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Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

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Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#401

Post by greggman »

s73ver wrote: post #184
maskedinvader wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because the ip belongs to the company because presumably he developed it during working hours using the company's resources.

Only if the contract says so. Since it wasn't a development job, there's a chance that clause isn't there.

This is not my understanding at all. In the USA employers own the work of their employees if that work is related to the employer's business which this clearly is.

No clause or contract is required for this to be the case. It's the default state. It might be different in other countries but I doubt it.

Employees have a "duty of loyalty". https://www.google.com/search?q=employee+duty+of+loyalty

That would seem to include things like this issue. It also includes not competing with your employer.

Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#402

Post by minusSeven »

laser wrote: post #375
mandude wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over promise, under deliver. Smart move. Certainly one that anyone in programming can relate to.

I think you must've meant, "under promise, over deliver"? At least that's what Scotty was suggesting.

Thats the lesson you learn in life . But anyone starting their career will have a tendency to under promise, over deliver. I did this for some time until my manager told me to literally to go slow and deliver quality work instead.

Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#403

Post by Bakary »

This ethical question seems bizarre in a world where large blocks of the economy rely on effective misrepresentation or information asymmetry (advertising, etc.) and wealth itself is concentrated in the hands of a few. Those are stereotypical and cliché statements to make but I don't think that makes them less relevant.

As far as I am concerned, this person can provide for his family, and has given the company the results they want. I don't see how it's a problem.

The "late-stage" power imbalance in favor of companies does provide interesting ethical arguments in my opinion.

Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#404

Post by fisknils »

No. You're performing the job you are paid to do. You could hint that you could handle more work if you think it would benifit you, but how you perform your job, as long as the end result is the same, is not something you want to "bore your busy employer" with.

Especially not if it means saying "You could do this without me now"

Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#405

Post by fisknils »

No.

You're performing the job you are paid to do, that's about as ethical as you need to get, unless there are other parts of the equation.

You should also ask yourself if your employer could use the automation you've created without you. Because to an employer, ethical questions are more often than not disregarded if there is a financial gain in doing so.

However, seeing as you'll have more time to do less yourself, also ask yourself if you might profit from asking for more work/responsibility.

Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#406

Post by [deleted] »

Trundle wrote: post #287
webnrrd2k wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think thst there is also a fundamental imbalance between people's general expectation of what's fair for a company to do, and what's fair for a person to do. After all, if a company had discovered a way to make, say, an expensive medication for almost nothing, would the company be expected to disclose their secret? Would a company be expected to announce to the world: "we can make this for almost nothing now, so we…

>Would a company be expected to announce to the world: "we can make this for almost nothing now, so were dropping the price to almost nothing!". There are many people all over reddit at least that think that yes, yes they should.

[deleted]

Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#408

Post by 35bge57dtjku »

Ethical or not, I'd be more concerned about what I'd do if the current job ended, regardless of why it ended. What do you tell the company you're interviewing with about what you did at your last job? And I don't mean discussing this with them, I mean what do you say about the projects you worked on over the past n years when there's only this one automation?

Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#409

Post by stmaarten »

janxgeist wrote: post #390
Vektorweg wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No offense, but 1. sounds like slave capitalism 101.

It's not slavery: you are free to quit your job and work for another company, or start your own business. But if you DECIDE to work for a company and take the thousand(s) of dollars each month so that you can live a comfortable life, then you owe them your loyality.

I wonder if you would agree with your statement on loyalty if the roles are reversed:

"If the company DECIDES to hire you and use thousands of hours of your life each year so that the company can enjoy a profit, the company owes you its loyalty."

Rare is the company whose leadership feels that any meaningful loyalty is owed to employees.

Edit: I want to add that your 4 guidelines are wonderful if you work for genuinely good, moral people who want to "do the right thing" and who have the luxury of setting such priorities. But caution is necessary. Far too many employees devote decades to a company only to find when they're ill or older that loyalty was a one-way street.

Re: Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?

#410

Post by bayesian_horse »

My recommendation would be to ask a lawyer if the employer has the rights to the software he wrote to automate his job. Depending on the answer, either offer the software or offer to write the software as a negotiated one-time purchase.

To find a basis for the negotiating, consider the salary for the foreseeable future and present-value that income.

The result would most likely be a happy employer, and an ex-employee with a lot of money in the bank who is now free to find any other job or move wherever he/she wants. Maybe even with the same employer.

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