What if your boss tells you to...?
@Cristi_Ichim (3697)
Bucharest, Romania
July 22, 2018 11:55am CST
This post shall be a sequel of the previous post in which I asked if you feel in charge of your life? In this post I would like to ask what if your boss asks you to do something illegal and / or immoral, something that is against your basic human principles? Will you do it?
Let me give you a practical example: let's suppose that you work on a construction sight building a road for example. Let's say that in the project you see that you need to lay down a 20 cm layer of gravel material as a foundation for the road structure but your boss comes to you and says "hey, make the gravel layer only 15 cm thick because we will have some money remaining for us because we buy less material than what was prescribed in the project"? What will you do in this case? If you refuse to do what he says, then he will kick you out soon and you will be left jobless. So, how would you solve this problem?
This is the reason why I asked in my previous post "do you feel in charge of your own life or are you just a puppet in someone else's hands?". How should people deal with such things in their lives?
2 people like this
4 responses
@miss_taken (155)
• Philippines
2 Aug 18
Integrity might be the only thing you have more than your boss in this situation. Don’t lose it just because your job is at risk. Report it to someone higher. If all else fails, at least you go with a clean conscience. If someone else does it, report it to the authorities.
1 person likes this
@Cristi_Ichim (3697)
• Bucharest, Romania
2 Aug 18
But if I go then what would I do next?
1 person likes this
@Cristi_Ichim (3697)
• Bucharest, Romania
2 Aug 18
@miss_taken it’s not that easy
1 person likes this
@miss_taken (155)
• Philippines
2 Aug 18
@Cristi_Ichim Find a more decent job with a more responsible boss. But if you’re integrity is not as important as the money you’re earning, feel free to stay.
1 person likes this
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
22 Jul 18
Lets be practical, if you are not going to do you will be kicked out and somebody else will do it! Since you are working for your Boss you need to listen him/her. If something goes wrong he will be held responsible and not you! So you need to be smart and understand the situation dear friend!
1 person likes this
@Cristi_Ichim (3697)
• Bucharest, Romania
22 Jul 18
"If something goes wrong he will be held responsible and not you"
I doubt that he can be considered the only one responsible in the case of being caught red handed.
1 person likes this
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
22 Jul 18
@Cristi_Ichim , No because....that were the instructions to you from your Boss....you don't know about the specs!
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (37969)
• Philippines
25 Jul 18
If you can afford to lose your job then I guess that would be the most ideal thing to do in this case. Staying in that job where you are not happy the way things are going in would just make your life miserable and your conscience is bugging you forever. So better quit before you become too involved in it and if in the future the project will be questioned you will not be responsible anymore with it.
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
23 Jul 18
@Cristi_Ichim Usually, those are being done by some of those in construction business.
I have been working since 1983 and have been to 5 jobs. No one does illegal things. I am so thankful, for the jobs that I had.
1 person likes this
@Cristi_Ichim (3697)
• Bucharest, Romania
23 Jul 18
@SIMPLYD you mean that in your country there is the same problem of people stealing money in the construction business?
1 person likes this
@Cristi_Ichim (3697)
• Bucharest, Romania
23 Jul 18
"I can just apply to other jobs, even if it will offer a lower salary."
And when you get to the other job, you see that they also do illegal stuff and stuff that is against your principles. What then? You keep jumping from one company to another until you find one that does not do illegal stuff and stuff that is against your principles?
1 person likes this
