Ethical Issue of Long Work Hours
Ethical Issue of Long Work Hours
Xinyu Zhou
Grad 6
Taught by Dr. Mark Smith
Introduction
Today, long work hours have become a significant issue. For employees’ health and the normal operation of the society system, ethical issue of long work hours should be cared more. Countless evidence shows that long work hours increase the workers’ risks for injury and disease. For instance, a research by American government estimates that long work hours increase the possibilities for injuries by 61%. Also, long work hours can easily cause some diseases such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and over fatigue (Dembe et al., 2005). The diverse effects related to long work hours are also associated with the social stability. Some employees are illegally forced to overtime work by the unethical work schedules of companies. Employees are the foundation of social operation. Thus, the dangers associated with long work hours that endanger laborers might negatively impact on the social stability as well (Dembe, 2008). Even though some workers may voluntarily work additional hours motivated by the potential to obtain a higher salary, they cannot be responsible for their family at the same time. Families are also the basics of the society. If families are incomplete, how does the society healthily develop? Consequently, long work hours negatively influence the health of employees, and it may also disturb the function well of the society system as well, so the ethical issue of long work hours should be resolved.
Historical situation of long work hours
Negative effects about the ethical issue of long work hours have been paid attention since 19th century. Among ethical experts in 1820, the Industrial Revolution first caused a discussion about harsh working conditions and long work hours (Atack & Bateman, 1991). For the health and welfare, employees exert strike against business owners for higher pay and better job security.
Xinyu Zhou
Grad 6
Taught by Dr. Mark Smith
Introduction
Today, long work hours have become a significant issue. For employees’ health and the normal operation of the society system, ethical issue of long work hours should be cared more. Countless evidence shows that long work hours increase the workers’ risks for injury and disease. For instance, a research by American government estimates that long work hours increase the possibilities for injuries by 61%. Also, long work hours can easily cause some diseases such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and over fatigue (Dembe et al., 2005). The diverse effects related to long work hours are also associated with the social stability. Some employees are illegally forced to overtime work by the unethical work schedules of companies. Employees are the foundation of social operation. Thus, the dangers associated with long work hours that endanger laborers might negatively impact on the social stability as well (Dembe, 2008). Even though some workers may voluntarily work additional hours motivated by the potential to obtain a higher salary, they cannot be responsible for their family at the same time. Families are also the basics of the society. If families are incomplete, how does the society healthily develop? Consequently, long work hours negatively influence the health of employees, and it may also disturb the function well of the society system as well, so the ethical issue of long work hours should be resolved.
Historical situation of long work hours
Negative effects about the ethical issue of long work hours have been paid attention since 19th century. Among ethical experts in 1820, the Industrial Revolution first caused a discussion about harsh working conditions and long work hours (Atack & Bateman, 1991). For the health and welfare, employees exert strike against business owners for higher pay and better job security.
References: Atack, J. and F. Bateman, (1991), Whom did Protectionist Legislation Protect? Evidence from 1880, National Bureau of Economic Research Historical Working Paper No. 33, Cambridge, MA. Barton, J., J. Aldridge and P. Smith, (1998), The Emo- tional Impact of Shift Work on the Children of Shift Workers, Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health 24(Suppl 3), 146–150. Burke, R.J, (2008), Working to Live or Living to Work: Should Individuals and Organizations Care? Journal of Business Ethics (2009) 84:195–208 Dembe, A Dembe, A.E, (2008), Ethical Issues Relating to the Health Effects of Long Working Hours, Journal of Business Ethics (2009) 84:195–208 Golden, L Jacobs, J. A. and K. Gerson (2004), The Time Divide: Work, Family and Gender Inequality, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA Kuhn, P Scott, A. (2000), Work and Health, Primary Care 27, 1057–1079. Whaples, R. (2001), Hours of Work in U.S. History, Retrieved from http://www. eh.net/encyclopedia/article/whaples.work.hours.us. Understanding Foxconn, Wordpress (Mar 8, 2011), Retrieved from http://understandingfoxconn.wordpress.com/ Yang, H., P