Business Ethical Dilemmas

• Dear Ethicist, my friend Sue is always running late. She leaves her badge at work and sends me a text asking me to swipe her badge at the time clock if she’s not there yet so that she won’t be counted as late.

• She always seems to have an excuse (her dog got out, her son had an accident, her car won’t start, etc.). I don’t want to seem unsympathetic, but I’m afraid my boss is going to notice and that I will suffer the consequences. What should I do?

• Swipe badge at the time clock for your friend when she is running late.

• Talk to her friend explain how you feel about swiping her card and that she fears loosing her job.

• Go tell your boss that your co-worker is asking you to swipe her badge at the time clock.

• Yell at your friend that she is using your friendship for her benefit.

• Your co-worker requesting you swipe her in at the time clock when she is late.

• Legal and Unethical

• Legal and Ethical

• Illegal and Unethical

• Illegal and Ethical

My company will reimburse me for job-related expenses. March Madness in on and a couple of my buddies and I decide to meet up at a local restaurant to catch the game on our lunch break. My buddies happen to work for a client that we frequently do business with and take out to lunch. One of my friends tells me to put it on the company card. I feel bad lying to my company, but I don’t want to look bad in front of my friends either. What should I do?

• Use the company business credit card to pay for friends lunch to not look bad to friends.

• Tell his friends that they are terrible friends, pay for his portion of the bill and walk out.

• Let his friends know that paying with the business company card would but him at risk of loosing his job and reputation.

• Ask one of the friends to but the lunch on his company business card this time and he will get it next time.

• My husband calls me every day on his lunch break just to chat. We spend a lot of time apart so I look forward to this bright spot in my day. I’m technically on the clock while we’re chatting, but I’ve seen my boss do that same thing. What should I do?

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• I work in the marketing department for a large company. We routinely work in groups. There are 5 of us working on a new marketing campaign, but 3 of us have done all of the work. My boss is really pleased with the campaign and said there might be a bonus involved. I’m concerned that the 2 employees who did less work are going to get credit for my hard work. What should I do?

• Confront your colleagues about their lack of contribution.
• Keep quiet and hope that your boss recognizes your hard work.
• Sabotage the work of the other employees to make your efforts stand out.
• Communicate your concerns to your boss.

• My company forbids co-workers from becoming romantically involved. I met someone in another department playing in a kickball league. I’m becoming more attracted to this person and would like to pursue a relationship. What should I do?

• Legal and Unethical

• Legal and Ethical

• Illegal and Unethical

• Illegal and Ethical

• My company has worked very hard to decrease our production costs by 25%. My customer, Todd, is good friends with the VP of Production and he told him about this recent accomplishment. Todd asked me if I would discount his order. My boss, the VP of Production, said it was fine. My other customer, Mary, knows nothing of the drop in production costs. Mary’s company has been doing business with us for years. She places the same order as Todd. What should I do?

• Offer a discount to Mary and not to Todd.
• Discuss with the VP of Production if the approved discount for Todd can be applied to Mary's Company as well.

• Do not offer a discount to Todd and Mary keep the profits for the business.

• Offer Todd a discount and do not offer a discount to Mary. She doesn't know about the discount anyway.

• I was in the bathroom and heard my boss tell a colleague that Joe is going to be laid off at the end of the year (in a couple weeks). Joe and I are good friends and I know he has a family to support. What should I do?

• I should do nothing it is none of my business, I overheard the conversation.

• I should confront my boss and that I heard him tell someone that Joe is getting laid off in a couple weeks.

• I should let Joe know about the conversation I heard so he can start looking for a new job.

• I should go to my boss's boss and tell him about the situation I heard.