 Ethics is not just an individual matter,

many companies use management

techniques to encourage ethical
behavior at an organizational level.
› Business ethics (also corporate ethics) is a
form of applied ethics or professional ethics
that examines ethical principles and moral or
ethical problems that arise in
a business environment.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Top management — The senior management of a company
must be committed to ensure that ethical standards are met.
The chief executive of the company must not engage in
business practices harmful to employees, or the society. The top
management must focus on ethical practices while informing
employees of their intention.

 Code of ethics — One of the best practices for ethics is creating

a ‘corporate ethical statement’ and communicating it within the
company. Such practices enhance the company’s public
image.

 Ethics committee — There are ethics committees in many firms to

help them deal with and advise on work related ethical issues.
The Chief Executive Officer can head the committee that
includes the Board of Directors. Such a committee answers
employee queries, helps the company to establish policies in
uncertain areas, advises the Board on ethical issues, and
oversees the enforcement of the code of ethics.
Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli
 Ethics hotline — A company’s ethical hotline helps its employees report
any ethical issues they face at work. The ethics committee then
investigates these issues. Such hotline calls are treated confidential,
where the caller’s identity is protected to encourage employees to
report on ethical issues. The act of reporting illegal, immoral, or
illegitimate practices by former or current employees involving its
employees is known as Whistle-blowing. Whistle-blowing is favorable to a
company because employees can alert the management on possibly
deviant behavior rather than reporting it to the media, which adversely
affects the company.

 Ethics training programs — Most firms take ethics seriously and provide
training for its managers and employees. Such training programs help
the employees become familiar with the official policy on ethical issues.
These programs demonstrate the use of these ethic policies in everyday
decision making. Ethics training is most effective when conducted by
managers and when focused on work environment.

 Ethics and law — Both law and ethics focus on defining the perfect
human behavior, but they are not the same. Law is the government’s
attempt to formalize rightful behavior, but it is rarely possible to enforce
written laws. It depends on individual or business ethics to reduce
unlawful incidents. Ethical concepts are more complex than written rules
since it deals with human dilemmas that go beyond the formal
language of law.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Be a Role Model and Be Visible
› Employees look at top managers to understand what behavior is
acceptable. Senior management sets the tone for ethics in the
workplace.
 Communicate Ethical Expectations
› An organizational code of ethics can reduce ethical ambiguities. The
code of ethics should state the organization’s primary values and the
ethical rules that employees are expected to follow. Managers should
remember that a code of ethics is worthless if leaders fail to model
ethical behaviors.
 Offer Ethics Training
› Managers should set up seminars, workshops and similar programs to
promote ethics in the workplace. Training sessions reinforce the
organization’s standards of conduct, to clarify what practices are and
are not permissible, and to address possible ethical dilemmas.
 Visibly Reward Ethical Acts and Punish Unethical Ones
› Performance appraisals of managers should include evaluations of how
actions measure up against the organization’s code of ethics. Appraisals
need to include how managers achieve these goals, as well as the goals
themselves.
 Provide Protective Mechanisms
› The organization needs to provide formal mechanisms that allow
employees to discuss ethical dilemmas and report unethical behavior
without fear of reprimand. This could include developing roles for ethical
counselors, ombudsmen or ethical officers.
Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli
 The study of business ethics refers to the ethical dimensions of
productive organizations and commercial activities, and it
applies to the production, distribution, marketing, sale and
consumption of goods and services.

 Misconduct by employees and organizations can include

anything from conflicts of interest to violations of company’s
internal policies to falsifying reports to bribery and illegal
political gifts.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 • It is defined as the predefined rights or privileges of an
employee associated with the organization. It aims at
receiving fair treatment from employers. Such requests
Employee’s can be put by an employee to their employers when he
feels that something is going off in the organization than
rights: what was committed when finalizing the employment.

• Every employee linked with the company is allocated

specific responsibilities to accomplish daily, weekly, or
Employee’s monthly. This responsibility defines the precise path that
responsibiliti needs to be followed by an employee daily. It is the duty
es: of employee.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Fixed Working Hours
 Safe and Healthy Work Environment
 Medical Claim Facility
 Saying No to work on Holidays
 Availability of Company Resources
 Paid Leaves (Maternity, paternity, privilege,
mandatory festive leaves, Govt. holidays,
sick leave, comp-off leaves)
 Right to ask for Unfair Termination
 Break Time
Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli
 Employment agreement
 All employees are entitled to an employment agreement under the
employment laws that specify the date on which they should begin
working for the company. An employment agreement is a written
document that outlines the terms and conditions of employment, as
well as the employer and employee’s rights and responsibilities.

 Salary and bonus on a regular basis , Fairly

 According to the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976, equal
compensation for equal work must be paid regardless of gender. An
employee’s salary must be paid on time, according to the Payment
of Wages Act of 1936. If payment is not made, the employee can
file a civil complaint or contact the Labour Commissioner.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Minimum wages
 According to the Minimum Wages Act of 1948, every employee
is entitled to a minimum payment that is sufficient to support his
or her lifestyle while also providing the necessities.

 Leaves and vacation time

 An employee is entitled to leave and vacation time during their
work. In general, an employee in India can take the following
types of leaves:
› Casual leaves
› These leaves are set aside in case of unforeseen circumstances
or incidents that require an employee’s immediate attention.
› Privilege leaves
› These leaves are left over from past years and used by the
employee in the current or future years. If an employee has
exhausted all of his sick days, these can be utilised instead. If an
employee has balance privilege leaves remaining when they
leave their work, they can be cashed.
› Paid leaves
› Paid leave is available to employees on a monthly, quarterly, or
annual basis. For paid leaves taken, the company cannot
deduct the employee’s salary.
Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli
 › Leave without pay
› If an employee’s leave balance is depleted, he may take a day off, but
his income for that day will be removed from his monthly salary.

