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ETHICS IN PRACTICE CASE Co-Workers versus Friendship l worked in retail for a ha

ID: 334923 • Letter: E

Question

ETHICS IN PRACTICE CASE Co-Workers versus Friendship l worked in retail for a handful of years, and during that wanted to see my friends. I pulled up to his house, and I time, I have made great lifelong friends. Because I am a saw Lindsey's car there, I was extremely confused hardworking, committed employee, my boss/owner took because Lindsey called out sick for the whole weekend, notice and she promoted me to manager at age 17. My so why was she there? fith year working at the store, we hired a new Lindsey employee, Lindsey, and we instantly became great was socializing and having the time of her life. I could not triends. We became so close that we were hanging out- believe Lindsey just put me in friends. M close, where I would see them every day did not seem the least bit sick; in fact, she side of work, and Lindsey introduced me to her group of y new group of friends and I became super this horrible position- missed my family vacation because she did not "feel like working that weekend. If I ratted her out, I would lose the new friends with whom I had become y had a lot of health problems, and she would fre- extremely close. As her manager, should I tell my boss call out sick. Being a manager, I had to take respon- that Lindsey was faking it, even though we are friends sibili oi and cover her shifts, even though I would have other outside of work? Where does the line end between obligations. I requested Fou friends and employees? ed the Fourth of July weekend off to go tom se called out sick, and I received a phone call amilyy triend Rob invited me to come over to sveny bke ho use with my family. At the last minute, how-1 ging me to cover her shifts, which I did. tr On July 3, well, s he told me all of our friends would be there as orkned to head over there after I got out of en hours that day, I was exhausted, but I He te ecause he knew I was missing my fam uer I worked ten

Explanation / Answer

As a manager I should not allow Lindsey to continue the practice of misusing sick leaves and I should warn Lindsey regarding the behavior. Though we are friends outside, I am the manager of Lindsey and I have the ethical responsibility to act for the good of my organization and my subordinates as a manager. Because of Lindsey’s behavior all the group members were suffering and even I had to work overtime as well as cancel my preplanned vacation with my family. Personal relationships should not be given preference according to ethical behavior in work and I should take actions against Lindsey to stop such unethical behavior. I would ask Lindsey to submit medical proof for the days she take sick leave and warn her of strict actions if the practice continues. I should be careful with Lindsey in future as she is not interested in work. I need to find out why she is uninterested to work and the factors that would help to motivate her. I would have a face to face discussion with Lindsey to understand the issues she faces at work and her needs. This would help me to identify a better plan that would help to motivate her and become interested in work. As per my opinion, punishment is not a solution for every fault and we should identify the reason behind the fault to eliminate the fault effectively. Hence I would identify the reason behind such behavior and plan the future accordingly.