Question:

I’m hoping you may have time to address this question: I have been using the “Cancel That” exercise. [note]no relevance to the question… by the way[/note]

Realizing that I have not had hardly any integrity in my life has been mind blowing, by the way.

Ok, my question is: in the course of doing business, is integrity an issue if I pay someone a lower wage (consensually) for a service that others are being paid higher wages to do the same service? Thank you for any input you may have.

Answer:

Integrity is an inside job. No social or moral obligations are relevant when we look if there is integrity in a behavior. No one can tell you anything about your integrity.

Integrity is an issue between you and you.

If the question comes up, that is a good indication, that for some reason your conduct, your behavior is not OK with you, that you may have an integrity issue.

You may want to look if you are conditioned to help the downtrodden, to give up your profits for the benefit of the other, to self-sacrifice.

If it were me, I would not worry about what you are worrying about, I would look if I wanted a long term relationship with the service provider and if I the quality of work will suffer because of the low wages.

I have hired people for 50% above what they asked for, because I needed someone who was going to be happy for the long term.

But ground rule: people who have the capacity of responsibility know that each person is responsible for their end of the deal, and no one can be asked to do something that they don’t agree to.

If the market is such that the service provider is willing to work for less to have any work, then it is ultimately their responsibility. They don’t need to be stuck with that decision, unless they are really stupid.

My principle in pricing my products and services is: don’t give a price you are not willing to commit to for a long time… so I normally don’t discount any of my products, unless, even with the discount, it is profitable for me.

For example, in order to drum up volume on my Amazon account, I will be offering free shipping on all my products till the end of the calendar year [note]the first product that comes up is my Sleep Rescue, which is the Heaven on Earth targeted to sleep deprived people, insomniacs. Please, even if you don’t want to buy, click on the product to help me rank it. It is my first promotion, and it is supposed to start at 9 pm EST tonight… let’s see if it will… it is a little complicated to set stuff up on Amazon… complicated for me… oh, well. sigh[/note]. Why? Because even with that discount I am making money, and the benefit I am gaining from that is worth more money to me than what it cost me to pay for shipping.

With that said: you may want to look at your conditioned self-sacrificing ideals, and look if you are committed to them. If you are, your integrity will include honoring your ideals and principles…

Read the original article: Talk back to me: is integrity an issue if I pay someone a lower wage than others?