Unethical Employment Practices in the Retail Industry: A Case Study of Pay n Carry

This article discusses the issue of unethical employment practices in the retail industry, with a focus on Pay n Carry. It explores the causes of worker exploitation, including capitalism and poverty, and offers solutions such as providing proper working conditions and fair compensation. The article also discusses the importance of ethical practices in business and the role of management in maintaining them.

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Abstract
Ethics are rules that govern an individual, organization or an institution as it carries out its
activities. However, there are issues that occur in such areas concerning the ethical practices, an
example is unethical employment practices within organizations. The unethical practice that was
unveiled in the recent past days is the exploitation of workers the retail industry, as much as it’s a
problem that covered the retail industry in general it should be noted that Pay n Carry company falls
under this category which means that in one way or another, the company is affected or falls in the risk
of becoming a victim of such unethical behavior in future. Exploitation of workers comes in when a
company pays the workers less than what they actually deserve and other unfair treatment of workers
for the benefits of the company. Capitalist system often leads to exploitation of workers due to the
nature of the business conditions that are not regulated by the government which would have put into
consideration the workers, all that is put in consideration in such a system is profit making. There are
theories that have been developed by scholars based on the reality and supported by evidence, one of
the theories that focus on the unethical employment practice is the Labour theory developed by Carl
Marx. The company that this content is based on is Pay n Carry which is an organization that falls under
the retail industry where the unethical employment practices have been reported.

Introduction
The business issue in focus is the unethical employment practices and the increased regulatory
scrutiny in the retail industry. Ethics are the business policies that guides and governs the
business operations to prevent controversial issues such as unethical employment practices
which is the business question that shall be discussed in this context(Volume 31, Issue 2/3 —
Complete Issue, 2012). The unethical practice that was unveiled in the recent past days is the
exploitation of workers the retail industry, as much as it’s a problem that covered the retail
industry in general it should be noted that Pay n Carry company falls under this category which
means that in one way or another, the company is affected or falls in the risk of becoming a
victim of such unethical behavior in future. Exploitation of workers comes in when a company
pays the workers less than what they actually deserve and other unfair treatment of workers for
the benefits of the company (Issue Information, 2017). Regulatory scrutiny is done by a board
that offers advice to the company and it has been increased especially in the retail industry under
which Pay n Carry is under. Ethics should be considered in any business operations as any
unethical practice can easily ruin the reputation of a business. The company may end up losing
more than what it wanted to gain because the workers will no longer be working out of passion
but just for the sake of getting paid, for maximum production, the company depends on the
passion and dedication of its employees(CIBER SPECIAL ISSUE: THE BUSINESS OF
PEACE, 2016). They may even choose to leave their jobs and it may be difficult to find other
workers as everyone does not work where there is a lot of exploitation. Ethics in any business
depend on the power of the management to keep the good behavior and therefore, the
management is going to concentrate on its role of maintaining the business ethics.

Defining and framing the issue
 The reason that may have resulted to the exploitation of works is capitalism. This is a
situation where the economic system in an industry is controlled and run from profit
purposes by the private owners of businesses and not the government. Capitalist system
often leads to exploitation of workers due to the nature of the business conditions that are
not regulated by the government which would have put into consideration the workers, all
that is put in consideration in such a system is profit making(Issue Information, 2017).
Without government regulations, it may lead to a highly competitive and exploitative
system hence; those people working shall be used for maximum yields under minimum
pay. For instance, a worker may have to carry out a task meant for three, unfavorable
conditions and more working hours than the required maximum.
 Another reason may be poverty among people that they are so desperate for jobs and
therefore can do anything to get money however little it could be (Issue Information,
2018). The employers take advantage of such situations and use them more than they get
paid for or put them under unfavorable working conditions.
 Managements currently want to compete with other similar businesses and appear
successful more than any other which leads them to the misuse of workers; this can be
another reason for unethical employment practice within organizations.
 Karl Marx’s labour theory of value and exploitation under capitalism states that under
capitalism, all the value depends on the labour, that if the labour sector stopped at once,
say the laborers go for a strike, and production would have to stop until they come back.
therefore, the workers have to be used to gain the surplus in the name of profits that is
later used to boost the economy, the more people work, the higher the production. With
this theory, it explains why employers exploit workers so as to gain more profits because
it is perceived that the only way for this is through labour (Issue Information - Copyright
page, 2016).

