Work ethic / Employment ethic?
I've spent many years managing parts store employees. The vast majority of them simply wanted to show up a few minutes late, leave a few minutes early, stretch the breaks as far as possible and hide on the phone when they could. There were a few total stand outs who wanted to learn the job and hoped to advance to a position where all the learning was useless as they no longer sold parts but managed people instead. Through out my working years I have always showed up excessively early worked harder than the other guys and ended up getting the promotions to match. The last two jobs taught me a BIG life lesson: Just because you have a good work ethic it doesn't mean the company has a good employment ethic.
I watched one employeer disregard the physical safety of a group of employees simply to save a couple bucks and another falsely accuse employees of theft when he was the one sliding the parts out the back door as paybacks for his other ventures.
These days one of the best protections is a Human Resources department. Not my favorite thing to have to say as they protect those who nedd to be gotten rid of just as often as those who deserve the protection...
BTW: I am currently employed in a great job that requires extra efforts, extended hours, pays comission only, and expects me to get the job done or get myself out. And best of all I no longer have to manage employees, just customers. My only real complaint is the commute of 23 miles taking an hour.
j/k
