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The ethical dilemmas of the past weeks have taken us from infidelity to a neighbor's child to a grocery store. Today it takes us to the halls of commerce -- the big American office.
You work in the sales division of a Fortune 500 company. This means that you are on the road a great deal, traveling to various states in your territory. You have been doing this job for a while, and it is getting old. A colleague of yours is traveling with you on a business trip in the dead of winter. Every leg of this journey has been difficult -- from airport delays to bungled hotel reservations. Due to cancellations at the airport, you have to stay away an extra day from your families. Your colleague suggests you go shopping and get some dinner afterward as a way to spend the open time. You get along well with her, so you agree. After a pleasant trip through the town's better stores, you settle into a cozy restaurant for dinner.
"I really do hate these delays," you say. "But at least some shopping distracted me. Thanks for the idea."
"No problem. It is like a sales routine with me now. I always hope to get in some expense shopping," she replies.
"You mean expensive shopping, don't you?" you ask, laughing.
"Well, I guess I mean both!" she says, a big grin on her face. She sips from her third glass of wine.
You look at her with a somewhat puzzled expression as the waitress brings your meals.
"Listen," she says with a slightly conspiratorial tone,"you know how annoying these trips are, right?"
"Annoying and then some," you reply.
"Well," she says, "I get tired of being away from my husband, my kids, my house. And it isn't like we get paid overtime for times like this when we are away for no good reason except the weather. When you look at it, we are volunteering this time, and all the travel time, and every time we have to stay somewhere over a weekend."
"Well, that is true. But that is just part of being on salary, isn't it?"
"Our secretary is on salary. She would spit bullets if we asked her to work weekends. The way I figure it, when I have to travel on a really bad trip, I give myself a little tip -- courtesy of the company. Remember that sweater I bought on sale tonight? The little cashmere one? I'll call it a "business gift" and expense it. They're never going to check with my client, and the cost of it on sale was within the limits we can expense as a gift for a client. The receipt doesn't say what it was. And sometimes, if the receipt sounds like it could be the name of a restaurant, I'll call it "entertainment expense" and get myself something really nice."
"I don't think I could do that."
"Well, you should try it. No one ever has to know. A bunch of us do it every once in a while. And if you don't get too greedy, no one ever has to know. Is it wrong? Well, in the pure sense, sure -- but it isn't right that we have to work these insane hours either, and other jobs are not so easy to find these days. Besides, everyone hedges their expense reports somehow."
You finish dinner, chatting about families and work. She never raises the issue directly again, but does say how it is good to have someone she can really talk to on this trip.
When you get home, it is still really troubling you, especially when she comes into the office the next day wearing the sweater she bought on your trip.
You have seen something happen that was not only a theft from the company, but a crime. You have learned that it is a repetitive act and that others in your department do it as well. Does your boss do it? Should you say something? To whom? Or should you just keep quiet?
~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs right along at Time's Fool
