Employee Rights in the Age of Automation

This assignment examines the challenges and opportunities presented by robotic technology and artificial intelligence in the workplace. It analyzes how automation can lead to job displacement and the need for worker reskilling. The document proposes solutions like government intervention through revised tax structures, increased funding for education and training programs, and regulations to prevent employee surveillance.

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Business Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Research Issue.................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the Issue: Root Causes of the Problem.........................................................................5
Proposed Actions and Resolutions: 3 Major Goals.........................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference List..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction:
With the advent of science and technological progress, automation or automatic control
of the operational equipments of the organization enable the management authority of an
organization accomplish its daily mechanical activities without depending on a huge workforce.
While the scope and economic benefits of automation is enormous, simply because it facilitates
the creation as well as application of technology, that can help in monitoring the delivery of
products and services, its impact on the basic employment rights of the workers of the industry is
terrible (Beck, 2014). Such a capital-intensive approach, though can be termed beneficial for the
organization itself, it cannot be termed beneficial for the human resources working across the
globe. This paper intends to discuss the potential problem of replacement of human resources by
the robots and technological tools, analyse the issue of violation of employee rights, and suggest
the ways this problem can be addressed through effective recommendations.
Research Issue:
The increased reliance of the organizations on technology can cause violation of the
employee rights, simply because each of the employees working in an organization has the right
to be retained in the company as long as he is willing to work productively. However, the
implementation of automated tools and equipments in the organization will always be likely to
lead to the termination of services. Again, it is no less important to state that by installing
automated surveillance system in the organization (Investigator 2.0 and Silent Watch), an
employer can keep a track on every keystroke the employee makes on the computer. This is also
an example of the violation of employee rights of privacy (Arntz et al., 2016). Considering the
detrimental impact of automation on business, it is important to understand how automation is

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harming the basic employment and privacy rights of the employees, and how the same can be
addressed in future.
Discussion:
Before analysing how automation is contributing to the violation of the basic rights of the
employees, it is important to understand the concept of employee rights and what it comprises of.
Each of the workers working in an organization is expected to enjoy a set of legal and human
rights, which includes right to equality, fair compensation, right to privacy and freedom, and just
and favourable conditions of work. However, despite the strict regulatory framework protecting
the rights of the workers, the workers are on the verge of being replaced by robots and automated
tools, that can produce similar work at lesser cost and higher efficiency rate (Bessen , 2016).
Now, the continual and relentless pressure on every organization, conducting business in a
highly competitive market, to reduce the operational cost, is compelling various companies to
utilize technological innovation to produce goods and offer service in a cost-effective way.
Consequently, it is needless to state here that starting with check-in terminals to any
sophisticated manufacturing company, most of the recognized organizations have found their
ways on automating their operational process in an effort to reduce the operational cost. It is
profitable for any company to replace its worker by machines and robots, as they would never
bargain for higher pay, nor will take lunch breaks and sick leaves (Autor, 2014). However, each
worker is entitled to a variety of workplace rights, and one of the important employment laws
clearly states that no employee can be dismissed from his job without having any authentic and
justified reason. However, automation is bound to lead to the violation of this basic worker
rights. There is no gain stating the fact that already a large number of service and manufacturing
companies have started replacing their workers with machines and robots. Especially, the jobs

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which require repeatable duties and more manual labour can easily be replaced, though human
cognition is also likely to lead to the problem. While rising unemployment in various sectors is
indeed a major problem across the globe, the loss of job security of the female workers is even
greater than the male counterparts. The specific organizational sectors where usually the women
are employed, such as cash registrar operators or supermarket sorters, the sectors can easily
accomplish the organizational procedures without any human assistance. The employment right
of job security is at stake as more and more employees are losing out their jobs to robots and
technological devices. According to a recent research study conducted by Oxford University,
approximately 47% of the jobs of today’s world are likely to be automated away in the coming
20 years (Brown, 2016).
Again, it is equally important to note here that the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission has also stated that each employee working in an organization should be offered the
basic right to enjoy privacy at workplace (John et al., 2015). The automated devices and tools are
able to monitor the click stream data as well and while there is nothing wrong in monitoring the
performance of the employees at workplace, having technological access to each and every
whereabouts of the employees is highly unacceptable, and results in the violation of the basic
employee rights. The 1990 survey conducted by the American Management Association claimed
that approximately 45% of the US companies conducted some or other sort of surveillance on the
daily activities, and not just performance, of the employees (Groover, 2016). Thus, though this
point is less acknowledged, there can be no punt denying the fact that automation not only leads
to the violation of job security rights, but also their rights to privacy as well. While there can be
no harm in the employer trying to gain access to the work-related information of the specific
employees, it is highly objectionable if the employer is trying to gain access to the personal

