Balancing Act: Ethical Considerations in Remote Work for Achieving Work-Life Balance
This is a Master’s Business Ethics course. Here is the instructions from syllabus:
Your research paper is a key element of your grade; however, it is intended to be an endeavor that will benefit you as you address ethical issues in your current or anticipated work environment. Your final submission will be graded on six primary factors: plus the Turnitin Similarity Check (8 points), cover page with honor code (2 points), content and format (5 points), grammar and punctuation (8 points), readability and organization (10 points), originality (15 points), and master's level work (20 points) for a total of 60 points plus 8 for Turnitin. Your final product should not be over five double-spaced pages of text, excluding the cover page and references, appendix, or bibliography. The cover page is to include your name, topic title, course designation, date, and class honor code (see Class Honor Code below) and an abstract of your paper (abstract can be on a separate page, if needed). Use the APA format to organize your paper. Since the paper/project is a significant portion of your grade, I encourage you to begin winnowing ideas early and find a topic that interests you, will be of benefit in your professional area and is do-able within the time frame of this class. Please, please understand that via appropriate services (Turnitin), I do check the sources, originality, and references to your work. Show me what you have gleaned from your readings, literature review, and research (surveys, interviews, etc.); discussions with peers and group-mates; and personal experiences, however, do not tender as your own the re- encapsulated work of others. Note that your research is to include an element of original research (interviews, survey, etc), not merely a review of current literature. Use of AI or commercially available sources is strictly prohibited and will result in a zero on this assignment.
For Coworkers:
1. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree), how would you rate your ability to maintain a work-life balance while working remotely?
2. Have you ever felt pressured to work longer hours while working remotely? If yes, please describe the circumstances.
3. Do you believe your employer provides clear guidelines for remote work expectations, including working hours and availability? (Yes/No)
4. Have you experienced any challenges in setting boundaries between work and personal life when working remotely? Please describe.
5. how frequently do you communicate with your colleagues and supervisors while working remotely? (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Rarely)
6. Are you concerned about the potential invasion of your privacy (e.g., through remote monitoring) while working from home? (Yes/No)
7. Have you encountered any ethical dilemmas or conflicts related to remote work? If yes, please provide an example.
For Family Members:
1. how has the shift to remote work impacted your family member’s availability and engagement in family activities?
2. Have you noticed any changes in your family member’s stress levels or work-related concerns since they started working remotely?
3. Do you believe your family member has been able to maintain a healthy work-life balance while working remotely?
4. Have there been any conflicts or challenges within the family due to the remote work arrangement? If yes, please describe.
5. In your opinion, has remote work had a positive or negative impact on your family member’s well-being and overall happiness?
6. Do you think your family member’s employer is supportive of their work-life balance when working remotely? (Yes/No)
7. Are there any ethical concerns or dilemmas that your family member has discussed with you regarding their remote work? If yes, please provide details.
These survey questions should help you gather insights from both coworkers and family members about the ethical considerations and challenges related to remote work and work-life balance and can be included in the appendix.
I have not worked on the project at all.
Balancing Act: Ethical Considerations in Remote Work for Achieving Work-Life Balance
Author’s Name
Topic Title
Course Designation
Class Honor Code
Date
Balancing Act: Ethical Considerations in Remote Work for Achieving Work-Life Balance
Abstract
Working remotely is the new norm, and many individuals have become accustomed to it. Specifically, it has merits and demerits. However, the primary focus of this paper is on the balancing act of ethical considerations in remote work for achieving a work-life balance. The researcher emphasized studies involving employees working from home and interviewed several people to gain a proper insight into what it entails to have a work-life balance. Notably, it has become clear that despite the flexibility of working remotely, achieving a work-life balance is challenging. Employers have not set proper guidelines on the availability and working hours for remote workers. Moreover, there exist numerous disruptions in the remote working environment that make it hard for employees to have a balanced work and life.
Working remotely has become ubiquitous. Numerous companies are allowing employees to work from home. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic fueled this transition of working remotely to avoid contracting the deadly virus. In addition, technological advancement has made it possible for people to work from home since there exist platforms or websites where employers can monitor their employees’ job performance, commitment, and productivity. Nevertheless, despite working from home giving workers flexibility, it has disadvantages, including a work-life imbalance. Many individuals working remotely find it challenging to balance work and life. In some cases, these employees find themselves fully engaged with work activities even at night or during their leisure time. They fail to attend to family, friends, or community occasions since they always have something to do. The paper focuses on the balancing act, which entails ethical considerations in remote work for achieving work-life balance.
In particular, it is challenging to achieve a work-life balance when working remotely. The concept of work-life balance can be understood as balancing the time that a person is working and engaging in social activities, including keeping in touch with family members and friends. However, achieving work-life balance while working from home requires proper planning and time management skills. In some cases, even with these skills, it becomes difficult to balance work and life since there might be urgent projects that need an individual’s attention. Shirmohammadi et al. (2022) argue work-life balance is an individual-level concept, which equates with incompatibility or lack of conflict between work roles and employees’ families (Shirmohammadi, Au, & Beigi, 2022). For sure, there exist numerous variables that might hinder work-life balance, including the availability of resources required to complete a project, disruption from family members at home, sickness, and how well a person understands the task to be accomplished. For instance, an individual might be assigned a task to finish within 48 hours. However, if the worker feels unwell for the first 24 hours, it means that regardless of the complexity of the project, it must be completed within the remaining 24 hours. Another factor that might hinder the employee from achieving work-life balance is technical Internet connection problems. As such, balancing work and life while working remotely is easier said than done.
Although some studies argue that remote working contributes to positive impacts on workers, including reduced family conflicts and work-life balance, others deny it. Working from home can occur when an organization allows its employees to undertake their duties remotely or for self-employed people, freelancers. In these two instances, working from home is not easy since it blurs the boundaries between family and work (Wolor, Nurkhin, & Citriadin, 2021). For example, assume that an individual is married and has children. Even if one has set up a home office, it can be extremely challenging to restrict children from entering the office. In some instances, the disruption from family members can make it difficult for a person to concentrate so that one can complete the assigned tasks. In reality, close family members of the employees working from home demand more attention, affection, and time (Wolor, Nurkhin, & Citriadin, 2021). All these disruptions of remote workers might make it more challenging for them to balance work and life since they are likely to engage in other things when they are supposed to be working. However, the lost time is compensated by working when a person should be resting or socializing with family members. Regardless of how well remote workers might be good timekeepers, there are unavoidable disruptions from home that hinder their work-life balance.
Currently, the boundaries between life and work balance are becoming narrow. Family structures have significantly changed such that men and women have equal responsibilities for family duties, particularly for couples (Ugwu, Enwereuzor, & Mazei, 2023). For instance, in the 21st century, it is possible to find a family where both couples are working from home. In that light, it means that everyone has his or her schedule to get the work done. If the work schedules of these individuals vary, it means that if one does not complete his or her work, this family can never achieve a work-life balance. Specifically, academics or scholars make one of the occupational groups more vulnerable to adverse work-life consequences. Scholars are satisfied and more committed to their duties. They have more workload, meaning that there is no time they can say that they have nothing to do. As such, academics ought to work fast and hard in accomplishing their complex and numerous tasks since they have strict timelines (Ugwu, Enwereuzor, & Mazei, 2023). These professionals and others who work remotely perform their duties for extended periods and overtime. They end up getting more tired, and even when they have a few hours to spend on their personal life, they would rather rest. Such individuals find it challenging to achieve a work-life balance since they always have things to do even after completing their existing projects.
One of the primary ethical considerations that make it challenging for individuals working remotely to achieve a work-life balance is...
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