an Iinpeiial Cättege Managemeät School Conference on Ethical Issues in Contemporary. Humañ Resource .... who are employed on short term contracts but.
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Ethical Issues of Teleworking Chris Moon and Celia Stanworth ,,Why does the maior enphasis appear to be on using telework as a cost-cutting mechanism, ippro"Ëh whicli ireats people as valued long-terrn assets?o This important rathór than as "o study exploring thË ättricat ambiguities ind chailenges of telgworkilg wasfirst presented at an Iinpeiial Cättege Managemeät School Conference on Ethical Issues in Contemporary Humañ Resource túanatemËnt in April last year, sp_onsoredjo11ü { nn-n};!K:.q" British
Chapter of the Europeä Business^ Ethics Ñetnrork, ana BUne, the British _U_niversities Industrial Relations Ässociation. Chris Moon is Senior Lecturer in Occupational Psychology and Human Resource Management at Anglia Business -School, Á1gli1-Polytechnic Park ConTerence Centre,-Danb_ury, Cl_elmsford CM3 4AT, as well as ùniversity, Danbury "nu"ines Ethics programmes at Imperial College Management School, teaching üre MBA iJsenior Lecturei in Human Resoutce Management at Stanworíh Celia Ùnivers"ity of London. the Business School, University of Greenwich, Riverside House, Woolwich, London SE18 6BU, and has published widely in the area of teleworking'
elework has been given prominence by t such writers as TofÃer (1981) and Handy (1989), by practitioners in the information and ielecomirünication industries, and by the UK government (Employment pepartment .1993' í99+¡ D"purtmeñt ôf Trade and brdustry 1994). Thê image of telework thus presented tends to emphalise the more positive aspects of this work form: ". . . it is one of the most flexible forms of work and this adaptability means that there are innumerable ways you can rux and match the ingredients-. . . the rewards could be greal . . J' (Empioyment Departm ent, 199 4, p' 29) Thus telework is presented as a liberating form of employment which gives individuals ;"t.""t"y to órganise their" own time, and to work in the cómfort of their own homes' There is freedom to access clients and customers via the 'information superhighway', allowing physically temote woricers to make meanin[firl äontacis through the technology' If thev are emplovees they are managed ln a coníext of hilh irust aná mutuality where their bosses mãtivate and lead rather than closely control. Furthermore, teleworkers retain"the same benefits of haining, advancement, equal pay and conditions as their officebaseá cöuntärþarts, and are included in the
f
long-term plans of the organisation. Selfemõloyed ieleworkers are also symbols of the 'enterprise culture' (Huws, 1'99L), where telework èan facilitate voluntary moves into self-employment, often as a Precursor- to
establisÎrin! a small business. The teleworker is often aésumed to be a professional or technical specialist, who possesses skills and
highly valuéd by clients. The pri:vaiting arcñetype in the literature is that irf Une hiáhly paid consultant working from rural surrounding. home in ã leafy This article will therefore focus on 'the realiff of teleworking' with reference to empirical data and case example. The impact of ihe wider business environment will be discussed in order to appreciate the diversity of working practices and introduce the human resõuñe implications of teleworking. The links between organisational characteristics and Human Resource Management (HRM) policies on rights will be used. as a Èasis fof recognising the rights and duties of emplovees and employers relating to tele*oikitrg, and a chartìr ior teleworkers will be experience^
Oxford OX4 UF @ Blackwell Publishers Ltd.7gg7.108 Cowley Road, and æ8 Main St, Cambddge, MA 021412, USA'
proposed.
The reality of teleworking There seems little doubt that the first occupational and sectoral groupings of teleworkers
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tfat pr¡sfred them into redundancy in the first place (cf Stanwo¡rh Amongsr the employeJ;;rkf;;;;lui"*-t ls st'1ü a small-scale phenomenon, with Huws, :19¿ f". Jtlu .ETploy-ent Departrnent (1ee3)
.
