ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESTAURANTS 1

Ethical Issues in Restaurants

Clifford Hutson

Psychology 2000 Ethics

Workplace Issues

Capella University

January 2016
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Ethical Issues in Restaurants

Introduction
Food has been an important part of my life since I was old enough to cook.

Coming from a family that had a shortage of funds, we were reliant on what the

government provided. We would happily wait in line every month for government

cheese, canned pork, and whatever goodies they had extra. Having limited options as

far as ingredients, I would do my best to make something new and exciting for me. As

an adult, I gravitated towards the kitchen after serving in the military. I learned

everything I could and absorbed the knowledge like a sponge. In 1998 I was finally

offered my first general manager position in a restaurant. I was responsible for hiring,

training, product quality and so many other areas of the operation. The scope of my job

included solving ethical issues that arose in my operation and of all the tasks I was

assigned to, this was the hardest and most heart wrenching one. Some of the ethical

issues that are involved, in restaurants, include food quality, server schedules, and

responsible service of alcohol and need to be addressed by the staff on a daily basis.

Food Handling

An ethical issue, that occurs occasionally in restaurants, is proper food handling.

A manager walks into the kitchen in the morning and find out that the refrigeration unit

isn’t working. With no way of knowing how long the refrigerator has been down what

should be done with the food? The deontological approach to ethics would tell us that

our manager has no recourse but to do what is right. What is the right thing to do?

“Duty theories base morality on specific, foundational principles of obligation (Internet

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Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016) “. As a manager, we are obligated to take care of the

guest as well as the restaurant. The consequential approach would have us look at the

significances of our actions before making a decision. The cost of throwing away food

could create a financial hardship. Keeping the food could potentially get our guests and

staff sick. “Courage is a mean between the extremes of cowardice and foolhardiness

(Rachels & Rachels, 2015)”. It takes courage, a virtue described by Aristotle as “a trait

of character manifested in habitual action (Rachels & Rachels, 2015)”, to do the right

thing and throw the food away. I have walked in to a kitchen that didn’t have a working

refrigeration and I’ve thrown away thousands of dollars in food because it was the right

thing to do in the moment and long term. There is no place, in food service, for leeway.

Responsibly serving alcohol can create ethical issues in restaurants as well.

Staff Scheduling

Scheduling staff members in a restaurant can easily become unethical. Servers,

in particular, request to work shifts that are higher volume in order to increase their

opportunity for tips. Shifts that are slower must also be staffed and fewer employees

are willing to work a shift that has no opportunity to really make money. It’s unethical for

a manager to create schedules based on who they like and dislike. Typically, if this is

happening the manager feels that they know a better way of scheduling. The virtue of

fairness is violated by not allowing the equal opportunities to the staff. Long term

consequences can also arise from unfair scheduling. Staff members may begin

becoming frustrated and uneasy at work. Creating this type of atmosphere is also

detrimental to the quality customer service guests expect. When considering the

deontological approach, the manager is put in the position of doing what is either right
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or wrong. The wrong thing to do is to continue to schedule by the manager’s personal

preference. The right thing to do would be to create a system that awards servers

better shifts based on performance. “As a restaurant manager, you have to create an

ethical system for assigning shifts, whether based on performance, seniority or skills

(Berman, Craig; Demand Media, 2016)”. In my experience, this last option is the ethical

way to treat staff. The servers know what is expected of them in-order for them to work

the higher volume shifts and the manager is not put in the position of making unethical

decisions. One of the more prevalent ethical issues in restaurants is properly serving

alcohol.

Over Serving Alcohol

Serving alcohol in restaurants is one of the best ways to make money but it

comes with its own set of ethical issues. Ethical issues include; over serving,

employees drinking on the job, and patrons being allowed to get out of control. When

considering over serving, it’s important for the whole staff to make decisions that are the

best for the restaurant as well as the guest. Consistently monitoring how much alcohol

is served is the biggest miss, ethically, when it comes to restaurants. Servers are

sometimes afraid to make a decision that could cost them tips. The consequences of

overserving include lawsuits, aggression, or even death. Servers are afraid to make the

decision to cut someone off because they do not want to have a confrontation with the

guest. A manager needs to get involved in-order to avoid an angry guest.

Ethical approaches to stopping service

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A combination of ethical approaches is what works best to stop service and leave

the guest experience intact. The best thing to do in this situation is to first make the

decision, right then, to stop serving alcohol. There needs to be follow up with the guest.

The virtue honesty now comes into play. The manager must be honest with the guest

and explain to them why service is being stopped. There is no reason to be to honest.

You don’t want the guest to feel like you are calling them an alcoholic. It’s best to just

say you are concerned with their welfare and offer to call a cab. Many restaurants turn

a blind eye to overserving alcohol because liquor has a higher markup then feed and

larger amounts of money flow to the bottom line. I am willing to sacrifice profits in order

to keep my guests and staff safe. I will cut someone off. Restaurants have many ethical

issues that are part of their daily operations.

Summary and Conclusion

Food quality, server schedules, and responsible service of alcohol are all ethical

issues restaurants deal with on a day to day basis. I’ve found the best way to address

ethical concerns is to address them head on. Food quality is an ongoing part of my

restaurant and I teach my staff to make the right decision no matter what the cost. We

have systems in place to account for waste and monitor it daily. Server schedules are

made as part of a reward system. Servers that do better in contests, those with higher

guest check averages, and staff with no discipline issues are the team members that

get the prime shifts. My staff is constantly being trained and educated on proper service

of alcohol and they’ve been empowered to cut a guest off if they feel the guest is

intoxicated. They are also aware that they can come to any of my managers and we
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will support their decision to cut off service. Restaurants have the opportunity to do the

right thing daily.

Ethical issues in restaurants happen and need to be addressed daily. It was

difficult for me to learn how to address issues and I struggled to learn the right way. My

passion for food, entertaining people, and love of the business is what keeps me in

restaurants. I’ve come a long way in life because of food. I am happy every day to put

on a shirt and tie, get in my car, and represent my company. It’s hard work and

physically demanding but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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References
Berman, Craig; Demand Media. (2016, January 22). An Example of an Ethical Situation

in a Restaurant. Retrieved from AzCentral:

http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/example-ethical-situation-restaurant-

25075.html

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2016, January 18). Ethics. Retrieved from Internet

Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/#SH2c

Rachels, J., & Rachels, S. (2015). The Elements of Moral Philosophy, Eighth Edition.

New York: McGraw-Hill Education.