Social Impact of Business - Essay Example

The purpose of this paper is to discuss different privacy issues in the workplace and to identify situations in which is justified or unjustified to monitor employees. Four interesting topics in the workplace privacy debate are electronic monitoring, romance in the workplace, employee drug testing, and employee honesty testing. Electronic monitoring is an HR trend that has grown in popularity in the workplace environment of the 21st century. Electronic monitoring involves the use of technology to track and spy on the behavior of the employees at work.

Four electronic monitoring practices are to track the use of the internet, read emails send and received, bug telephone lines, and to use cameras to watch the actions of the employees at work. One of the reasons that employers use electronic monitoring at work is productivity concerns (Heathfield, 2013). Employees also monitor the behavior of employees to protect themselves against legal liability associated with the actions of the employees. One of the major cons of using electronic monitoring at work is that it breaks the bond of trust between the employees and the employer and that it can be perceived by some workers as creating a hostile environment at work.

Employee drug testing policies have been used in the United States by employers for decades. The reason that companies test their employees for drug usage is that the use of drugs can impair the ability of a person to perform his job duties at work. In some jobs it is outright dangerous to use drugs while at work such as airplane pilots, bus drivers, and operators of heavy machinery. Most people in the United States are in favor of a drug free environment, but society is changing and the perception of the use of certain drugs has evolved.

In 2012 the states of Colorado and Washington legalized the use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes. Corporations operating in these states face an ethical dilemma in regards to their position on marijuana usage. Smoking weed at work obviously should be prohibited, but imposing anti-marijuana policies on their employers during their own hours contradicts the stand taken by the government of these states. Eliminating marijuana from its list of drugs that are tested in drug tests to potential and current employees seems like the logical adjustment to the drug policies of companies in these states.

Men and women in the workplace get to spend a lot of time together performing work duties. During this time people talk and get to know each other. From this friendship sometimes two persons get romantically involved. Romance in the workplace is a controversial topic. Most companies prohibit people from having relationships. This policy is justifiable because romance in the workplace can lead to a conflict of interest. A way to keep the employees that get involved in a romantic relationship is by transferring them to different divisions or locations of the company.

In regards to honesty testing in the workplace this topic does not bring too much controversy as most employees visualize these types of tests as socially acceptable. There are different situations in which is inappropriate to monitor the activities of employees. Companies at times enter into labor disputes with the employees and its union. In such circumstances employees may go on strike. During a work strike it is inappropriate for the employer to monitor