ASSIGNMENT NO.

14
Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Explain how you would ensure fairness in disciplining, discussing particularly the
prerequisites to disciplining, disciplining guidelines, and the discipline without punishment
approach.

2. Why is it important in our litigious society to manage electronic monitoring properly?

3. Provide two examples of behaviors that would probably be unethical but legal, and three
that would probably be illegal but ethical.

4. You need to select a nanny for your or a relative’s child, and want someone ethical. What
would you do to help ensure you ended up hiring someone ethical?

5. You believe your coworker is being bullied. How would you verify this, and what would
you do about it if it is true?

6. Define employee relations and discuss at least four methods for managing it.

1. Employee relations is the activity that involves establishing and maintaining the positive employee–
employer relationships that contribute to satisfactory productivity, motivation, morale, and discipline, and
to maintaining a positive, productive, and cohesive work environment.
Managers and HR management use programs to develop positive employee relations. Unfair
treatment reduces morale, increases stress, and has negative effects on employees and should be weeded
out. Managers also use communications programs, recognition programs, and employee involvement
programs to build positive employee relations.
Ethics refers to the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group, and specifically to
the standards you use to decide what your conduct should be. Numerous factors shape ethical behavior at
work. These include individual factors, organizational factors, the boss’s influence, ethics policies and
codes, and the organization’s culture. HR management can influence ethical behavior. Having a fair and
open selection process, establishing special ethics training programs, and rewarding (or disciplining)
ethical (or unethical) work-related behavior are some examples.
A fair and just discipline process is based on rules and regulations, a system of progressive
penalties, and an appeals process. A number of discipline guidelines are important, including discipline
should be in line with the way management usually responds to similar incidents, management must
adequately investigate the matter, and do not rob a subordinate of his other dignity.

2. It is important to manage electronic monitoring for several reasons. First is security, if you allow
employees to play on the Internet at work they might knowingly or unknowingly release sensitive
information about employees, the company or about clients. Another reason is if they spending time on
the Internet or other social media sights while on the clock. If you have polices in place that limit or out
right banns this, and you terminate an employee for the violation, you better have documented it very
well. If not you can open yourself up to litigation or a lawsuit, we have seen case after case where
employees win settlements or there jobs back because of a lack of documentation.

3. Examples of unethical but legal behaviors are: misuse of company time, lying to employees, violating
company internet policies, and abusive behavior on the managers part. Human resource managers need to
“walk the talk” in the organization in order to promote the expected ethical behavior. This means that
instead of just talking about what’s ethical or not, they need to act ethically for employees to follow the
example, and see that ethical attitudes are been assumed in the organization. Other steps that can take to
promote ethical behavior are: institution of ethics codes, enforcing the rules, encourage employees to
reveal anonymously “whistle blowers”, foster the right cultures, hire right, ethics training, rewards,
discipline, and institute employee privacy policies.

4. The focus here should be on creating a reasonable policy and publicizing it. A clear explanation as to
why it is important to be customer-focused and view their place of business through the eyes of their
customers should be provided.

5. I would look if the person being bullied is not able to defend himself because that could mean there is
imbalance of power, if the bully is trying to harm the victim for some purpose, or if he is repeatedly being
called names, called names, is left out, things get physical and bullied via the internet. If it is true it would
have to be reported to an HR representative in your company or follow the steps to report bullying in the
company. With the communication program employees would get to know each other better and would
get along better, because of this bullying would happen less because they would get along or the bully
would be stopped by fellow employees.

6. Employee relations is the manner in which management addresses and interacts with the staff. The
four different method are: open door policy to encourage communication between employees and
managers, employee handbook covering basic employment information, two way communication also
helps management know what’s bothering employees, and the opportunity to keep abreast of University
events and other information of interests through email, website and hard copy memorandum.