Question

Assume you will start a new restaurant and rent space for your business in a strip mall or 3-story office building in Fairfax County, Virginia. Pick a name for your business consistent with your business form. You would like to start a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Assume you will be an owner and an employee of your business. Explain the following:

Your business has expanded overseas to the country of Belai. During a visit to your overseas location you find out for the first time that children, ages 10 and under, are working for you. You know child labor is against the law in the United States, but it is completely legal in Belai where your business is operating. Replacing the children with adults, would cost twice as much. What ethical issues does this raise for you and how will your business go about solving them?

Answer 1

The name of my business, that is consistent with the business form, will be ‘Farm to Fork, LLC’.

The issue of employing children, in the age group of 10 years and lower, will be completely unethical, even though it is legal in Belai. This is because my company is an American company and as per American ethos and morality it will be unethical as well as illegal to use the services of children just for the sake of saving my operational costs.

Child labor is unethical and young children should not be made to work, rather they should be educated and their skills and competencies should be developed. As the owner of the business I will introduce a strict policy of not employing children for our operations in any part of the world, even if it will mean higher operational costs.

Also, in the long run, my business will be regarded as an ethical organization and this will have a positive impact on my business in the long run.