Ethical dilemmas - restaurant & bar

Ethical Dilemmas at Brewhaha Bar & Grill®

Front of House - Bar

• Responsible for ordering bar inventory, taking beverage orders from servers or directly from customers, issuing and maintaining bar stock, and supervising bar personnel

How the mighty have fallen....

One too many drinks....

Thou shall not waste brew....

The restaurant's best bartender is developing bad habits. It's known he's switching out the cheap stuff for the premium liquor when over pouring for his friends, some of which are underage

Possible choices:

• Termination - proper documentation necessary
• Exodus of bartender's loyal customers
• Discussion - (e.g. verbal warning, written warning)

Ethical Choice: Standard to review employees performance periodically. Establish policy for illegal activities (e.g. underage drinking, extended breaks) - either "zero tolerance" or "3 strike"

Bartender accidentally pours the wrong type of beer for a customer and doesn't know what to do with it

Possible Choices:

• Management takes the extra beer and drinks it
• Give the beer to a server who had a rough shift
• Give the beer as a "freebie" to a loyal customer

Ethical choice: Dump out the beer. Giving away the beer could set a dangerous precedent, as "word travels fast"

Management offers servers a bonus for selling the most premium tequila. A table of celebratory women order a fourth and fifth round of shots, violating the 3 drink limit policy.

Possible Choices:

• Serve the table their fourth/fifth round of shots
• How should Bartender and Management react?
• Inform the table of the drink policy and offer another beverage

Ethical choice: Server and bartender should not break this policy. Rule in place to keep the patrons and business safe from harm/liability. If rule is broken, employee/s need to be reprimanded

The restaurant & bar business can be broken down into four separate areas, each with their own ethical issues:

• Front of House - Bar
• (e.g. bartenders, bar-back)
• Front of House (FOH) - Food
• (e.g. hostesses, servers, busboys)
• Back of House (BOH)
• (e.g. cooks, food runners)
• Management
• (e.g. General Manager, Managing Partner)

Front of House - Food

Any place in a restaurant where customers might be (e.g. seating, bathrooms). Servers and hosts interact with customers and serve as visible representatives of the restaurant. Responsible for following service standards and safety/health regulations

You can always count on me.....

Hostess is suppose to seat customers by availability, however, she's best friends with one of the servers and has a tip sharing scheme going on. Whenever a wealthy or "good" looking couple comes in, the hostess seats them in her friends section

Possible choices:

• Ignore the issue, as all teenage girls act this way
• Hostess needs to be reprimanded since she isn't following the seating chart in order of the guests' arrival

Ethical Choice: Management needs to take a utilitarian approach to addressing the issue. The expectations of the hostess need to be addressed prior to employment to avoid similar situations

To claim or not to claim.....

Where should they go?

A server whose had a string of slow shifts lately serves a Chiefs player by herself and receives a large tip in cash. She debates on whether to claim the tip or not. She'd have to pay taxes and split it amongst the other FOH employees

Possible choices:

• Report the tip
• Claim the 10-20% mark up and never mention the tip

Ethical Decision: Claim the tip and split it with the others. This industry is a team effort and the tip was received for good service from the host, bartender, server, etc.

A couple with rather poor hygiene enter and are seated in the back corner of the restaurant. This angers the customers, who complain to Management stating they were discriminated against and demand a free meal

Possible choices:

• Pay for the couples meal and reprimanded the hostess?
• Smooth talk your way out of the situation and risk the "bad publicity"

Ethical choice: explain to the couple that the next time they come into dine, Management will oversee their entire length of service to ensure perfection

Change the name, change the game...

Management

Back of House (BOH)

Your restaurant is known for fresh seafood and currently running a special on swordfish. Unfortunately, you have a higher turnout than expected and you run out with the no other suppliers around. The next shipment isn't due for a couple of days

Possible choices:

• Inform the customers of the mishap and extend the special for when the swordfish arrives
• Go to a local grocer and purchase "low grade" swordfish, while selling it as "fresh" for the higher price

Ethical Choice: Admit the under ordering. The restaurant's reputation is based on fresh seafood, so serving the "low grade" would only hurt you in the long run. Extending the special to compensate for those who couldn't order it the first time

Operates and manages the restaurant, in regards to the quality and business aspect. Responsible for Human Resources functions (e.g. hiring, payroll), financial and taxation documentation, and all record management

The staff area, where cooks, dishwashers, and food-runners work usually without being seen. In this area, food is stored, prepared, and cooked. In most kitchens, each member of the BOH team performs a specific task (e.g. grilling, salad making)

Little dirt never hurt anybody.....

Swap this for that....

What's mine is yours.....

A customer with a large party is served the wrong item. The cooks are able to cook a new meal fairly quickly and the customer is satisfied. However, now Management doesn't know what to do with the incorrect order

Possible choices:

• Place the order under the heat lamp until another customer orders the same item - saves $$, but runs risk of poor food quality
• Allow employees to eat the incorrect item - could lead to "intentional mistakes" by servers
• Dispose of the food

Ethical Choice: Dispose of the incorrect item. Important to follow this standard to prevent intentional mistakes. Also, this boost the restaurant's food quality reputation

Monthly maintenance and deep cleaning in BOH has been passed up for several months. The following month when the deadline comes, the staff does the bare minimum and writes off on the log. An angry ex-employee reports to Management that has nothing has been done and contacts the Dept of Health. They call for an emergency inspection next week

Possible choices:

• With little time, you must disguise the "heavy hitters" and implement a cleaning plan next month
• Offer an after hours cleaning session to deep clean and catch up. Incentives are provided to entice employees to participate. Implementing a mandatory cleaning policy for future state

Ethical Choice: Management has to take the time to clean and do it correctly. Putting the restaurant reputation on the line due to laziness is unacceptable. A mandatory cleaning policy is detrimental to prevent this from occurring again

GM borrows money one night for gas due to a low personal bank account. He does return the money the next day. The next week he "borrows" the money again, but isn't able to return the money immediately and writes it off as losses from petty cash. He then begins using receipts for gas as reimbursements for giving employees rides to work.

Possible choices:

• Gas per diem/card - allowance for driving employees to and from work. Not allowed for personal use
• Gas reimbursement - the mileage the Manager spends driving to work is reimbursed by the company

Sources

You can always count on me.....

Butler, Patrick (2013). National: Restaurant that lived 'big society' ideal closes down: Praised by the PM and Jamie Oliver for its food and ethics, Create falls victim to harsh economic climate. The Observer (London, England).

Johnson, C. E. (2001). Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: casting light or shadow. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage.

Sacks, D. (2012). Chipotle: FOR EXPLODING ALL THE RULES OF FAST FOOD. Fast Company, (163), 124-126.

Stevenson, Campbell (2013). Food Monthly: Awards 2013: Readers' Award: Best Ethical Restaurant: Runners up. The Observer (London, England).

Upchurch, R. S. & Ruhland, S. K. (1996). The organizational bases of ethical work climates in lodging operations as perceived by general managers. Journal Of Business Ethics, 151083-1093. doi:10.1007/BF00412049.

Hostess is suppose to seat customers by availability, however, she's best friends with one of the servers and has a tip sharing scheme going on. Whenever a wealthy or "good" looking couple comes in, the hostess seats them in her friends section

Possible choices:

• Ignore the issue, as all teenage girls act this way
• Hostess needs to be reprimanded since she isn't following the seating chart in order of the guests' arrival

Ethical Choice: Management needs to take a utilitarian approach to addressing the issue. The expectations of the hostess need to be addressed prior to employment to avoid similar sitiations

We've come to the end.....