Babysitter's dilemma: can I pocket the cab fare?

• Author: Cohen, Randy
• Position: THE ETHICIST - Brief article

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I babysit through an agency that requires parents to pay for a cab home after 9 p.m. If I accept this additional money, must I take a cab? I'd rather get on the subway and keep the extra money.

T.H., New York

AS TEMPTING AS IT MIGHT BE to pocket the cash, the after-9 P.M. money is not a bonus; it's meant to provide you with the safety of a cab ride home.

Perhaps you feel that riding the subway back is safe enough. That's your choice. But your employer shouldn't have to dole out extra cash to nourish your savings account. (In fact, many companies reimburse work-related expenses only after the fact and only with proof, like a receipt, in part to track how the money is used and avoid precisely the kind of abuse of company expense policies that you're considering.)

There is, of course, another option: Talk to your employers. As a matter of principle, they may decide to give you the cab fare after...