The organisation has a clear policy not to compensate employees for overtime. Last weekend, serveral employees worked all weekend to do an important project. The manager is considering whether it would be unethical to tell these employees that they can take two sick days to make up for their lost weekend

advise them on the following

1. determine the ethical problem
2. identify the stakeholders affected by this decision
3. using the rights view of ethics, advise them on the course of action that would be more ethical
4. using the utilitarian view of ethics, advise them on the course of action that would be more ethical

 

The organization has a clear policy not to compensate employees for overtime. Last weekend, several employees worked all weekend to do an important project. The manager is considering whether it would be unethical to tell these employees that they can take two sick days to make up for their lost weekend

advise them on the following

determine the ethical problem

• the organization policy is clear that there is no compensation for overtime work. therefore, the manager will be flouting the company's rules by giving the employees who worked overtime a two day sick leave. at the same time it will seem very inappropriate not to reward these employees after all the sacrifice that they made for the success of the project and ultimately the growth and development of the organization. this therefore becomes the ethical dilemma that the manager has to deal with and ensure that the right steps are taken.

identify the stakeholders affected by this decision

• The decision that will be made will have an impact on various people of the organization. they include; the employees that worked overtime as the decision that will be made will determine how they will commit to future projects. the manager will be affected based on the decision that he makes and ultimately the organization because its success depends on how the employees will be treated as the decision is bound to have an effect on the employees' morale.

using the rights view of ethics, advise them on the course of action that would be more ethical

• through the rights view of ethics, the manager should therefore respect the dignity of the employees and give them the two day sick leave. the interests of the employees would then have to be put first over those of the organization. the manager will not therefore make a decision as a means to an end but he should give them the sick leave as it would be the morally right thing to do. the manager should also ensure that the organization has information about the decision so as not to violate the rule of compensation of the organization. through this the legitimate rights of both the organization and the employees will have been observed and no stakeholder will claim unfair play.

using the utilitarian view of ethics, advise them on the course of action that would be more ethical

• the manager should ensure that the employees follow the rules of no overtime compensation to the latter. in as much as the employees worked overtime and may seem reasonable to compensate them, through utilitarian approach, they are supposed to not get any sick leave as a form of compensation for any work done. this approach will bring the most benefits to the most people of the organization who are involved and to the organization in general. this decision also ensures that the law are followed to the latter regardless of how the employees may feel or how it will affect their future commitments to projects of the organization.