Joseph, a small café owner, is facing possible bankruptcy due to a severe decrease in business in his restaurant. Tom, a friend of Joseph, approached him about hiring illegal immigrants because Joseph can pay those workers a lower pay rate and save on payroll. Discuss some of the legal and ethical issues involved in this situation. How should Joseph respond to his ethical dilemma—should he hire the illegal immigrants or not? Explain your answer.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Joseph faces the ethical dilemma of deciding whether to pursue a course of action that may benefit him and his organization, but that is unethical or even illegal. In this case, it might be argued that hiring illegal immigrant is not unethical because these people often come to the United States to work, so that they can send money back home to support their families. However, the United States has a federal minimum wage, and it is illegal to pay people less than that wage; so if Joseph underpays his workers, he is breaking the law. In addition, it may also be illegal to hire undocumented immigrants because they will not have Social Security numbers and therefore cannot pay income taxes. In this particular ethical dilemma, Joseph should not hire the illegal immigrants; he will have to find another way to help his troubled business.