*d Sd;;ìt,igïÐ.
ryoTg aoout 6Yo of employôrs making use of Jeleworkers. A more ïecent Reed/Home
more. rapidty in the self_employed -T:yî worktorce than amongst ,corporatË, em_ ploy_e_es Far less attentiãn h* i"* iuià i" titer.atu_r9 (1part frãm ri"*í-äa¿, S"^-Yf, Þrocklehurst,
1999)
to
home_based
tele_ w.orkers who perform ,back offlcei fur,.riàrrs or a much more routine nature than
the first wave of teleworkers. These u." tt"-*ora_
Process operators and the data_entry clerks
or rnose employed in telesales. Thesä workers nave much more easily replaceable skills and 1 much weaker labour märket driti;;. For this group, wo_rk at home is Ut"lïlo ¡" row?arct and careerless, -"rå and employers
would be more likely to treat iË";'r, firm - fiexible, but not ir, tt u inclusive yna-rgrnal to the
version of the term.
y#.:" r'artnership study (1995) found that ot theú sample of fiims were making use !Ít:home-based ot teleworkers. Neverthäess, t: growing evidence ttut u*ftãy"r, 1:t: -and are
ln some cases worsening the terms conditions of teleworker, á"a"t""ài"g to treat work at home as a privilege grarrþã. Ti "ru T: "yTpl"s of women piofe"ssionals being
telgwo¡$ng ar u ïuy of reraining a :llu,tud hold on the labour market during faniity formation but on a self-employed rairer thai employed basis. Indeed, in the public sector there are teleworkers with teihnical skills
who are employed on short term contracts but 1¡ retu-sed hFj"g..Even with leading edge
go.mpanies,
at the forefront of
deve-l,opiñg
telework, the intensification of work hãs'leã to the erosion of the re_gular meetings between staff which ,pirii urr¿ prevented feelings of "r,rrrr"dt"um isolation. Thereãre even ,ex3mples of teleworkers in the financial sector
oemg downgraded with involuntary home Dasmg.
unrepresented and isoløted
. ,There are exceptions to this picture. The telecommurrications industry is^implement_ ing telework schemes u, í.o¿uir-ãî'nã"a practice for others to follow, .rrirrg rrolrrtt?"rr, equal pay, equal terms urr¿ emproyee status, all negotiated"oriaiuoir""a with the trade
of Teteõo* s*"""ti;uÐ rööz). l1,oT_J:o:'_.ry dogs tfe. major emphasis appear ro De on usin-g telework as ã cost_cüitins mecnarusm/ rather than as an approach whicf; treats people as valued long_te'rin;;;;ì;t-
,t:iyil
The Business Environment The external pre,ssures on work organis_ ations in the 1990s are tendinf to ïrive to adopt a focus :-ploy.:f cost-cutting,,and a short_termist ""-rï*ii"i""a uppioä.n rapour deployment. The develó¡iment to of g.lgb¿ produci and nþour markets, compe_ tition from the Far East, the--i-rìtã;;",i"i; nature of information and t"1""ä_ï""f_ we[ r"*"ìãåä"àäi" :l!.": technotogy,.as ano recurring recessions, ", all be fl:ill rnvolved. Ihe sovernment,s ownmay póücV of deregularing thã hbour an influencè on employe;r-'ääïir,åiäjJ ^u*"î'iï, "Jrärnuaa competition' has often bóen citeåìr ä'¡ìãä", term in persuading firms of tt Jåäpt more'flexible, working R"b"{r " """ãiã ;;'iräir"ll
ii
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@ Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1992
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old ethic of a long-term career with a steady employer is a thing of the past.
