Gilbert (2000) further notes that if an employer decides to retrench some workers, the company has higher chances of surviving but the affected employees suffer as they no longer have a source of income. Therefore, restructuring and layoffs are morally wrong from a utilitarian point of view as they do not promote happiness to all involved. In the case of 850 workers laid off abruptly by Laing O'Rourke after its contract with a major partner ended, the workers ended up being the negatively affected party.
The decision served the company well as it could no longer support unutilized workers. However, the employees of such a company are exposed to psychological and economic suffering as they could no longer rely on their employment contracts to earn a living (Christopher et al, 2012). From a utilitarian perspective, the company ought to have developed a responsible plan that considered the plight of the workers. (Christopher et al, 2012) suggests that such a plan should consider options such as monthly half-pay for the remaining contract time or redeployment to other areas.
This would have reduced the damage and ensured both parties are satisfied with a compromise decision. Kantian deontology According to Emmanuel Kant’s categorical imperative, the only thing that is truly good is chosen out of feeling or moral duty. Moral duty forces one to adhere to laws that guide his/her behaviour [Smi11]. This means that moral laws and rules are more important to a doer than the consequences of his/her act. Kantian deontology also demands that one acts in a manner that he/she will be willing to have another person act as so in a similar situation [Har12].
From a Kantian deontology perspective, lay-offs and loss of jobs due to restructuring might not necessarily be wrong if the intentions are good (Tanner et al, 2008). For instance, a company may want to ensure its survivability by eliminating the wage costs of a non-performing unit. This will save the jobs of some workers, which is better than having the company collapse due to debts and losses. The morality of the actions is not determined by the consequences but rather the rationality or the good motivation behind the decisions [Har12].
The management of Laing O'Rourke may not have been morally wrong by terminating the contracts of 850 workers as they made a rational decision to save the company from making significant losses in form wages paid to idle workers. The management should thus not be judged by the effects of the layoffs but the motivation to cut losses that would affect the performance of the entire organisation and put other people’s jobs at risk. According to (Carr and Valinezhad, 1994) interpretation of Kantian ethics, the idea of paying hefty remuneration packages to top CEOs should not be considered ethically wrong if it is grounded on good motives.
The decision to award such CEOs hefty pay leads to unfairness. However, it may be morally good if the CEO improves the performance of the company significantly through his/her managerial skills and knowledge (Wilhelm, 1993). Evidently, the Commonwealth Bank board may be morally right by aiming to increase the earnings of the business’s CEO as the improved benefits could motivate him to perform better or stay with the organisation. Such a move should, however, consider the eventual implication of widening the pay gap between the top CEOs and lowest paid workers.
Justice Justice is often interpreted in terms of fairness, equality and impartiality in matters affecting humanity and society in general [Bot12]. According to John Rawls principles on distributive justice, each person should be entitled to the most extensive basic liberty as is compatible to that of others (Rawls, 2009). The principles also hold that social and economic inequalities are to be arranged in such a way that they are to everyone’s advantage and attached to positions open to all.
The core of this egalitarian theory is the argument that everyone should have liberty over various aspects of their lives including speech, association, movement and freedom (Wilhelm, 1993).
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