The Christian Working Woman - Integrity in the Marketplace – 4

Those of us who daily go to a job know very well what it means to face a world which often does not operate by Christian principles. I’ve been examining integrity in the marketplace. I’d like to present another ethical case study and see how a Christian should respond. Case #3 A bright lawyer works in a prestigious law firm. She does her work exceptionally well, puts in many hours of overtime, and aspires to a partnership someday. Since she is a Christian and a woman of integrity, she turns in exactly the hours she has worked, which she knows to be more than most, if not all, of the other lawyers in the firm actually work. Yet it appears to be less, because everyone else pads the hours on his or her reports. She has an annual review coming up and she knows the subject will surface. Though her work is above reproach, she hasn’t billed the clients for as many hours as others have. What does she say to the managing partner who questions her about her hours? What will she do if she is “encouraged” to pad her hours? What effect could that have on her career? Remember our guiding verse, Proverbs 21:21. Pursuing righteousness—doing the right thing—makes her course of action very clear. It is without question wrong to pad the hours, and she has done the right thing in turning in only what she has truly worked, no matter how it makes her look. The question now is, how does she address this situation during her review? I believe she should keep the focus on herself and off others. There’s no need to point fingers at others but simply to reiterate that she has kept accurate records and turned in actual hours. If her management should explicitly ask or imply she needs to turn in more hours, she will then have to take a more direct approach, stating her principles if necessary. It’s unlikely, especially in a law firm, that she will be explicitly asked or told to pad her hours. However, if she doesn’t comply, she’s likely to find it is costly to her. She may discover promotions pass her up, performance evaluations are not fair, and that partnership she wants isn’t offered. Integrity can be costly. The good guys don’t always come in first in the world system.