DQ 1 - Ageism

The purpose of this discussion is to give you the opportunity to apply ethical theories to the complex issue of ageism in the workplace, particularly in the area of employment. In the modern workplace, there appear to be the following three key issues that exhibit ageism in employment, some of which have been exacerbated by recent economic issues and an aging population:

• Older job seekers fight ageism as a barrier to re-employment
• Younger job seekers have trouble obtaining career entry
• Evidence in many countries highlights that older worker employment and youth employment are not connected in any way

This last point is generally known in economics as the lump of labor fallacy, which challenges the view that if older workers are employed in a tight labor market, then they must be occupying the jobs of the country's youth. Prepare and post a response to the following prompt:

Using at least one ethical perspective or theory from the text and one item of scholarly evidence, present an argument to a group of younger workers (regarding older worker and youth employment) in which you refute the notion that older workers take employment from the young.

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required resources and/or other scholarly sources, and properly cite any references in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

 DQ 2 - Regulating Off-Duty Conduct

The purpose of this discussion is to give you the opportunity to apply ethical theories and perspectives to modern issues of the workplace. Off-duty conduct away from the workplace can be monitored and reported in many ways. These ways have only grown due to the increase in social media use, which provides employers far greater opportunities to become aware of what employees do outside of the workplace. Some types of behaviors are especially concerning, as they may have on-duty consequences. Other types of off-duty behavior, however, are more difficult to clearly define as grossly inappropriate and warranting employer intervention. But who draws this line, and what are the ethical implications of where the line is drawn? Prepare and post a response to the following prompt:

Using the resources provided, your own research, and your knowledge of the ethical concepts from the text, consider the issue of off-site monitoring of conduct:

• Considering your own work experience, imagine a circumstance in which your supervisor monitored your behavior off the job. Describe the circumstances, including how and why your conduct was monitored.
• Would you consider your example to involve a minor, moderate, or severe invasion of an individual's privacy? Explain your reasoning. Share your unemotional, well-defined, evidence-based response to your boss to support your viewpoint.
• What issues do you believe led to your employer monitoring you? Use one ethical theory or perspective to help support your employer's viewpoint, and use a scholarly source as your evidence.
• What about your viewpoint as the employee? Use one ethical theory or perspective to support an employee's right to privacy outside of work, and use a scholarly source as your evidence.