For example, Norman Bowie claims that he has "always believed that one of the moral obligations of the firm is to provide meaningful work for employees."4 Note that this does not claim that a firm has an obligation to provide work, only that it has an obligation to its employees—that is, those already working—to structure the workplace in ways that protect their rights. Thus, while Bowie might claim that employees have a right to meaningful work, the emphasis is on the word meaningful, not work. Individuals have no prior existing right to work but, once employed, they have a right to a certain type of work. Further, an ethi¬cally structured workplace provides "meaningful" work not in the sense that the work is fulfilling or elevating of human potential, but in the sense that it is work that "allows the worker to exercise her autonomy and independence."
The remainder of this chapter examines what a workplace might look like if it respected the ethical rights of employees. To provide a context for this exami¬nation, we will begin by reviewing an important legal doctrine that effectively denies the validity of employee rights. That doctrine is known as employment at will.