Question: On some jobs, employees are expected to perform emotional labor most of the time. Salespeople, for example, are often required to be cheerful and polite, even to the most unpleasant customers. However, this can create high levels of stress for employees to the extent that they often have to hide their true feelings. Additionally, to the extent that a customer is rude or abusive, demands for emotional labor might be questionable on ethical grounds.
1. Are there limits to the extent to which an employer should require employees to perform emotional labor? If so, what are these limits? If not, why not?
2. Under what condition do you think it would be unethical to require emotional labor from employees? Be specific.