Honesty at Work

When you think about honesty in the workplace what do you think about?  Most people think about things like taking money that doesn’t belong to you.  It is never okay to take money from your employer that does not belong to you.  The reality is that you will get caught.  When you do, you will not only lose your job, but you may face criminal charges as well.

Besides taking money there are other ways to be dishonest in the workplace.  Some of these ways include:

• punching in a friend who is running late
• spending time on your cell phone instead of working
• passing on your personal discount to a friend
• taking products or merchandise without paying for them

All of these examples might not seem like a big deal, but lets see the financial impact that it has on a company:

Discussion Questions:

1.)  Ten employees work for a company, and their average salary is $8.00 per hour.  During the work day, all ten employees spend at least one hour using their cell phone.  How much does this cost the company during a five day work week?  How much does it cost the company per year?

2.)  Your best friend at work always runs late by at least an hour.  They have asked you to punch them in when you get there on time every day.  Your friend earns $10.00 per hour.  Based on a five hour work week, how much does this cost the company every week?  How much does it cost the company every year?

3.)  There are twenty people who work at the local ice cream shop.  Employees are allowed to eat one free cone during their shift.  Half of the employees give away five ice cream cones every day to their friends.  The ice cream cones sell for $2.00 each.  The ice cream store is opened seven days per week.   How much does this cost the company each week?  How about each year?

4.)  What should you do if any of these situations are going on in your workplace?