The Impact of Contemporary Issues on the Workplace

Overview

Write a 2–3-page executive summary for organizational leadership describing a contemporary scientific, technical, or social issue impacting the workplace. By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:SHOW LESS

• Competency 1: Develop a foundational understanding of employment law and labor law.
  • Assess how relevant legislation affects the issue in the workplace.
• Competency 2: Analyze the application of legal thinking strategies to human resource management (HRM) law.
  • Describe a contemporary scientific, technical, or social issue, including how it has impacted the workplace.
• Competency 3: Apply legal thought to human resource (HM) practices in the workplace.
  • Analyze how the identified issue influenced (or could influence) employee productivity in a current or former organization.
  • Explain the impact of the issue from the perspective of an HRM executive.
  • Assess the ethical ramifications of the issue on HRM practices in the workplace.
• Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly and professional.
  • Communicate in a professional manner, using scholarly resources that support the analysis through clear, concise, well-organized, and grammatically correct writing that incorporates appropriate APA style conventions.

Competency Map

CHECK YOUR PROGRESSUse this online tool to track your performance and progress through your course.

Context

“It is an ancient conflict. Men have come close to the truth, but it was destroyed each time and one civilization fell after another. Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men” (Rand, 1943).SHOW LESSFrequently, conflicts can occur between workers’ desires and right to privacy and employers’ concerns about productivity, theft, or other illegal activities. While employees do not have full constitutional protection for their right to privacy in the workplace, employers must adhere to some restraints concerning workplace privacy.When considering workplace privacy, HRM professionals and attorneys often think in terms of informational and behavioral privacy. Informational privacy is the use of information about employees, and behavioral privacy is concerned with employees’ activities being free from observation or recording. It is also important to distinguish between informational privacy and confidentiality. Informational privacy concerns the subject matter collected, and confidentiality concerns the employee’s right to not have information disclosed to others.As in many areas of employment law, it is important to understand that there are constitutional protections usually only to the extent that employers are state actors. Another related area where the Constitution may be implicated is the constitutional right to privacy concerning medical information. Other protections have been carved out through federal and state statutes.The Assessment 3 Context document contains additional important information about employee privacy, covering the following topics:

• Privacy and the Government Employee.
• Background Checks.
• Medical Records.
• Credit Checks.
• Testing Employees.
• Keeping an Eye and Ear on Employees.
• OSHA and Safety.

Reference

Rand, A. (1943). The fountainhead. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.

Questions to Consider

As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.SHOW MORE

Resources

Suggested Resources

The resources provided here are optional. You may use other resources of your choice to prepare for this assessment; however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate, credible, and valid. The MBA-FP6249 – Organizations, Governance, and the Law Library Guidecan help direct your research, and the Supplemental Resources and Research Resources, both linked from the left navigation menu in your courseroom, provide additional resources to help support you.

Capella Resources

• Assessment 3 Context.

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Assessment Instructions

Preparation

Select a contemporary scientific, technical, or social issue that has an impact in the workplace to use for this assessment. Research at least one law-oriented article that discusses your selected issue.

Instructions

Write an executive summary for organizational leadership regarding a contemporary scientific, technical, or social issue impacting the workplace. Use headings to organize your writing and citations from course readings, workplace examples, or other relevant research to support your assertions. Include the following in your executive summary:

• Describe a contemporary scientific, technical, or social issue that has an impact in the workplace.
• Analyze how this workplace issue influenced (or could influence) employee productivity in your own current or former organization. Be sure to keep the organization anonymous.
• Explain the impact of the workplace issue from the perspective of an HRM executive.
• Assess how relevant legislation affects the selected issue in the workplace.
• Assess the ethical ramifications of the issue on HRM practices in the workplace.

Communicate in a professional manner, using scholarly resources that support the assessment through clear, concise, well-organized, and grammatically correct writing that incorporates appropriate APA style conventions.

Additional Requirements

• References: Support your assertions with citations from the suggested materials in the Resources, workplace examples, and any relevant additional research.
• Format: Use proper APA style and format for in-text citations and references.
• Length: 2–3 double-spaced, typed pages, in addition to the references page.
• Written communication: Demonstrate graduate-level writing skills through accurate communication of thoughts that convey the overall goals of the assessment and do not detract from the message.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.