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Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal

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31-05-2021

Legal and Ethical Challenges for HR in Machine Learning

Authors: R. H. Hamilton, H. Kristl Davison

Published in: Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal | Issue 1/2022

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Abstract

The technology of machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, will enable organizations to analyze their use and deployment of human resources (HR) in new ways that ultimately will allow them to manage more effectively, but it will also present challenges for HR managers who are unprepared. In this paper we discuss some of the legal and ethical concerns in the HR context that accompany machine learning. Legal concerns include possible violations of both US employment discrimination laws and the provisions of the European General Data Protection Regulation, while ethical concerns for HR revolve around employee desires for privacy and justice. We assess that some data analysis activities that are legal nonetheless might not be appropriate in some cases and might be demotivating to employees, resulting in lowered performance or even counterproductive behaviors if HR mishandles the context. We conclude by offering guidelines for HR managers to assess the appropriateness of machine learning projects.

previous article The Role of Leadership to Nurture Employee Championing Behavior during Organizational Change: Does Valence Matter? An Individual Level Analysis

next article The Role of Perceived Organizational Support: Evidences from the Horizontal and Vertical Workplace Bullying

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We should also note that the impact on GDPR from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU is not currently fully known, especially in the employment context.

Since the field of machine learning is rapidly progressing, and given that a technical discussion of machine learning issues is beyond the scope of this paper, we refer the reader to IBM (2020), Mathworks (2020a, b), and RSIP Vision (2021) for a basic overview of these concerns.

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Title: Legal and Ethical Challenges for HR in Machine Learning
Authors: R. H. Hamilton
H. Kristl Davison
Publication date: 31-05-2021
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal / Issue 1/2022
Print ISSN: 0892-7545
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3378
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-021-09377-z

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