Quality Float Works of Schaumburg, Ill., laid off three employees in 2009 and put its remaining 18 on a four-day work week. Now (mid-2010), sales are surging for the company, which makes metal balls that businesses use to signal when water levels get too high or low in tanks and troughs. Customers depleted their inventories in the showdown and are panicked, says company President Sandra Westlund-Deenihan. She's giving workers up to nine hours of overtime weekly. Although she hired two staffers recently, she's holding off on further additions. Existing employees ''went through the hard times, and felt I owed it to them first'', she says. Some workers are going straight from part-time to overtime duty. 

What are the ethical implications of the following interpretations?

1. This is a very fair arrangement-a classic case of ''share the pain, share the gain''. Besides, it gives Westlund-Deenihan some room to maneuver in case the economy softens again.

2. Bringing back all the laid-off employees (those who desired to return) for at least part-time work, before granting overtime to existing employees, would have better served the greater good. After all, the laid-off employees suffered the most.

3. In the spirit of employee empowerment and participative management, Westlund Deenihan should have polled the employees to see if a majority wanted to go the overtime route or first bring back all laid-off employees, and acted accordingly.

4. Your own ethical interpretation?