› Sick leave
› An employee is entitled to a set amount of sick days, which can be used
if they become ill.

› Compensatory leave
› If the employee works on official off days, he or she can take these
leaves.

› Maternity leave
› A female employee is entitled to 26 weeks of maternity/pregnancy
leave, which she can use throughout her pregnancy and/or after birth.

 Gratuity
 Gratuity is defined by the Payment of Gratuity Act of 1972 as a
retirement fund paid to an employee upon retirement, termination,
resignation, or death. It is given to employees who have worked for at
least five years in a row. If the company refuses to pay the gratuity, the
employee might seek legal advice from an employment lawyer.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Protection from sexual harassment
 The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition, and Redressal) Act of 2013 protects women in the
workplace from sexual harassment.

 Industrial Dispute Act, 1947

 The Industrial Dispute Act only applies to workers. It covers
industrial disputes, industrial activities such as lockouts and
strikes, layoffs, retrenchment, and undertaking transfers, as
well as changes in workmen’s service conditions and
workplace.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Employees have the right to request an adjustable work
shift due to personal reasons.
 Employment or contract statement in writing between
the two parties.
 An employee holds the right to ask his employer for the
payslips and the form16 to help avail tax benefits
further.
 Fixed annual holidays
 Maternity and paternity leaves
 The employee’s legal right to have a safe, secure,
crime-free, bully-free, discrimination-free, and
harassment-free work environment.
 The right to avail or ask for the ‘National Minimum
Wage.’
Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli
 On the basic HR tasks, such terms and conditions
are not necessarily put in the written document. It
can be agreed on the verbal terms by having a
solid understanding between the two parties.

 Although, having a contract in writing is always

advised to keep the employers and employees
both on the safer side. They will be liable to
take legal actions if things don’t go as committed
by the employer and the employee in the first
place.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Team Player
 Aiming to achieve a common goal
 Attending orientation process and other
meetings
 Hiring Manager Responsibilities
 Working Safely
 No Offensive Activities
 Adhering to Company Rules
 Technical Expert Responsibilities
 Managerial Responsibilities

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 The fresh mistakes of the employees are tackled by warning in writing via email or a letter.

 Based on the seriousness of the non-adherence of the responsibilities, in some cases, the employees
are directly suspended for a few days from the company as their punishment.

 A small case can even get dragged to court. Here, the court takes the decision, as well as the entire
issue, is handled legally to stay away from any loss that the employee can do to the business.

 In extreme cases, the employees are terminated from the company on the spot. Such cases are
involved in crime, stealing from office property or sexually harassing women, or even bullying others
with threats.

 Such incidences of committing negligence towards the employees’ predesigned responsibilities can
lead to demotion in the company. Here, the employees are asked to do the lower-level job from what
they are doing currently. Also, a written document is prepared of why the bump has happened, and the
performance is taken as an effective tool to come up with such a decision.

 Suppose an employee leaves the organization or ends the contract without putting in the notice period.
In that case, the company holds power to drag him to the court and ask for the money from him for
the company’s loss because of the employee.
Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli
 The written contracts help the companies get away from my false
claims made to employees in the future. And, the same legal steps
can be taken up by the employee if their employers don’t act
according to the signed agreement. Also, written contracts are
always helpful to define the two types of terms:

 Express Terms
› The express terms are all the elements or components of the employee’s
contract with the company. It is generally in written and signed format. It
can be oral too, but the basic things mentioned below mainly remain the
same.
› The express terms can be often seen in the Employee Handbook,
Employment Letter, or any single paper contract in written format.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Highlights
› Total working hours require where overtime hours are
mention.
› Pay for the Sick leaves and the Redundancy leaves.
› The total amount the employee is eligible to get pay.
It consists of the bonus payment and the extra pay
for working overtime.
› Notice period time or entire notice period duration,
and its policies while ending a contract with the
employee
› Total fixed monthly leaves
› Yearly paid holidays listing including the mandatory
leaves by the government and for festivals

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Implied Terms

› Implied terms are the ones that involve no written contract between the
employer and the employee. Although, there are basic understood
norms and the terms and conditions applied to the verbal agreement by
default.

› Implied Terms – Employees

 Examples of the Implied Terms by employees include – not harming or stealing
companies’ resources or property, respecting everyone, not revealing
confidential information to outsiders, etc.

› Implied Terms – Employers

 Examples of the Implied Terms by employers include – committing to provide a
comfortable as well as respectable work environment, not asking an employee
to indulge themselves in illegal activities for the benefit of the company like an
employer cannot ask their employee to do drugs or sell them, drive the
company car without having the insurance, etc.

 The entitlement becomes accepted between the two parties if it is

moving along in the following manner.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

 Employees are blessed with certain rights in the workplace.
 Employee Rights and responsibilities at the workplace enable
them to feel secure and confident during working hours.
However, with such rights comes significant responsibilities as
well.
 An employee is expected to adhere to commitments design
explicitly to maintain the workplace’s productivity and decorum.
 In case of non-adherence to such responsibilities, strict actions
are taken against them, which might reach a level that they are
directly confronted with the senior managers and asked to leave
the organization on the spot termination generally happens after
several warnings. Such employees are sack out of the
companies to maintain the office work culture for the welfare of
other employees.

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli

Asst. Prof. Sugandha Muduli