The danger is that short-term cost advantages may be offset by changes in the longer term. Thus being able to 'hire and fire' on a daily basis, according to Valerie farvis (Robinson, 1995), at the National Institute for
Economic and Social Research
in the UK,
to'up-skill'if 'jobs' and 'tasks' are the priority. This skills 'cul-de-
leads to a lack of incentive
sac' may be forestalled by differentiating work and providing for new products and services, but increasingly the routinisation of work is deskilling the worKorce, and staff are being displaced to 'paper factories' with less grades, fewer people and constant work flows. As the factories become increasingly more efficient, further redundancies will become inevitable, and the displaced workers may not have the necessary transferable skills to gain employrnent elsewhere. The banking industry in Britain has already
provided examples of this process in operation. úr the past employees were valued for their length of training and clerical skill acquisition; with the introduction of computers the 'mutual dependence' between employer and employee has diminished. At one major bank, staff are trained in just three weeks before being given full responsibility to deal with client accounting; and the head of this direct banking service has stated that educational qualifications are of no interest to her in assessing the suitability of prospective employees. Selection interviews are undertaken over the telephone, i.e., remote from the candidate; similarly, the performance of in-
dividuals is closely monitored by remote access; even 'idle time' is displayed on the so-called 'slave' board, a digital read-out
above the desks, for all to see. The experience at another major computer
company also exemplifies problems facing teleworking and teleworkers. The company shed half of its workforce in a massive costcutting programme saving €3.5 million already, and with the closure of another of its offices is set to save another €2.5 million. The justification for the dramatic change is that offices are expensive to rent and partused, and fledble working is described as the inevitable future of their kind of work. Consultants to the company have found that flexible-work has led to more effective use of time, but that morale amongst staff is low, and customers may be suffering as a result. The Director of the company recognises that this is not good for a customer-oriented company/ but he maintains that things will improve when customers realise that tñe hck of a 'visible' office does not mean that it will
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be difficult to eet hold of an employee; in fact,
the reverse ié trn", in that^wíth mobile communications and working from home the teleworkers are available ãt all times of the day and night. Some stafl however,
apPear not to shaie this conception of homeworking. The initial sense of abandonment feltby staff informed of the closures by E-mail was described by one member as a feeling of
having been emotionally raped. Those who retained jobs found that adãptation to teleworking meant working from home and being available 24 hours a day. Face-to-face contact with other staff was now minimal; the drop-in centre was cramped and rarely used to capacity - there being one desk per ten employees; and necessary face-to-f.ace meetings were conducted in hotel lobbies at motorway interchanges. The diðruption to family life can be paramount to home-workers, especially if their home facilities are makeshift and interfere with the daily routine (cf Haddon and Silverstone, 1.993), and the constant uncertainty about the continuance of work provides an incentive to do the task but not to identify with the product or service. Thus/ cost-driven short-termism will tend to inhibit the acquisition of job competencies among workers in the long-term, and no more than contingent loyalty can be expected from the work force. Real commitment cannot be created by job-insecurity and fear, but can only come from a more equal and reciprocal relationship between the parties. Toffler (1986) found that 66% of the ethical issues encountered by the managers she interviewed involved managing human resources or internal organisational processes, and that the widest legal exposure was to violations of the employer-employee contract. As Schwoerer et aI (1995) maintain, the protection of employee rights in the workplace is one of the fundamental questions facing organisations today; and Townley (1999 reõogni-ses that in many respec_ts lhe practice oi personnel/ HRM is the clarification of such riþhts.
may be in conflict with the employee,s right due process in selection testins (óaltonand Metzer, 1993; Munchus, 19g9)ïd dispute resolution (Ewing, 19g9). TÉe emplo\ier,s rrght to protect security, e.g., through "elec_ tronic surveillance, may be ãi odds ,iitn t¡" îifþy_"_{:,right to privacy (Stone and. Stone, f990). HRM practitioners- are charged with
afjer iI-11p1", Statute,r.equired
to_
navrng to establish balanced and -coherent strategies to, .protect both employee and employer rights. Schwoerer et a[ (IggS\ con_ ctucted research exploring the connections between- HRM poii"i"r"urrJ ,i*ti, '""¿ presented a table of what the iespective em.ployee and employer rights ;;;i{ i;r*" orthetr own study (see TaúIe 1.). For the United States of America the , ultimate framework for resolving of rights is the US Constitution. "The "ãr,ni.t, Euro_ pean context for the recognition of rights
was determined with tÉe Commuñity
Charter of the Fundamental Social Riehts of Workers adopted at the Strasbourg ,".l -it on 8th December L989 (van Gerwãn, 1994). An ethical basis for employees is set out und-er twelve headings: Urè fräe movement of workers within the Economic Community; 'fair' remuneration for employmen! tfre im_ provement and approximation of conditions of employment; social security; freedom of association and collective bargaining; voca_ tional training; equal treatmeni for rñen and ryomgn; information, consultation and parti_ cþation ¿ür¿mgements; health and safJty in the,workplage, young people; retired peóple; and disabled people.UK govern^ment opted out of the Social ^-The Charter adopted at the Strasbourg summit but, as van Gerr,r'en (1994) points õut, Europearr legislati-on prevails under the Treaty _of Rome; and with the European Court of Justice overruling national legiilation there is rncreasrng pressure to abide by European Community Law (cf Dickens, 1995).'For
'J.992,
European Company
companies to adopt a r¡io¿ét enaþling employeìs to 1or þarriciþate in the srrpervision
their
and slrategic åeveloþment,, of .companies (McHügh, tÐl¡.'rtrá-üasic
Premrse of this statute, according to McHugh,
is that every individual woiking in the company is a 'stakeholder, and shoúld share rn rewards and decision-making. This recog_ nises the. complementary naturõ of employer and employee rights and duties; a right'of one party implies the imposition of a dùtv on the
other one, and Jef van Genr¡en (1994) iresents a schematic outline of these major riËhts and duties ug_t!,9y lpply to the Europeär Com_
munity
(Table 2).
