BUSINESS NOTES.

SURVEY FINDS MANY DISHONEST WORKERS: Despite a booming interest in corporate ethics in the last decade, Boy Scout honesty in the workplace seems as rare as a dress-up Friday. Nearly half of workers engaged in unethical and/or illegal acts in the last year, according to a survey to be released Monday.

The pressure-cooker atmosphere at many workplaces may be to blame, according to the Ethics Officer Association and the American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters and Chartered Financial Consultants, which carried out the survey of 1,324 workers.

Faced with the demands of overtime, balancing work and family and downsizing, workers said they feel more stress than five years ago, as well as more pressure to act unethically.

The most common behavior involved cutting corners on quality (16 percent), covering up incidents (14 percent), abusing or lying about sick days (11 percent) and lying to or deceiving customers (9 percent).

AMERICAN AIRLINES' PILOTS APPROVE CONTRACT: Two months after President Clinton stopped a strike by American Airlines' pilots, their union leaders approved a tentative contract with the nation's largest domestic airline.

In a 12-6 vote on Friday, the Allied Pilots Association executive board decided to present the plan to American's 9,300 pilots for a vote in the next few weeks.

LIQUOR INDUSTRY DEFENDS TV ADS: The liquor industry trade association said Friday it's unwilling to accept a ban on television advertising and will continue to air commercials as beer and wine makers do.

``We are a legal product, we have a right to advertise responsibly on television,'' said Fred Meister, chief executive of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States at a news conference in Washington.

Distillers dropped a 50-year voluntary ban on broadcast advertising in November after Joseph E. Seagram and Sons advertised their premium brand Crown Royal in Corpus Christi, Texas.

President Clinton has asked that distillers return to the self-imposed spirit ban and also asked the Federal Communications Commission to study the impact and make recommendations for possible federal action. Clinton said if the agency finds liquor ads harmful to youngsters the FCC would have grounds to act.

JAGUAR RECALLS SPORTS CARS: Luxury automaker Jaguar said Friday it is recalling nearly 5,000 of its XK8 sports cars because of a potential flaw that could cause a rear wheel to collapse while turning sharply.

The expensive XK8 was introduced last year as Jaguar's first new model since the company was bought by Ford Motor Co. in 1989, and its first new sports car in 21 years. The car comes in coupe and convertible versions.

The recall affects almost half of the 11,500 XK8s sold worldwide. Of those, 2,303 are being recalled in the United States and 162 in Canada.

BOSTON BEER GOES STRAIGHT TO PUBLIC: Boston Beer Co. said it plans to sell its stock directly to customers, in hopes that fans of Samuel Adams beer will put their money where their mouths are.

The idea was taken from J.C. Penney Co., where a similar stock plan found that people who invested directly in the retailer spent three times as much at its stores than average shoppers, said Boston Beer spokesman Alex Gregory.