Ethics Information

By Scott Jarvis

At some point in our professional lives it's likley we’ve all been told by an employer to leave personal business at home. I have always agreed with this philosophy as personal business can severely affect productivity and overall performance. This way of thinking is probably older than most of us can imagine and it’s a good adage to live and work by.

The question that now arises is why, if an employer can ask you not to bring personal business and problems to work do they have the right to peer into your personal business even after you’ve left the office? Even scarier, the law allows employers to view your personal spaces online such as your Myspace and Facebook pages. Furthermore there is nothing that can stop an employer from using the information they read or see from firing you, or even keep them from hiring you.

The business owners in this country aren’t satisfied with having well behaved and productive employees in the workplace. They now expect their employee’s to behave in a way that is conducive to their business at all times. Employers' policies and procedures have been extended so that they now reach far into the personal lives of their employees. While it is a fact that all employers discriminate both legally and illegally they should have no right to view any employee’s personal emails, websites, blogs, or other personal documents.

A large majority of business owners and individuals will state that because an employee puts something on a public domain, like the internet that they have a right to read it. Well if we run with that thought and continue down that road, the question must be asked, is it ethical or even moral to stand and watch someone undress in their home simply because they left the blinds open? The answer to that question will be determined by the morals and ethics of each individual who reads this article, just as it would if we were asking employers their thoughts on viewing and using personal, off the clock employee information.

The vast majority of employers and even a few working class people will state that employees should be wary of what they post online and that some materials might be damaging to the company with whom they are employed. More often than not however employers are making employment decisions based on pictures of their employees engaged in behavior that they feel isn’t business appropriate. Written works created by employees on their own free time have also been scrutinized by invasive employers. Those looking for employment or going for a promotion are often advised to keep things offline, especially if these things involve politics, religion, opinions on work, or essentially anything that might make an individual look undesirable.

While there are most certainly those out in the workforce who find this type of activity immoral they rarely speak up as they fear employer retaliation, discrimination, or even loss of employment. As an employer does only what’s in its best interest there will never be a time where those in control and those who want more control over people will allow this right to be taken away. Additionally the courts and the law will always favor those with the money and those already holding the reigns.

A company has and should always have the right to dictate that its employees act and behave in a professional manner while in the office, at company functions, or any time he/she is being paid for their time. If however an employee wishes to put materials online that are of a personal nature they should be allowed to and should be able to do so without fear of termination, retaliation, or discrimination in any form. What may or may not be ironic about this type of activity is that more often than not those that do use an employees Myspace page, blog or other personal site to determine employment, promotion or otherwise do discriminate against people who engage in many of the same activities they themselves partake in.

It’s an inevitable fact that the majority of our lives are spent working for wealthy people who are only interested in obtaining more wealth for themselves and gaining more control over you. Moreover employees are now not only expected to act in a professional manner in the workplace, but are being told that employers have the right to chastise, penalize, scrutinize, terminate, or pass on an individual for employment simply because they don’t agree with what an employee does on his or her free time. Many employees now walk on eggshells even during their off time because they fear losing their job which is a true shame.

Instead of concerning themselves with what their employees do with their free time, what their employee’s politics are, and what lifestyles their employees choose to lead, employers should focus on the employee’s in office or at work performance, attitude, and work ethic. Employers should then ask themselves if looking at or using an employee’s personal materials online is even ethical at all. Of course any business owner will tell you that they do so only to weed out undesirables and to protect the company. Sadly these people use such excuses to justify behavior that would, in the private sector be considered immoral and unethical. Voyeurism is a crime in many states, countries, and parts of the world and when and employer peers into your personal spaces online it's voyeurism plain and simple.

Where as Americans do we draw the line on this type of activity? If an employer has a legal right to view and use its employee’s online information against them, why are they not allowed to peer through the windows in our homes? Surely the things we think and say behind closed doors might be detrimental to an employers business reputation so what’s stopping employers from sending a company representative into an employees home to take note of what they watch on television, how they treat their spouse, when they sleep, and who they favor in an election? If this behavior remains legal, at what point will employers be given access to your internet habits? Since ISP's are already giving this type of access to persons and companies who have no business having it, why not give it to employers?

An employer should make decisions regarding its employee’s based on work performance, work experience, desire, ambition, contributions, and skill rather than the things they do, speak about, engage in or believe in on their own free time. Employers are on the verge of negating the right to choose and live a lifestyle that suits you. These days it is of utmost importance to take great care and keep your employers best interest in mind at all times, even at the expense of your own and are expected to conduct yourself in a manner which an employer would consider business appropriate or professional.

Do employers honestly believe that pictures of a drunk, unkempt, or an unruly employee taken and posted away from work and on a personal site are truly detrimental to business? Long before the internet came along employees drank, engaged in socially unacceptable behaviors, sometimes with one another, enjoyed using drugs recreationally, talked trash on the boss, and moaned and groaned about their jobs. Employers themselves do these things and unless one is completely naïve one knows that these things go on all the time. The only difference is now the internet provides people with a way to express themselves and share it with their friends without having to physically get together. Employers have never had the right to attend parties or a gathering of employees outside of the workplace to see what their people are up to so why do they have the right to view and use things of a personal nature simply because they’re online? Though the law currently states otherwise everything surrounding this issue cries Invasion of Privacy.

An employee doesn’t have the right to company secrets, or confidential information even if it’s put somewhere on the company website so why are employers given the right to view an employee's personal information? Furthermore what type of person wants to know what others do with their free time? If you’re an employer focus on what your people do when they come to work, not what they do after they clock out.

Business has always been and continues to be full of hypocrisies and now more than ever employees are being discriminated against for things their employers have done or enjoy doing themselves. If employers are going to continue to ask their employees to check their personal lives at the door, employers should have the courtesy and decency to allow their employees to leave their professional life at the office. So long as an employee isn’t openly slandering the company he or she is employed with, an employer should have no right to take action against such persons, and from the human perspective, shouldn’t want to. Employers already get at least eight to twelve hours of an employees day isn’t that enough? The things people do in their personal time don’t necessarily reflect their work ethic, skill, responsibility, or what they’re willing to commit to and employers would do well to remember that.

Scott is an independent copywriter who believes an employer and employees should have the decency to respect each others privacy in and out of the workplace.