The due process is necessary in both public and private spheres; it is a moral necessity to protect human rights. The employees working in public spheres get the appropriate treatment and protect their rights in the court more often than the private spheres workers. The moral side of the issue is questioned here, is it morally fair to fire the employee without any substantial reason? Another question arises: can the employee have the same proprietary right as the employer does? The employee holds her own property in the form of labor, productivity, etc., for example a creative marketing designer has valuable ideas which can bring profit if used in selling. When fired the invested ideas of that employee or her property is taken away from her, or in other words the employee’s proprietary right is being violated.
We should consider employer and employee as equal parties both having equal rights. Also we should take into account the vulnerabilities of them, i.e. the consequences of firing and quitting without notice. The consequences are not always equal.
Public versus Private
In case of public employment, a person working for government is more protected by law than the private employee. This inequality is connected with the distinctions of private and public spheres. The public sphere is supposed to be aimed at public benefit, while the private spheres aim is profit. The public employee might not get a new job in government if fired, so obviously she will seek a due process to appeal the employer’s decision before getting fired. Otherwise she might not be able to sell her labor in the future if fired. The borders where public ends and private begins are often blurry and hard to find; in some cases they even cease to exist, as in the example of General Motors factory. So, the same approach is applicable when considering private employment. Not every good company will hire a person who was fired from the previous job. In this case the private employee enters the situation similar to the one of public worker where he is not able to sell his property in the form of labor, ideas, etc. So the proprietary right of employee is violated. Unfortunately many private companies find the due process inefficient, causing losses to productivity and time-consuming. Such companies would rather agree to pay more to their at-will employees than provide due process guarantees. Even though most of the companies maintain the grievance procedures and the procedures for filing complaints, they are voluntary and not oblige employers to due process.
Public authorities never intervene into the family relations, which are considered as private sphere, except when serious violations and abuses occur. The same position is held by the government in employee-employer relations, which is considered by the government as private relations between adults. However the government should provide basic protection and appropriate treatment for employees whether they work in a private or public sphere. It is often hardly possible to draw a …