decisions by enabling managers to better
  gauge consulting and service cost/quality.

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Posting Questions

• Type the question and your response.
• Does the use of a RATS increase or decrease the
  chance that a company will deal in an ethical
  manner with contingent workers? Why?

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Case 2 - Sherron Watkins, Enron Whistle-Blower

• Sherron Watkins was the vice-president of
  corporate development at Enron. While analyzing
  sales of Enron assets, she was alarmed to find
  questionable accounting mechanisms being use to
  hide company debt. She thought it was also
  inappropriate for the company to use its stock to
  affects its income statement.

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Posting Question

• Type the question and then your answer
• Do you think that Sherron Watkins should be
  classified as a whistle blower? Why?
• Could anything have been done to save Enron?

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Finis