yut Genven (1994) points out, the right 4r duties and between paities are not svm_
metrical and cannot always be guarantéed. Questions arise as to which ri[ht should receive priority, who is to arbltrate over conflicts, and which. party ìs ultimately responsible for enforcing such rights: em_ ployer, government? hrðvitably, å under_ standing of how to address tÉe riehts and responsibilities of employers and eñplovees will be aided by an ünderstandine óf dusi ness and social ethics issues and caies. HRM practitioners will need to approach these issues with a clear understanãing of ethical theory and practice.
The teleological approach The contextual. a.pp-roach is recognised by Schwoerer .et al (1995) whereby e"thical de_ cision-making. is explained by the interaction or rndlvrctual and organisational factors. Ther_e has been quite "a body of *ort-ln the links befween HRM poticies and con_ textual factors, but little'research o.t' if," td: l"yqen emp_loyee rights f.ii.iã, contextual factors. Schwoerõr et àt did eggi) ""a
Table 1.
HRM policies on rights Employer and employee rights may be in conflict, and Ewing (198Þ) arsuês that organisations. are coming under -increasing pressure to develop Human Resource Management policies which protect those rights. Employer rights to be- as competitivõ as possible may conflict with emplõyee rights to fair treatment in a variety of situätions. For example, the 'employmeni at will' doctrine described by Rosen and Schwoerer (1990) @ Blâckw€ll Publisheß Ltd. 1997
Employee rights policies
Employer rights policies
privary of employee records employee access to records existence of ombudsperson
medical exam screening
free speech protection p
olicy infraction guidelines
exrstence of grievance committee
impartial arbitrators for disputes health and safety information
@ Blackwell Publishers Lrd. 1997
drug testing
non-competition agreement termination-at-will" avoidance of implied contracts psychological scieening electronic surveillance
background investigation
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Table 2
Employees' rights and duties
right to work right to just remuneration right to free associaton and to strike right to privacy and to normal family life freedom of conscience freedom of speech right to due process right to participation right to healthy and safe working conditions r-rght to work quality (job satisfaðtion) duty to comply with labour contract loyalty to the firm respect for current legal and moral norrns
Table 3: TeleologicøI eaøluation of flexible-working practices.
Employers' rights and duties no-discrimination rules for recruitment or conditions for firing respect for union pr"íurl"" and activities work-oriented cocie of cond.uct acceptance of criticism from workers without repression
of labour court jurisprudence in conflicts duty to inform and consult workers duty to guarantee health and safety duty to_improve the quality of woik demand of minimum þroductivity right to loyal co-operation requirement of correct behaviour in the accep,tance
worþlace
take six organisational characteristics and tested whether they were linked with formal
fundømentøI sociøl rights of
employee.rights policies. These were industry sector, unionisation level, size, labour supply,
teletaorkers
growth or decline, and business straiågy.
These authors found more formal policies ín larger firms, and more in manufactrlring than in services, and a positive correlation be"tween
unionisation and employee rights policies. Firms in decline häd 'more "poliËies for employees, but business strategy had little impact in this area, and tight or-loose labour markets also made littte difference. They concluded that:
.
some organisations are actively addressing workplace rights in a comprehensive
e
employees, ensuring high performance and maintaining organisational fl exibility. it is critical to achieve a good ,fit, between contextual factors and employee rights
policies.
