Newspaper columnist contract negotiation and employment decisions

¶ … Ethical Dilemmas

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An office worker had a record of frequent absence. He used all his vacation and sick leave days and frequently requested additional leave without pay. His supervisor and co-workers expressed great frustration because his absenteeism caused bottlenecks in paperwork, created low morale in the office, and required others to do his work in addition to their own. On the other hand, he felt he was entitled to take his earned time and additional time off without pay. Was he right?

While the office worker has a legitimate reason to make use of his allotted vacation time, as this stipulation was likely agreed upon in his employment contract, choosing to request additional time off without pay presents a more complicated moral dilemma. In this case, the worker is technically entitled to take time off if he is not being compensated, but doing so necessarily affects his coworkers and colleagues in an array of negative ways. For Aquinas, this would be considered the classic offense and not true sin, as the worker is consciously failing to do what we ought to do and "gives not of his own to whom he should give, which is a sin of omission" and not commission. In terms of the ultimate application of good and evil, this situation illustrates Augustine's contention that "all which is corrupted is deprived of good," because while this worker is obviously acting without malice, his inconsiderate lack of commitment to his profession has become a serious detriment to the welfare of his colleagues. Both Aquinas and Augustine would disapprove of this worker's behavior, but while Aquinas would view him as a sinner guilty of failing to act according to moral precepts, Augustine would simply lament mankind's willful deprivation of God's good grace.

-- Rhonda enjoys socializing with fellow employees at work, but their discussion usually consists of gossiping about other people, including several of her friends. At first Rhonda feels uncomfortable talking in this way about people she is close to, but then she decided it does no real harm and she feels no remorse for joining in.