ABSTRACT
Employment relationships can be among the most significant relationships in a person’s life. For many people, work requires a major commitment of time and effort, offers a source of purpose, identity, and self-esteem, and provides the material resources needed to live a decent life. But the moral contours of the employment relationship are still not well understood. This chapter advances our understanding of them by considering two general questions. What obligations do employers have toward their employees? What obligations do employees have toward their employers? I approach these questions from a moral rather than a legal perspective. Although I discuss relevant laws, I focus on what employers and employees owe to each other morally. There has been considerably more focus on what duties employers have to employees than the reverse. This is because employers usually have more power than employees, and so are able to impose their will on employees in potentially morally problematic ways. This chapter reflects that focus, while also highlighting certain duties that employees have to employers. There are many more topics in employee ethics and rights than can be discussed here. I focus on ethical issues in five important areas: 1) hiring and firing, 2) compensation, 3) the nature of work, 4) privacy, and 5) whistleblowing. I begin with some reflections about the source of moral obligations in employment.