Addressing the issue
Since Pay n Carry is business that operates with Franchisees as the main partners and important
stakeholders, I will include the managers in charge of the different businesses so that we can
come up with ways that can help the company avoid workers exploitation in future (Jung, 2018).
Forced and child labour is one of the unethical practices that have been reported in the retail
industry. To prevent it, I will work with all partners of Pay n Carry to make sure that those who
are employed to work are above the required age according to the law. Each worker should be
having a national identification card which is an indication that the person is old enough to
become an employee. According to the human rights, a person has freedom to work voluntarily
without being forced or threatened. Sometimes, people are blackmailed such that they have no
other option than to work against their will, this is forced labour. I will therefore make sure that
whoever gets employed in the company has passed the necessary steps such as application for
the job and an interview; with this the employees will have wanted to work in the company
without anyone forcing them. Anyone found trying to force people to work in the company for
their own benefits shall face hard punishments in the court of law (Resnicoff, 2013).
Overworking people may be as a result of the less production they when they work for normal
hours; the main reason for little production by workers is lack of motivation. Hard working
employees shall receive presents in different forms; this will help motivate other so that each and
every person works hard in the line of work so that at the end of the day, good work shall have
been done without having to force them to work for more hours. In all working areas, workers
shall be provided with proper working conditions and if wherever they work from makes them
face a certain risk; they shall be insured and also protected from danger by the company. As
much as Marx’s theory states that production depends on the labour, it is important to note that
there are other factors that need to be incorporated such as the capital; therefore, I will make sure
that the company provides enough capital for maximum production without exploiting workers
(Wrye, 2012).

Conclusion
In conclusion, worker exploitation is an unethical practice that is common among many
employers especially if under the system of capitalism. The worker goes to a loss while the
employers get more profits at the expense of the working class (Strauss and McGrath, 2017).
Capitalism as described can be considered a monster but it’s not actually as terrible as it appears
the growing economy in many countries and industries can be attributed to this system whereby
the termed ‘unhealthy’ competition and exploitation for maximum yields actually leads to more
production which in turn helps build the economy (Issue Information, 2017). It may not be so
easy to eradicate worker exploitation due to competitions among businesses, as they are busy
competing with each other to grab larger markets and get more profits, the worker shall have to
be used more and paid less so that the surplus money can be used to improve the business and its
capital. Ethical practices depend on the management of an organization, therefore, the manager
or anyone in charge should adhere to the rules and regulations of the company as it flows al the
to the junior staff members(Issue Information, 2017)
.
Recommendation
1. Workers without someone to assemble all factors such as the capital market and provide
favorable environment is useless. Enough capital, market availability and a nice environment
will lead to more profits without worker exploitation. As company, Pay n Carry should provide
increase the amount of money invested as the capital, use safe and modern equipment that can
provide more yields without straining workers to work in an environment where what is needed
for production is unavailable or very little compared to the results expected from them.
2. The second thing is that the mother company should ensure that there is a good relationship
with is franchises who happen to be the priority number one for such a franchise business. Any
differences or misunderstanding should be solved and a fair agreement reached at within one
year from now to create room for unity which will then lead to prosperity in the coming years.

There should be corporation among them so that the set rules and regulations can be applied to
all branches owned by the franchisees.
3. To avoid biased treatment of workers, the company management should set standard rules for
all employees so that none of them gets favors more than others even if he or she has a close
relation to the senior management.
Refferences
CIBER SPECIAL ISSUE: THE BUSINESS OF PEACE. (2016). Business Horizons, 59(5), p.v.
Issue Information - Copyright page.(2016). Thunderbird International Business Review, 58(3),
pp.182-182.
Issue Information. (2017). Thunderbird International Business Review, 59(3), pp.455-456.
Issue Information. (2017). Thunderbird International Business Review, 59(3), pp.253-254.

Issue Information. (2018). Journal of Small Business Management, 56, pp.1-4.
Jung, Y. (2018). Already, But Not Yet: Ending Unethical Practices in Authorship. Psychiatry
Investigation, 15(4), pp.335-335.
Resnicoff, S. (2013).The Causes and Cures of Unethical Business Practices – A Jewish
Perspective.SSRN Electronic Journal.
Strauss, K. and McGrath, S. (2017). Temporary migration, precarious employment and unfree
labour relations: Exploring the ‘continuum of exploitation’ in Canada’s Temporary
Foreign Worker Program. Geoforum, 78, pp.199-208.
Volume 31, Issue 2/3 — Complete Issue. (2012). Business Valuation Review, 31(2-3), pp.c1-
c100.
Wrye, J. (2012). Boss and Worker: An Active-Learning Exercise in Exploitation and Class
Antagonism. College Teaching, 60(4), pp.140-146.