Kathy Scheurich
Business Ethics
January 21, 2011

Ethical Dilemma

Recently at work I received a call from a fellow employee, Sara, to update the log with something that she neglected to write in which occurred six hours prior and concerned another employee. This log is used by upper management for our evaluations and to log our attendance and tardies for the month. The log is also used for any fire alarms or other emergency calls within the hospital. This log is kept on file for one year and can be detrimental to any employee on the bubble for a good evaluation. Sara had a beef with the employee whose absence she had forgotten to log and I was now faced with a decision that might ultimately cost me my job.
Our job at the hospital requires that we work with information provided by a third party and that we should write in the log as soon as it transpires however the information is supposed to be written in at the time of occurrence per company policy and there are other forms to fill out should something be missed and not written in; not just a phone call from another employee.
I felt as if I would have been remiss in making this adjustment to the log as Sara had asked me to rewrite the log in its entirety so that it would not look as though she had forgotten this bit of information. There were a couple of reasons why I felt funny about making this change, one being that due to Sara’s prejudice against this person, how do I know if she was telling the truth or not. The other individual already had several absences reported and one more could mean the loss of her job. I did not want to erroneously report any information. Another reason would be that it would go against the company policy and put my integrity to the test. If I re-wrote the log to include Sara’s missing entry it would turn into a she said she said and Sara would probably state that she never called in. Another reason was that someone else is going to be under scrutiny of management if I wrote this in and what if this information was false. I was torn as I did not want to appear to not be a team player but also I did not want to throw anyone under the proverbial bus. I chose not to rewrite the log.
Sara gave me the impression that this was normal practice between certain employees. I was uneasy with this as if one rule was not being followed what others were being tossed out the window. I did however speak with Sara and let her know that the fact that she called me gave me a queasy feeling in my stomach and that I would like her to allow me to work with a clear conscience and to not ask me to do anything not in the policy again. I then took the information and reported to our supervisor and that I did not change anything on the log as Sara had requested.
Since that time, I have been branded as someone who does not want to help out the team. I will not lie, cheat or steal for those that I work with. I would expect them to find the courage within themselves to do the same. Policies and procedures are in place for a reason and unless these policies are unethical should be followed no matter what. I have asked for a transfer within the department until I can find new employment which my supervisor has allowed. If we are unable to work someplace and leave with a clear conscience then why must we work there at all?