The problem
with adopting such an instrumental view to the recògnition of employee rights is that employers may undertakä cóst_ benefit analyses which place more emphasis on consequences in the short-term. Sïch a coståenefit analysis in relation to teleworking has been drawn up by the authors and is shown tn Table 3. The cost-benefit anaþis is useful in recog_ nising a number of beneficial aspects õf teleworking and in highlighting k"y irr,r",
of control and coord'inat"ion, iut'it iáik l
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Benefits
Costs
reduced costs of centralisation
logistical and support costs
closer to customer,/targeting " of markets
:tart-up, lvranagement Information Systems and cost control mechanisms HRM and performance measurement cost of downsizing
empowerment/discretion rnno¡¡ation and service orientation flexibility and autonomy
responsiveness
creating identity/maintaining commitment
networks of best practice
åï"Tiåi'.X1Ë:itîîf
i
to a chieve
qu
aritv
adequately to take into account the duties of to respect fundamental social of teleworkers. To this end Townley liqlll (1994) reframes HRM in terms of a Foucauidian a1a,lysis and recognises the importance of visibility, voice, the rejection of technocracy, the value of experience and the integrity
employers
of the individual, thô importance of differËnce or. context, fragility of identity and the
-wavs rejection of-the privilege. In many the ,how; persónnel/ {glgyirrg sections suggest HRM practitioners Uegin to eriact change by making the work-canof teléwork more visib.ie
in terms of recognition and due resard for the particular skills which teleworkjrs have to offer.
The right to work Article I Part I of the European Social Charter recognises that 'everyone shall have the opportunity to earn their livine in an occu_ pation freely .91!e1ed upon . I.,. Ho*urr"r, van,Gervyen (199$ posiis that the rieht to work is ambiguous (for example, theie are different interpretations of whãt constitutes work), and member states u"""oi thu potul right but not enact the^uy júridicaî right into their legislative frameworkä. The authårs woLlld_ suggest that if employers ur" ,!r_ suaded to accept 'meta, rigirts'to work ('that is, the gradual realisation"of a risht wi'thin economic and political_limits) then"they may implement a policy which aicords *iit ttä moral right but allows contextual considera_ tions to be taken into account (cf Sen, 19g2). Thus employers may movu a*ày from ,em_ @ Blackwetl Publisheß Ltd. 1992
uncertainty of- being employed on a short_ Term contract for the duration of a particular project is replaced with a .o-^itånt frla guaranteed minimum length.to äfr? lru,s may blur the distinction befween core }nq.. p:rip¡ery and encourage functional uexlDrlrry (or multi_skilling) rather than just numerical flexibility (that"is, adiustmÀnìs to work hours or numb"rs or'*oíLãrrl. ^ÈRM
practitioners will need to ,".oerrir" tl." unique skills of the telewortãr"lîif,"i, -"*_ recruitment and selection pro""árr*r,
phasis will need to be plaåJ or, expertise and efficiency- but also"ofäu o"-qríufity and innovativeness. täleworkers ãfi"ï-r"rmanagement and analytical skills that de_
serve
-recognition and reward; and it is a mrstake for organisations to i"i", a 'remote' worKorce does not want toif",ut be involved in key-decision maki"g.--i;k"r, empowerment will not suffice, telãworkers
require a real sense of autonomy and control
over their work; HRM practitioíers wifneed to Je.spe-ct the telewor^ker,s right to privacy
be fgrtfrigh! in regenerafrg u ,är,r" of 11d gomml¡uV.in o1d9r to eìrgender õommitment trom all stakeholders,
The right to free association and participation The right to free association is explicit in _b_asic the -Uruversal Declaration of Humun Rigt t 1948, tn the Social Charter of the
Council of
Europe 1961-and in the f"rop"* õfr"rt", Fundamental Social Rights .i Work* fôSq. "¡ to van Genr,en (1.gg4), Ï:Tf?t:l -u.cording
üaoe uuons are morally required to defend the interests of a[ workdrr. rË;;"iã äl
