Anyone who’s been in business knows that it’s near impossible to stay ethical. The cutthroat nature of the entrepreneur world conditions every businessman to cut corners and push the limits of what’s allowed (at the very least) just to stay afloat.
Now, most of it stays behind the curtains, but some of it does surface, and then everyone sees it, and then many are surprised this is actually common practice.
Reddit has been discussing this very thing: unethical business practices that are surprisingly common in the business world after user u/Elaus asked the r/AskReddit section of the social medium about this.
The post has managed to garner over 52,200 upvotes, engaging the audience that left over 31,000 comments.
Scroll down to find some of the best responses to the AskReddit question, and while you’re at it, vote and comment on the submissions you like the most, and why not share some of your unethical business practice ideas in the comment section at the end of the article!
More Info: Reddit
#1
It’s shady to give dedicated, long-term employees a measly 2-3% annual raise (if any at all), while hiring less experienced people for the same (or higher) salary, than the experienced employee.
It essentially punishes loyal employees.
Report
180points
#2
Not including wage info in the job posting. At least post the range or minimum for the position.
Report
157points
#3
Cutting peoples hours just enough to not be considered full time so they don't have to give you benefits. Those bosses are true pieces of s@#t and I happen to know a few of them.
Report
148points
#4
Doing illegal s@#t to make $20million then getting caught and paying a $5million fine.
Report
144points
#6
Giving a set amount of PTO, then refusing to let employees actually use it, or shaming them for doing so.
Report
122points
#7
Consistently making salaried exempt employees work 10+ hours overtime a week in order to avoid hiring more staff.
113points
#8
No auto-cancel on recurring payments.
Companies could very easily add the feature but won't hoping you forget and pay them more.
Report
107points
#9
Using a previous salary against you.
"Oh, you make $40,000? Well, we'll offer you $50,000. That's a 25% increase in pay!"
Your salary shouldn't be relative, it should be what the market value of the position is. If a job pays $75,000, don't pay me only $50,000 because I only currently make $40,000.
Report
107points
#11
Signing people up for s@#t as addons to an existing bill and hoping they don't notice the extra charges.
Report
101points
#12
Paying invoices late, especially BIG companies that pay a few months late. It kills small business, and seems to be quite normal here in the UK.
Report
94points
#13
Making you pay more for printing your own damn tickets at home.
StubHub, ticketmaster etc.
Report
94points
#14
Hire young people who are prepared and motivated and enjoy the work.
Give them 50 hours a week of work, no special overtime pay, tell them it'll be back to normal at then end of the month when the regular crunch is over.
Repeat until near a deadline.
Give them 80 hours a week, 7 days a week of crunch to meet the deadline.
Continue past deadline a little while then return to "regular" hours of 50 hours.
Repeat until your employees hate life. Refuse to give references when they quit "to protect yourself legally". Normalize across the industry so nobody can complain too much and sound credible.
91points
#15
Literally anything a corporation does that they can be fined for is taken into account as a business expense. If it's cheaper to pay an illegal dumping fine than it is to change the way they process waste nothing will be done to stop the illegal dumping.
Report
90points
#17
Posting a job announcement and conducting interviews for a job you already know who you're going to hire.
Report
77points
#18
Working when you are sick. I have heard stories of bosses forcing people to come in despite being extremely ill.
Also I just wish that it would be mandatory schedule length of at least two weeks if the hours are not the same every day. Mine changes weekly, and it's hard to plan anything.
76points
#19
Careful (deceptive) wording.
"Up to 100mbps internet speeds!" means you get 5-6mbps, and "up to" 100 for a moment here and there.
"Made with 100% Chicken" simply means that real chicken was utilized as an ingredient at some point. It's like saying a bottle of wine is "made with" 100% organic cork.
"Sugar free!" means "Less sugar per serving than the minimum we have to report"
"The top rated____" usually followed by the specific study that ranked it best. Did you know you can pay a company to perform a study for you that's guaranteed to determine you're the best?
Report
75points
#20
Using your employment as leverage to keep your mouth shut.
For example. A temp agency i worked through tried to deduct the cost of ppe from my paycheck. I told them that legally, employers need to provide ppe to their employees. Not sell it to them. They threatened to fire me. I reported them to OSHA. They got fined and had to reimburse everyone their $15 deduction for ppe.
Temp agencies are f!@#$%g scams.
EDIT: PPE: "Personal Protective Equipment." Hard hat, safety glasses, gloves, steel tipped boots, etc.
Report
70points