Question two
This is the second ethical question. See the entry below for instructions.
2. Orwell writes that the patron of the hotel gave plongeurs two litres of wine a day, "knowing that if a plongeur is not given two litres he will steal three." Suppose that you are a supervisor at a hotel or fast-food restaurant and you become aware that some employees are supplementing their pay by sneaking out food or beverages. How do you respond?
2. Orwell writes that the patron of the hotel gave plongeurs two litres of wine a day, "knowing that if a plongeur is not given two litres he will steal three." Suppose that you are a supervisor at a hotel or fast-food restaurant and you become aware that some employees are supplementing their pay by sneaking out food or beverages. How do you respond?
posted by David at 4:36 PM
15 Comments:
The quick brown fox
I would probably give them a warning, depending on how much food they have taken, and how long this atrocity has been taking place. I will consider giving them some kind of “bonus” snack plan in which they must follow strictly, or face the consequences of finding a new job. If the conflicts get out of hand, I would report to the owner of the facility.
I would most likely first approach the employ about the topic. I would try and find out why he felt the need to take food from the company without asking. I would try and see if there was some other reason for this than simply being hungry and trying to get away with it. The there was a real problem I would try and help the employee to make better choices. If the problem did not stop I would talk to him about further punishment
Of course the employees are going to steal food! Look at how they are treated and what they have to do. Until there is enough honor in the job to make it impossible to risk getting caught stealing food they are going to struggle keeping employee's sticky fingers under control. I would start treating my employees better so I didn't have to worry as much.
I would first give the employees a warning, and find out what they’re deal is with stealing. I’d also let them know that they are going to get in serious trouble if they don’t quit stealing. If they’d continue to steal, I would tell the patron.
But I do agree with Katherine. When employees are treated like crap, they don’t want to work, they do a poor job, and this case, they want to steal. I think if the employees were treated better they would probably stop or at least cut back on the stealing.
I would talk with the employees, and let them know that what they are doing is not okay. I would tell him that if it happens again, the cost of the third bottle will be taken out of their pay. If it continues to happen past that, I would have to let them go. I do agree with Katherine when she says that they are going to steal because of the way that they are treated, but it is still not okay.
I agree with Katherine’s response, the plongeurs wouldn’t need to steal if they had more benefits as workers and made enough money to supply their own food. If I were the owner of a restaurant and I found out my employees were stealing food, I’d probably confront my employees and ask why such behavior is going on. If my employees feel that they’re not receiving enough pay, and feel they need to steal food in order to get by, then I’d begin paying more. I would want to hear my employees’ opinions on how much they think they should be paid in order to not steal, and go from there. However, if they’re stealing just because they can, I’d fire them.
2. Before hiring a plongeur or any worker, I would make sure that they understood that if they stole from me they would be automatically fired. Granted they were underpaid, however, they would be paid and fed which is more than all the other men who were actively searching for work and/or were starving.
This scenario is related back to every-day life. Like we discussed in class, Nichole said “Ethics are the choices you make when people aren’t necessarily watching you.” Like Katherine said, I believe that people are going to steal as much as they can until they are caught. Weather or no they have money to pay for food, why would you want to put out extra cash to pay for something you eat when you could easily steal it?
I would put out a fair warning first. I would also ask the employee what their reason for stealing was. If they could stand up for their reasoning, it may be a valuable argument to better the working situation. If they could not defend themselves and continued with the act, I would tell the patron or fire them on behalf of their poor behavior.
I, to a point, agree with Katherine's response. But, I also believe that if you still give them the two liters, then they would, or should be, satisfied with how much they are getting. As the quote said, "if they did not get at least two liters a day, they would steal three," then you should not have to worry about them taking the three liters if you provide them with the adequate amount of wine.
I 100% agree with luke on this subject. If i were in the situation, I would say you get what you get, and if that is not enough then I would have to hire someone else to take their job and see if they were happy with the job.
I, just like everyone else, would confront them.
I would tell them I knew what they were doing and that they needed to stop.
I would also try and figure out why they were stealing. I would get help for them if they needed it, or figure out some deal where they could work more hours to get more food.
I would also ask how much they stole, and work out a schedule for them to work off the cost of what they took.
Depending on how much they pilfered, the punishment would be different. Also depending on how much they stole and what they stole, I would decide if I fired them right away or how many warnings they would get.
I also agree with Luke's comment. If the employer respected their employees they would realize that they aren't being treated as fairly as they would like to be treated, granted, there are few people that are happy with what they get. I feel that if you give respect you will generally recieve respect.
I would fire the person right away if I found out that he was stealing from me. If he needed food so badly he could have just asked for it. As a supervisor I need to trust all my employees in order to make the business work.
However I would feel sorry for the one I fired and give him a big last pay-check.
i would give them a warning too but also try to look into their situation. also the situation in modern days may also be slightly different from Orwell's days. But if a poor employee is taking a few things here and there i would probably be like emily and give them a few leftovers or extra stuff totake home everyday provided they do not take anything else. About sacking the employees, i wouldnt have a big problem with people taking home small quantitites of stuff here and there,but if that would be substantial enough to supplement their pay i would warn them first,and sack them on the second occasion.
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