Business ethics (Responsibilities towards employees)

“Good business ethics delivers good business and good businesses lead to good reputation, companies with good business reputation converts good companies into great companies. The ethical principles which govern sound relations between a firm and its employees is derived from a consideration of the special nature of the human resource.

A firm is fundamentally a human community and employees must be considered as full members of that community and not just third parties who have entered into contractual relations with it. Employees should have the right to participate in decision making not just the share holders and their agents. They should have the right to have their interests protected in times of adversity and they should also have the right to share in the value created by the firm. The fact that a firm is a human community in which employees are members also brings into the pictures mutual duties of loyalty between employers and employees. The employees should be committed to the attainment of the organizations objective and the organization should be similarly committed to the personal and professional fulfilment of the employees.

In an organization, for things to go well, the employer and the employee must respect certain legal obligations. The employers must give their employees a place to work and make sure they have access to it. They must give them tools, equipment and all the necessary items they need to carry out their respective jobs dutifully. Employers must pay the employees salaries and benefits they agreed on including all other benefits stated in the contract.