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information of the employees as well. If automation encroaches upon the privacy of the
employees, it is highly important to address the issues and adopt strategies that can protect them
from privacy suits.
Analysis of the Issue: Root Causes of the Problem:
There is no gain stating that automation has led to the creation of much panic and anxiety
amongst the workers working in an organization. While in the era of automation and
technological innovation, unemployment is emerging to be a major problem, challenging
employee well-being, it is important to analyse the probable causes of the issue. First of all, it has
become the easiest option for companies to replace the human workers by robots, simply because
they are more productive and efficient at work, and yet cannot complain of exploitation of
labour. It is important to mention here that SaviOne, a recent robot can act as an efficient butler,
delivering snacks and drinks to each hotel room, rand riding the elevator, and working
continually, without taking rest or going to the bathroom. Most importantly, there is no staff
turnover issue with the robots at a time, when American Hotel and Logistic Association claims
that it experiences the problem of staff turnover of around 50% in non-management staff
designations (Sergeyev, 2017). Not only the service industry, but the manufacturing and food
processing industry is also experiencing technological disruption leading to employee
termination of service. A US food processing company, Momentum Machines, had created a
burger flipping robot that is capable of producing burgers every 10 seconds, and needless to state
that its efficiency rate is much higher than that of any human worker. This clearly shows how an
increased rate of automated machine efficiency is an important reason why workers’ rights to job
security are getting violated. At the same time, it should be noted that lower headcount implies
lesser expenditure on employees and higher revenue growth. No wonder, Facebook’s 2012

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acquisition of Instagram with just 13 employees bears testimony to the same. By contrast, Kodak
was filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and it had employed 145,000 people during its peak (Elleithy &
Sobh, 2016). Again, similarly, the reason behind the use of automation in monitoring personal
information of the employees lies in the fact that they want to ensure the productivity at
workplace, and prevent the distraction of the employees at workplace owing to the presence of
internet. Besides, they also wish to guard the trade secrets from being divulged by any of the
employees to a third party.
Proposed Actions and Resolutions: 3 Major Goals:
Technological innovation and resultant automation are highly progressive issues, and
blocking innovation will be nothing more than a short-sighted step. However, since robotic
technology is leading to the destruction of jobs, it is important to recommend a few actions that
can help in the protection of employee rights. First of all, the individual decisions by the
companies will only lead to employee exploitation. Hence, collective solutions are needed
whereby the government, academic institutions as well as the private companies and labour
unions should come forward to re-skill and re-tool the human resources, so that they can be
provided unique skills and expertise which will make them irreplaceable. The next way of
persevering employee right is governmental intervention in revising the tax structures of the
companies. As companies will boost more profit by shedding workers, and automating their
works, they will increase the liability of the government to look after more and economically
dependent, jobless workers. These organizations should be compelled to pay a higher trade tax to
the government, as well as a labour and employment law tax, for compensating the loss of jobs
of a minimum number of employees. The fear of paying additional tax can definitely help in
reducing the problem. Similarly, to prevent employee surveillance, the US government should

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formulate sound rules that can control and limit the surveillance coverage of the employees at
workplace.
Conclusion:
While the advancement in robotics and artificial intelligence helps a company boost its
revenue and sales growth, it is also likely to put a vast amount of labour force out of work.
Hence, it is recommended to upgrade the skills of the workers, and enable them to work more on
jobs that require creativity and human cognition rather than mere manual labour. Human
cognition is still irreplaceable, and will continue to be the same in the decades to come.

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Reference List:
Arntz, M., Gregory, T., & Zierahn, U. (2016). The risk of automation for jobs in OECD
countries: A comparative analysis. OECD Social, Employment, and Migration Working
Papers, (189), 0_1.
Autor, D. H., Dorn, D., Hanson, G. H., & Song, J. (2014). Trade adjustment: Worker-level
evidence. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(4), 1799-1860.
Beck, U. (2014). The brave new world of work. John Wiley & Sons.
Bessen, J. E. (2016). How computer automation affects occupations: Technology, jobs, and
skills.
Brown, R. K. (Ed.). (2016). The changing shape of work. Springer.
Elleithy, K., & Sobh, T. (2016). 2016 Annual Connecticut Conference on Industrial Electronics,
Technology and Automation (CT-IETA) University of Bridgeport Bridgeport,
Connecticut, USA October 14-15, 2016.
Groover, M. P. (2016). Automation, production systems, and computer-integrated
manufacturing. Pearson Education India.
John, K., Knyazeva, A., & Knyazeva, D. (2015). Employee rights and acquisitions. Journal of
Financial Economics, 118(1), 49-69.
Sergeyev, A. (2017). Meeting Twenty-first Century Robotics and Automation Workforce Needs
in the USA. In Robotics in STEM Education (pp. 171-194). Springer, Cham.