The Ethics of Drug Testing In the Employment Setting (Essay Sample)

The Ethics of Drug Testing In the Employment Setting
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Abstract
Testing for drug use is a highly controversial trend, especially within employment settings. Some feel it is an unnecessary expense that is unrelated to job performance. Others feel it is a way of protecting employers and society from being hurt by drug-impaired employees. However, most of the debate about drug testing in employment setting have focused on the issue of employee privacy rights and what kind of considerations outweigh the rights. The author of the article claims that the responsibility for the actions of employees or individuals does not entitle employer or anyone whatsoever to do absolutely anything to control employees or individuals behaviors and that employees are entitled to the right of privacy when it comes to drug testing within the employment settings. Therefore, this paper examines the claim that employees have some rights to privacy since it is an important civil right and a core for the protection of individual self-governance.
According to the article by Moore (1989), there are good reasons that employees have moral privacy rights concerning the issue of drug testing within employment settings. The author examines an argument that employers are responsible for harms caused by employees who are under the influence of drugs; therefore they are entitled to test their employees for drug use. However, the author claims that employees have rights to privacy; therefore, the argument seems to bypass the issue of privacy. There seems to be no need to determine the ethical issue of employee privacy rights altogether to make the argument work. It turns on a different set of principles concerning conditions of responsibility. Therefore, the author opposes the argument.
Some evidence supports the privacy rights. For example, Brenkert (1981) developed the concept that privacy is violated when one acquires information about another when not entitled to. Also, one might say that when an employee accepts a job, he/she give up all rights except those stated in the employment agreement but this makes employment contract looks like employees are selling themselves and forcefully accepting the status of things without rights and it overlooks the fact that privacy rights are indisputable (Beauchap & Bowie, 1983, p.247). Therefore, the role of the article is to determine whether drug testing at workplace indeed violates employee’s privacy rights and the reason to believe that employees have some rights to privacy.
Now, the responsibility for the actions of employees or individuals does not entitle employer or anyone whatsoever to do absolutely anything to control employees or individuals behaviors. For example, if an employer asks an individual for a urine sample at work and the urine indicates that he/she took a drug substance the night before, this is not relevant to the workplace. Meaning, one took a drug while on his/her own time, and he/she is not under the influence of the drug while at work. Therefore, it is none of the employer's business on what an employee does on his/her personal time. As a leader in an organization, it is a requirement to maintain employee privacy rights, treat all employees equally and fairly.
In a working environment, employers or leaders are role models to employees. Their behaviors are closely observed by employees to see if they correspond to the organization’s ethics and values. Leaders influence the corporation culture hence the long-term effectiveness of the organization. In addition, leaders set the context within which organizational staffs strive to work together to achieve organizational goals and help to shape corporate culture which leads to performance drive. According to Glanz (2002), the best leadership styles conclude that effective leaders exhibit virtues such as courage, empathy, judgment, impartiality, enthusiasm, humility, and imagination. The best leaders continue to expand their knowledge, update their business strategies, maintain corporate smooth operations and high production levels, and motivate staff confidence. Leaders who incorporate good ethics and learn corporate social responsibility operate a business free of worry concerning their future because their practices support the shareholders and the environment rather than exploiting or deple...