Example Of Report On Ethics Interview With A Restaurant Worker

I recently interviewed a friend of mine, Robert, who works in the restaurant industry. He asked me not to mention where it is that he works, but it is a medium-priced chain restaurant in the Bay Area. Robert is a server and shift leader, and had a lot to say about ethical practices among the employees he works with as well as the management.
The first thing Robert brought up when I asked him about ethics in his workplace was about tipping and accepting tips. “We live off tips,” he explained, “and I think it’s very unethical for customers to tip poorly if they’ve received good service.” He went on to explain that he believes that most of his team members are excellent servers and deserve to be tipped at at least the customary 15-20%. However, he explained that sometimes this is not the case. Patrons sometimes tip at 10% or below, and some don’t tip at all. “There’s not really anything we can do to resolve this issue,” explained Robert, “because it would be considered rude to say anything to a poor tipper. It’s really unfair.”
Another aspect of tipping that Robert explained to me during our interview was the reporting of tips by the servers. The IRS taxes workers’ tips, and expect the workers to be honest about what they have earned. However, since many patrons tip their servers with cash, it is easy for some servers to be dishonest about their tip earnings. “We’ve had many meetings about this problem,” explained Robert. He told me that the IRS has begun to crack down on industries that allow tipping, such as restaurants and salons. Workers in those industries need to be very careful when reporting tips, because they and their employers may be more likely to receive an audit from the IRS. Robert pointed out that beside the risk of being audited, lying is wrong from an ethical perspective. The employers may be more likely to be audited because of employees lying about tip wages, which is unfair to the employer as well. The restaurant works very hard to keep tip reporting honest by closely monitoring tips and keeping a daily log for employees to report their tips. Robert believes this is a fair way to handle the issue.
When I asked Robert about the ethics of the management, he chuckled a little. “Most of them are decent people,” he answered, “but a few of them are crooked for sure.” When I pressed him for answers, he became uncomfortable but did explain a little. He told me that there is one manager in particular who seems to take his position of authority as a means to intimidate other people. He has threatened to cut hours or even fire people when they disagree with him, and Robert suspects that he may have even treated some of the women who work for him in an inappropriate manner. “We have a strict policy about sexual harassment,” Robert told me, “but I guess this guy thinks the rules don’t apply to him.”
I asked Robert if he thought it was ethical to observe this managers behavior without reporting it. “Probably not,” was his answer. He went on to explain that he didn’t have any concrete proof of anything really wrong, just a feeling that the manager had acted inappropriately. He believes that any girls who have experienced sexual harassment in their workplace should come to him or another shift leader or manager to get help. “If I knew for sure that something like that was happening, I would definitely take action and report it. But it would be wrong to falsely accuse someone if I was just guessing that it was happening.” In discussing this issue with Robert, we both agreed that the only way to resolve the issue is to keep a close eye on this manager and report any inappropriate behavior. The strict policy on sexual harassment states that any employee or manager who has engaged in sexual harassing behaviors is to be immediately terminated. Robert feels that this is a fair policy because it keeps the staff safe from harassment.
My conversation with Robert revealed many ethical issues within the restaurant environment. He said that ethics isn’t something he thinks about on a day to day basis, but he does try to use his judgment and do what he thinks is right when in the workplace and in his everyday life.