Ben Reese is a painter for a small manufacturing plant. Sometimes he works directly on the product and sometimes he performs routine maintenance on the plant’s three buildings. He is paid $11.50 an hour and fills out a time sheet at the end of each week. His supervisor then fills in the specific jobs that will be charged with Ben’s time. On Friday afternoon, Ben’s supervisor, Ralph Brooks, said he needed Ben to do a job off the plant site. Ralph explained that he had just installed a wooden garage door on his house and needed it painted. He told Ben to leave a couple of hours early and “just sign out as though you had stayed until quitting time.” Even though this request made Ben uncomfortable, he did what the boss said.

1. What would you have done if you were Ben? Justify your answer.

2. How do you suppose Ralph will account for Ben’s hours away from the plant?

3. Write a short paragraph explaining the difference between direct labor and indirect labor. Include how each is assigned to specific jobs.

4. In groups of two or three, come up with some suggestions on measures a company can take to prevent a situation like this from happening.