Part of my

job as an editor on TechRepublic is to read what seems like a hundred

newsletter every week. (Like I have the time.) One of

the more interesting is from the SoftwareCEO. Here is

the
target=”_blank”>link, but it may require you to log in to see it.

In a
nutshell, the original poster states:

Whenever we hire a new person I go

through a standard speech about how we are selling a tool, and we cannot make judgments

about the organization that we are talking to that either has purchased or is

considering purchase of our tool. Until recently that seemed to be adequate.

However we recently had a situation

where a contract employee refused to work on an assignment because they did not

agree with the political standing of the organization that they would be

working with. As a contractor they have that right…and I also have the right

to not pay them for that work.

But that raises a dilemma…it no

longer appears that my “little talk” is adequate. I really need some

type of statement that each employee and contractor is required to read and

agree to stating that an individual cannot refuse to work with an organization

simply because they do not agree with their moral, religious, philosophical or

political stand. I’m not even sure what to call this type of statement (as you

can tell from my title to this thread). This statement would also need to say

that non-compliance would be grounds for disciplinary action or termination.

I thought

this was an interesting question. Should the moral and philosophical beliefs of

your employees or contractors be taken into consideration when it comes to a

company’s primary purpose of making money? Is a policy needed to address this?

Has this ever been an issue at your organization?

In an era

where regimes and organizations are marked as terrorist and where certain

religious organizations pursue stringent policies of intolerance, should management

be cognizant of potential conflicts.

In my

father’s time such consideration would be laughable – if you wanted to keep

your job you did as you were told – but as he keeps reminding me, times have

changed.

What do you think?