Danielle Nelson Final Project Presentation Outline Com 563 – Ethics July 19, 2015 Vacation Time vs. Sick Time The ethical dilemma Slide 1: Hello class! Welcome to Comm 563 – Ethics for Professionals. My name is Danielle Nelson, and I will be leading you through an exciting discussion today regarding vacation time versus sick time, and how it is used unethically in the workplace. Many of us have been there, if your place of work uses two separate “buckets” for your time off. Should you be allowed to use your “sick time” if you are going on vacation? Or is that unethical? Let’s dive into a real-­‐life situation, where our subjects were faced with a dilemma like this. Slide 2: First a quote, from our excellent and informative text, Ethics in Human Communication: “The most frequently observed forms of ethical misconduct [at work] were abusive or intimidating behavior and lying.” We all know lying is an issue, especially at work, as we have seen many of our co-­‐workers do it on numerous occasions for a variety of reasons. Do you think it ever ok? I think your first inclination would be to say, “Heck NO!” But what if it was for something good? What if it was for a valid reason? What if it meant time off to visit your family? This is where we meet our employee, Jeff. Slide 3: Meet Jeff. He is a 35-­‐year-­‐old guy who has been working for his company for over seven years. He is a mid-­‐level employee, and happy with his status at work. He comes to work, clocks in, does his job, and clocks out. He as accrued a hefty amount of vacation and sick time over the years, but had to use all of his vacation time this year when he won a trip to Hawaii on The Price is Right. A trip of a lifetime, right? The picture here is Jeff, in Hawaii. He looks happy, healthy, and at ease. He is a pretty lucky guy to get to spend 2 weeks, all expenses paid, in Hawaii. I know I am jealous! Well of course, Jeff’s family has decided to go on a vacation all together this year, and Jeff doesn’t want to miss this opportunity to get together with those he love the most. But sadly, he has no more vacation time to use. The destination of this family gathering, you may ask? Slide 4: The pillar of ethics in this country, Washington D.C. Our nation’s capital. Where one can learn all about how our Founding Fathers strived to create a better country for all, using the ethical principles we are studying today. The irony is not lost on me. So what is standing in his way? Slide 5: Well, this guy. Meet Casey, the supervisor. Casey was given Jeff’s request for time off to go to Washington D.C. for the week, but noticed Jeff didn’t have enough vacation time to go. Casey did mention Jeff had over 2 weeks of sick time available, but that could only be used for being sick yourself, doctors and dentist appointments, or a family illness. Unfortunately, Jeff did not have any vacation time available and could only go on the trip unpaid. Sadly, Jeff can’t afford to do that and go on another vacation. Slide 6: So here are Jeff’s choices: 1. Jeff can take the vacation, meaning he would run short on vacation time, and not get paid for the week off. 2. Jeff can lie (WHAT?!). Say he has a family emergency, because he knows he will never use all of his sick time, and use this sick time for the week. It is important to note that Jeff has never called in sick in his seven years at his company. 3. Last but not least, Jeff can skip the family vacation all together, earn more vacation time, and go to the family vacation next year. Slide 7: What could be the solution to all of this? A one-­‐bucket system. A recent New York Times article dove into the benefits of such a system. It claims, “The one-­‐bucket system increases flexibility and encourages honesty, said Lucy R. Ford, an assistant professor of management at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia: no more lying...” Also noted, “It also makes bookkeeping easier for employers, as they only have one type of time off to track. And younger employees — who may be healthier or not have children and therefore may leave more sick days on the table than older employees or parents — also can view the system as fairer, said Bruce Elliott, manager of compensation and benefits for the Society for Human Resource Management.” Just a thought, to all those HR Managers out there. So what was Jeff’s final choice? Slide 8: Jeff’s decided to claim a family emergency, and take the vacation to Washington D.C. He used his sick time to do this. The ramifications of doing so were not what you may think. Casey never found out, nor did he question Jeff’s time off. What did happen though, was Jeff felt guilty the entire trip, and was scared to post anything on social media (gasp!) all week for fear of being caught having fun. So in the end, was it worth it for Jeff to go on the trip? Slide 9: As we have learned in chapter three of Ethics in Human Communication, in the section entitled, “Kant’s Categorical Imperative,” Kant’s view is that all humans possess a rationality and a sense of right and wrong. According to Kant, we all have a duty to obey the universal absolute principals that are out there. Do you agree? Jeff knew what he was doing, and that what he was doing was wrong, but he did it anyway and ignored Casey in the process. But he felt guilty doing it. Do you think he went against the universal principals? Slide 10: As we’ve also learned in Chapter Seven of Ethics in Human Communication, in the section entitled, “The Ethics of Lying,” Sissela Bok distinguishes between intentional deception and intentional lying. Deception is the larger category, where lying is a subcategory of such deception. When we “communicate messages meant to mislead” others, using everything from gestures and actions, that is deception. Lying is only stated. So what did Jeff do? In this case, Jeff lied to his supervisor by not coming to work under false pretenses. His supervisor did not notice his actions, therefore they were not deceptive. Slide 11: Finally, here are my thoughts. First and foremost, I think Jeff made the right decision to go on the trip with his family, because I believe in the “one bucket system.” I don’t think we should have limits on how we can spend our earned time off. I know this is not the ethical decision, but I believe you should be able to use your paid time off as you see fit. The use of sick time, when taking a holiday or vacation, is unethical. Yes. But as with so much we have learned in this class, many things in ethics are not black and white. What seems is not always what is. Regardless of where you stand on how your organization uses its time off, I will conclude taking sick time when you are on vacation is unethical, by definition, even if I don’t agree. Slide 12: As we finish up, want to bring it back to the text with this great quote. We learned in week one, “A single lie does not necessarily make us a liar; but a series of lies may. And so each choice about what to do is also a choice about whom to be – or, more accurately, whom to become” (Johannesen, 11). I know ethics is vital for the success of any organization as a whole. Whether you work for a for-­‐profit bank, or non-­‐profit environmental organization, we are all faced with ethical dilemmas on a daily bases. While some unethical decisions are punished, many go completely unseen, or are not determined as unethical at all. So think about the decisions you make, and how they shape your work-­‐life. Slide 13: I have asked many questions to you during this presentation, but here are the three questions I would like you to focus on during this week’s discussion: Prompts: 1. Do you think it is unethical to use your sick time when you are going on vacation? Explain your answer. 2. Keeping in mind what you said above, do you think Jeff made the right decision to go on the vacation and use his sick time? 3. Do you agree with Kant that a “lie is always unethical?” Works Cited Johannesen, Richard L., Kathleen S. Valde, & Karen E. Whedbee. Ethics in Human th Communication. 6 Ed. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2008. Print. NYTimes.com “Trickier Time-­‐Off Policies as Employers Test New Ideas”. New York Times. 29 November 2014. Web. 9 July 2015.