ethical & legal perspectives of pa

8/2/2019 Ethical & Legal Perspectives of PA

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Legal issues have a specific law behindthem, which will result in legal

consequences if you don't obey it.

Ethical issues have no force of law, but

are of a nature that affects the societyaround you, or has consequences for the

people involved.


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EMPLOYMENT AT WILL-employer get considerable latitude indetermining whether, when & how to measure & rewardperformance. Thus, an employer could potentially end theemployment relationship without documenting any performanceproblem NEGLIGENCE-Many org. outline PMS in their employee manual,employment contract, or other materials. When the system is

described in such documents & not implemented as describedlegal problems can arise. DEFAMATION-it is the disclosure of untrue ,unfavorableperformance in information that damages an employees

reputation.


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MISREPRESENTATION-It is about disclosing untrue favorableperformance & this info causes risk & harm to others. When a past

employer provides a glowing recommendation for a formeremployee who was actually terminated because of poorperformance, the employer is guilty of misrepresentation. ADVERSE IMPACT-this is an unintentional discrimination. Example-women receive consistently lower performance ratings than men. ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION-Raters assign scores differentially tovarious employees based on factors that are not performancerelated,such as race,nationality,color or ethnic and national origin.


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R

Legally Defensible Appraisal Procedures Legally Defensible Appraisal content Legally Defensible Appraisal Results or Documentation Legally Defensible Raters

RECOMMENATIONS TO AVOID LEGAL SUIT


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1.Performance appraisals should not be

used in a merely punitive or retaliatoryfashion. It is grossly unprofessional for amanager or supervisor to use the

appraisal process to 'get even' with anemployee who has displeased or upset

them in some way.


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2.Appraisals should not be used todiscriminate against employees on the

basis of race, religion, age, gender,disability, marital status, pregnancy, or

sexual preference


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3.Performance appraisal results should be fair, accurateand supported by evidence and examples. For instance,

if an employee has poor interpersonal skills and isharming morale and group performance, the

supervisor might keep a log of incidents. Co-workersmay be interviewed and their views and reactions

recorded. The nature and effects of the employee's

behaviour should be documented


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4.An employee should have theopportunity to comment on theirappraisal result, to express their

agreement or otherwise, and to appealthe result or at least request a review by

up line supervisors


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5.Appraisals should be balanced,recording information on both the good

and the bad aspects of an employee'sperformance (as far as possible).


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6.Appraisals results should not be usedas the sole basis for promotion,

remuneration or termination decisions. Abroad range of information should beconsidered, in which the employee's

appraisal results may be significant butnot necessarily conclusive.


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7.Employees who receive a poor performanceappraisal result should be given a reasonable

chance to improve. Generally speaking, it is abad idea to dismiss, demote of otherwisepenalize an employee because of a single

adverse appraisal result (depending of courseon the nature and seriousness of the conduct

that underlies the poor result)


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8.Timely feedback should be provided,especially to marginal or poor performers. It is

not fair to offer zero feedback to a poorperformer for twelve months and then present

them with a bad appraisal. More frequentfeedback and guidance should be provided to

the Employees. A fair chance should be givento the Employees to correct the problem in a

timely manner


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9.Records should be retained. If an employeebelieves they have been dealt with unfairly,

they may have rights to instigate legal actionyears later. In the case of poor performers, orpersons dismissed or demoted, or those who

resign or leave in less than happy

circumstances, their appraisal records, togetherwith critical incident logs and other relevant

documents, be archived indefinitely.


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10.If an appraisal result is poor (or in any waylikely to be controversial or provocative), an

objective third party should be hired for theirviews on whether the appraisal result seems

fair and reasonable


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11.Appraisals should avoid inflammatory andemotive language. It should be of detached and

dispassionate style. The criticisms should relateto actual job requirements and not based onmere personal or other irrelevant issues thathave little or no connection with actual job

requirements


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12.Managers and supervisors required toconduct staff appraisals should be trained in

appraisal principles and techniques.Conducting performance appraisals is one of

the most demanding of all supervisoryactivities. It is a sensitive and sometimes

controversial task which, if mishandled, cancause serious damage to employee relations

and morale


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13.Appraisal results should be treated asprivate and confidential information. Record

storage should be secure and controlled. Onlypeople with an approved need to know should

have access to an employee's performanceappraisal information.


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HR Managers are expected to observe theperformance (or understand the potentials) in

order to judge its effectiveness. Yet, some HRManagers assign performance appraisal based

on unrelated factors (for example, theemployee is not loyal to the rator, or the ratee

belongs to a different cast or religion).


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the overall objective of high ethicalperformance reviews should be to provide an

honest assessment of the performance andmutually develop a plan to improve the ratees

effectiveness


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Managers and nonsupervisory employees alikecite concern about "politics and lack of fair

treatment, honesty, and truthfulness" inconnection with the performance review.


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Frequently, when unsuccessful candidates forpromotions are notified of the decision that

someone else has been selected they are nottold why. Often they are not told anything,

usually because the managers or supervisorsdo not feel equipped or skillful enough to

explain the reasons in a systematic and rationalway.


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Sometimes, major miscommunications occur in performance reviewsessions due to basic differences in ethical orientation. For example, thereviewer may say, "That report is a requirement, and we need to followthe rules of the organization." The person being reviewed may reply, "I

make a significant contribution to this organization, and I don't have timeto prepare reports that no one looks at. Judge me on what I accomplish."

What is going on here? The reviewer is concerned with decisions andactions that conform to basic principles and rules (adherence). The

employee appears to be oriented toward the outcome - the ends justifythe means (results). They are talking on two different, nonconnecting

planes. Unless the employee and the reviewer are successful innegotiating an ethical balance, each may view the other as taking unfair

shots - and the battleground will be the performance review process


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THANK YOU

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