Minimum Wage Ethical Dilemmas

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The United States was founded on the principle that everyone deserves the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In order for this to occur, there is a certain ethical code that everyone must abide by. Further than that, businesses have a responsibility to enrich the community where they are located. The first group of people that a business owner has an obligation to is its consumers. All businesses have a responsibility to protect consumers from dangerous and potentially harmful products, this is something known as consumerism. Recently Volkswagen cars have violated this ethical principle. They deceived their consumers and sold them potentially harmful products. Not only does breaking this ethical principle degrade any sense …show more content…
While it is highly debated about how far business owners should go, most would agree that they must accurately compensate the employees for the work that they do. This ethical principle has created great controversies in the United States, as we see in cases such as McDonalds and Wal-Mart. In the political scene today, it is highly debated whether or not the minimum wage is a fair wage. This is a question that will continue to polarize the political parties. Other ethical treatments of employee could revolve around things such as workplace safety and healthcare. An increasingly important area of social responsibility that companies have to be concerned about is environmentalism. Businesses must be concerned about the footprint that they leave on the environment. One of the best ways for a business to do this is through pollution control. This can mean simple things such as recycling appropriate products and sourcing sustainable goods. Finally, businesses have an obligation to enrich the community in which they inhabit. Companies can assist with providing medical treatment and education. They can help to ‘clean up the streets’ by helping developing areas with youth and civic programs, as well as literally clean up the streets. They can also invest in the culture of the community, especially the

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