Having good business ethics and social responsibilities would bring significant benefits to a business as it not only gives a good reputation to the brand, but also draws customers’ attention to buy their products, as well as attracts and retains talented employees to stay with the business. These will boost the sales and profits, and also reduce staff turnover and training costs of the company. However, some companies may ignore the importance of business ethics when making decisions, for the sake of making ultimate money.

Anli Dhawan, the owner of three Subway franchises in British Columbia received the “Bad Boss Award” from the Employee Action and Rights Network for his refusal to pay employees who worked overtime. The network claimed that employees were asked to sign a so-called “Employee Wage Agreement” when they were hired. The agreement outlined that employees agree to waive their legal rights to overtime pay. It was a very unethical practice, which violated the Employment Standard Acts. Victims were usually young workers who wanted to gain more working experiences and newcomers to Canada who did not know much about their legal rights.

As suggested by ladychacha’s blog post “Mistreatment of employees in fast food industry”, employees often work overtime without getting extra pay is a common issue that always happens, especially in the fast food industry where people who work there are less likely to voice out the unfair treatments by their employers. To deal with this, I think the B.C. Ministry of Labour should increase penalty against employers who fail to pay overtime wages, minimum wages, or other legitimate working wages. Employers should also bear in mind that unethical acts would bring great influence to their brands, as it will cause psychological, financial and legal consequences, which ruin the company’s reputation. Anli Dhawan’s case is a good example of it as he is now well-known as the infamous “Bad Boss” winner. The Employee Action and Right Network will hand out more “Bad Boss” awards to unethical bosses and I hope it will be a warning sign to those employers who are still exploiting their employees’ rights.

Source: http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/10/vancouver-subway-owner-named-bad-boss-by-young-workers/