Lord Acton and Employment Doctrines

Name

Institution/Affiliation

Over an extended period, the relationship existing between the employer and the employee is gradually changing to a scheme that can be described as short-term employment system. According to Bowman and West (2007), presently individuals bear the responsibilities that have previously been managed by institutions, for example, individuals provide decisions on management issues. Subsequently, these changes have resulted in organizations adopting the at-will employment doctrine, a scheme that has been used to get rid of the protections enjoyed by an employee. The doctrine of at-will employment can be analyzed through the utilization of interdependence and complementary tools by “focusing on the utilitarian ethics, rule-based duty ethics, and virtue-based character ethics” (Bowman & West, 2007). The at-will employment doctrine decrees that an individual can only be employed for a given period albeit indefinite, with the employer or the employee reserving the authority to terminate the contract. The doctrine focuses on sanitizing the employment both in public and the private sector by eradicating spoils through the growing emphasis on the need and importance of ethics. Indeed, public management issues are solved by at-will employment.

The growth in appreciation of the at-will employment has increased concerns and reservations regarding “whether the doctrine is ethical” (Bowman and West, 2007).  Critics following Lord Acton have been quick to point out that the doctrine results in employees losing the element of job security; thus institutions are not guaranteed that the employees in question will improve on their levels of productivity. Additionally, the at-will employment provides employers with the chances to scale down on the workforce during tough economic times thus there is a serious issue revolving around job assurance. Further, critics argue that the at-will employment doctrine confronts the employees with the constant possibility of job loss; thus this can potentially prove to be a poor motivator. According to Bowman and West (2007), it is argued that "the expectations of enhanced productivity are likely to be dashed, with heightened cynicism and low morale the plausible outcomes as employees spend more time concerned about antagonizing the current political party than providing citizen services." Besides, there is substantial empirical evidence suggesting that productivity is profoundly affected by the lack of adequate job security among employees, further; the absence of job security affects the responsiveness of employees.