Ethical Dilemma and Work Hours
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Barbara Montgomery is a first-year auditor for Coppers and Rose, a large public accounting firm. She has been assigned to the audit of Lakes Brothers, a clothing retailer with retail outlets throughout the United States. This audit has proved troublesome in the past, and during a staff meeting preceding the audit, Robert Cooley, the supervisor on the audit, says: "We are going to be required to work several hours 'off-the-clock' each week until this audit is completed." He also observes that the client is putting a great deal of pressure on the firm to maintain an acceptable level of fees.
Barbara has just been to staff training school, where it was emphasized that not charging a client for hours actually worked is a violation of Coppers and Rose's employment policy, a violation that could cause her to be dismissed. She also knows that only staff personnel are paid overtime and that supervisors are evaluated on successfully completing audits within allowable budgets.
Barbara discusses the issue with John Reed, a second-year staff accountant. John says, "Don't worry, if you go along nobody will find out and Robert will give you a good evaluation." John also says that Robert is very highly regarded by the senior members of the firm and is likely to be promoted to manager in the near future.
Required:
a. Is it ethical for Barbara to work hours and not charge them to the client?
b. Use the six-step approach outlined in this chapter to resolve this ethical dilemma.
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Solution Summary
Ethical dilemma of cutting cost by keeping work hours off the books in order to please a client. This type of practice will harm the company, harm other employees that don't want to do this, and will make other clients expect the same treatment. All ethical dilemmas need to be addressed in a manner that is sensitive to all parties involved.
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If Barbara works hours off the books she is violating the employment policy of her employer and is acting unethically. Not only is she violating the employment policy she is also shorting her self, and potentially starting a habit that is going to be expected of her. The audit supervisor is wrong for asking that she work without pay, and is violating more then just the employment policy, but also legal laws and regulations put in place by the federal government. This is also denying the client the opportunity to pay for the services provided.
6 step approach: Step 1: Obtain the relevant facts; audit of Lake Brothers clothing retailer is an audit that tends to have many problems and issues. The supervisor of the audit ...
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