Sweatshop Labor
Sweatshop Labor
Sweatshop labor is the use of employees in a company are forced to work long hours and are being paid low wages. Sweatshops are commonly associated with unethical social work conditions where labor laws are violated (Synder, 2010). These companies normally also have their employees working in poor work conditions and rarely do they offer benefits.
Consumer demands force a companys business decision because it helps the company to achieve an increased profit. Unfortunately, the first thing companies do is outsource and turn to sweatshops for cheap fast labor to make a profit and to be competitive in the market (Paharia, Vohs, Deshpande, 2013).
Different ethical perspectives guide ethical decision making through their ethical viewpoints. Moral decisions are typically guided by the individuals values and or beliefs. Beliefs include principles of conduct such as caring, trust, loyalty, being fair and acting with integrity and being a personable citizen (Bahl, 2012). Companies may try to justify their actions by outsourcing to sweatshop by using the economical prices, but this still does not make this decision right. Although you may not always be breaking any laws, this still does not make your decision ethical.
A company would most likely influence the ethical environment by moral obligation, company regulations and the policies they adhere. If the business goal were to indulge and pay for overtime, provision of good working conditions for workers or paying for the labor, then the company line would be engaging in ethical labor practices. On the other hand, if the company would be involved in self-gain interests just to maximize the profits then that company would be using unethical labor practices, such as sweatshop.
There are no benefits to sweatshops; people are forced to work long hours in adverse working conditions. Employees that work at these