The enthronement of ethical leadership typology to enhance employee positive work behavior in the fast-food restaurant sector has generated serious debate amongst scholars and practitioners. To provide answers to the above, this research adopted a cross-sectional survey design with a population of one hundred and ninety-eight participants drawn from twenty selected fast-food restaurants sector, in south-eastern Nigeria. Social learning theory and social exchange theory were employed as the underpinning theories of the study. The study’s results demonstrated that ethical leadership dimensionalities predicted the measures of emotional labor. The research concludes that ethical leadership enhances employees’ positive emotional work behavior in the fast-food restaurant sector. One of the practical implications of this study is the prioritization of ethical leadership as an instrument to boost performance in the workplace through emotional labor by HR managers and the owners of fast-food businesses.