So do employers have any responsibility to their employees at all?

[Deja Q]

Not entirely related to this thread, but I thought I'd be curious.

Should employees who have really good, loyal records be given chances to advance and education as well?

How about new employees who are hired and haven't past their probationary period?

[blues90]

1. I feel they should

If an employer wants good employees then I feel it is in their best interest to provide training and promotions . Instead I see only their desire to save a buck and fire good employees .

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. A few, which should be written into law.

Like paid yearly vacation, due notice, severance pay, overtime pay, sick leave, etc. The basics. Which many employees don't get.

Above that, I don't really think it's the company's obligation. (Although it may be the smart thing to do)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

3. Training new people is expensive, but American business does it the expensive way.

They hire loads of people, fire them, then hire a few more new people they have to train, instead of promoting from within. Totally insane and expensive.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. An employer who expects reciprocity does. n/t

[Igel]

10. That's mostly been my experience.

Not entirely, though.

There have been employers that didn't care and treated their employees like crap, and employees that assumed whatever their employer did was the least s/he could do and treated their employer like crap.

[Robbien]

5. The federal government departments which regulated employers

have all been gutted and loyal GOPer bushies have been put in charge.

So no, these days employers really have no responsibility to their employees other than what they choose to give them.

[William769]

6. I have a good answer but it would cause a flame war, and I'm all flamed out today.

[Donnachaidh]

7. define good loyal records

:shrug:

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Not really. Although I'm big on...

the "social contract" thing and believe employers have ethical responsibilities beyond basic pay, safety, etc., there really isn't any good reason to enforce anything beyond a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

Take productivity:

Historically, at least in the last century, if an employer bought a machine that allowed an employee make twice as many widgets with about the same amount of work, the employee would get a raise to share in that increased productivity. That's the social contract that we all share the wealth, and it's one of the great contributions of unions.

But, the employer bought the machine, maintains it, and trained the employee to use it, so if the employee isn't doing any more work, why share the wealth? That's getting closer to a utilitarian view of labor-- labor is simply a commodity to be purchased at the lowest cost.

The one place both sides can probably best meet is to allow labor some of the spoils of ownership-- profit sharing, stock ownership, etc, but that doesn't really settle so many of the other problems we're seeing.

[Joe Fields]

9. Not new employees, but I do feel that employers owe their employees

more than a paycheck. In believe a good and conscientious business owner recognizes that the success or failure of their business rests on the backs of their employees, and that the employees are indeed that company's greatest asset, above and beyond what that company manufactures or markets.

I have always felt that employers should do an array of benefits for their employees. It helps to promote loyalty and good morale.

[treestar]

11. Yes, but the enterprise has to be making money

You can't employ people if your company isn't making money.

Few people have been on the side where you are the employer. I have, and I can tell you that if you are a good worker you have way more power than you think, at least in smaller companies. There are so many out there who actually take advantage of their own employer. It's hard to find somebody who puts making money for the company first, in realization of their own true self interest, that is, if this company makes money, I will be along for that ride. Too many are short sighted and don't see that if they conribute nothing and trash the enterprise, they've killed the golden goose, metaphorically speaking.

So few Americans get the concept behind capitalism. It doesn't have to be a bad system. It usually works pretty well, look at how rich this country got. It's just that so many have a screwed up and short term view of what their self interest really is.

[Flatulo]

12. I worked for a compnay that was so ill-managed, they would...

... have a massive layoff, then within a few weeks rehire most of the laid-off people as contractors at 2X the pay. They somehow thought they were saving money.

I now fortunately work for a very smart company that seems to value its employees. We get lots of opportunities for continuing education, and for the first time in 25 years, a manager actually sat down with me to discuss a career plan. I told him my only goal was to not get fired.