Unedited 10/28/2009
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Passing judgment on a person working slowly requires that a critic understand what could be called "standards of industry." In addition the critic must have a working understanding of social agreements and what are called social contracts that each citizen learns and relearns from birth. In a cooperative society each member is expected to pull their own weight. Those who do not are called freeloaders, cheaters and sometime incompetent. Where ethical judgment comes into play here is when working slowly financially rewards the slow person in comparison with other people in the society doing the same work. In addition to business being required in a civilized society to adhere to ethical standards they also must acknowledge professional standards. Its takes years of experience for a business person to truly become a professional and deliver professional service. So, if, for example, a service provider such as a plumber presents themselves in word, symbol and body language as a professional their work will be expected to conform to standards of industry. This means if the unspoken agreement was for professional service working slowly might be considered a cheat thus unethical. If the service provider has only been in business for a few years and they made no persuasive assertions of being the best, the most talented and fastest in town then their slow work does not meet the criterion of being unethical if there is not some conscious intent to increase the number of billable hours they present to their customer. An extensive ethical evaluation of such a business person who is milking their client will show in other areas of their behavior.

Example: Sometimes a service provider unexpectedly has extra time on their hands when working on a contracted job. A contractor may have bid high on a job only to find the work was easy and inexpensive to do. Since a bid is essentially a bid the contractor is faced with the dilemma of slowing the work crew down. If they do not the client might complain and feel cheated. What the client does not understand is that bidding is quite a risky affair. Most of the time contractor's feel they have under bid. Thus, when the rare opportunity comes along where they have over bid they generally take the bid as it is. However, working slowly is a regular business tactic of very aggressive contractors who get a very high price for very little work. And, sometimes the work is shoddy and substandard. They may have preyed on an elderly woman convincing her that she needed to spend $2700 to essentially change a light switch (an actual job).

Note:

Body Language, Speech, and Symbolic Gestures Leading the Client to False Expectations.

Standards of Industry

Social Contracts, Customs, Manners and Traditions Honored