The purpose of this essay is to highlight the effect of emotional labor on hospitality workers and whether the requirements for emotional labor are ethical in relation to employees. The first part of the essay will focus on why emotional labor is necessary in the industry and the need for employees to effectively manage their emotions. Next we will examine the limitations and negative effects of emotional labor and how this might relate to unethical work demands on employees. Hochschild (1983) was the first to define emotional labor as an occupation that involves the induction or suppression of feelings in order to sustain an outward appearance that produces in others the feeling of being cared for in a safe convivial place. Suggesting that employees must be able to keep external emotional factors under control and show off in front of customers to create an overall good professional opinion. There has been much discussion about whether emotional labor has any benefits for employees who have to represent and manage themselves emotionally. But research has suggested that those who manage themselves effectively reap benefits related to self-satisfaction and stress management. Kruml and Geddes (2000) and Hochschild (1983) researched and found that there were two processes in which people manage their emotions; superficial action and deep action. This coincides with Goffman (1959) who found that impression management, similar to emotional acting, focused on employees having to bury their true emotions and take on an outward appearance of projected emotion to reflect customer expectations and company standards. Surface action is defined as; “An employee who attempts to alter his or her appearance or outward appearance...... middle of paper ......cation Quarterly, 14(1), pp. 8– 49.Lieberman, K. & B. Nissen (2008). “Ethics in hospitality and tourism”. Washington DC: Amer Hotel and Motel AssociationPugh, S.D., (2001). “Service with a smile: emotional contagion in the service encounter”. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63, pp. 490 – 509Rafaeli, A. & Sutton, R.I., (1987). “The expression of emotions as part of the work role”. Academy of Management Review, 12, pp. 23-37 Sharpe. EK (2005). “Going Beyond:” The Emotional Labor of Adventure Guides. Journal of Leisure Research. 37 (1), pp. 29-50. Stanislavski, K. S., (1974). “My life in art”. New York Verbeke, W. (1997). “Individual differences in salespeople's emotional contagion: Its effects on performance and burnout.” Psychology and marketing. 14 (6), pp. 617-636.Williams, A. (2009). Understanding the hospitality industry. London: Butterworth-Heinemann