Firms using voluntary or unpaid staff need to ensure they’re not breaching the ICAEW Code of Ethics and are meeting their obligations under employment law.

“The vast majority of our firms understand this, and are acting appropriately,” says Sophie Wales, ICAEW’s Director of Regulatory Policy. “For example, we encourage firms to offer work shadowing or short-term work experience to students.”

“But there have been a few instances where firms have advertised for staff, sometimes described as ‘trainee accountants’, to work full-time for a specified number of months without pay,” she adds. “So, to make it clear why we consider the use of unpaid staff in this way to be a breach of the Code, we’ve produced this guidance outlining the key issues, as well as the risks and consequences.”

“We certainly don’t see this as a widespread problem,” she emphasises. “But we do want to make it absolutely clear that we don't consider it acceptable and that, where such conduct is found to breach the Code of Ethics, regardless of whether or not it is a breach of employment law, we will take appropriate disciplinary action.”

When is it appropriate to use voluntary staff?

There are clearly circumstances when having unpaid staff volunteering within a firm is perfectly acceptable. But these are generally limited to work shadowing, and certain internships or short-term work experience, either during secondary education or as an integral part of a higher education course.

“It's appropriate and encouraged to use voluntary staff for things like work experience and work shadowing internships,” explains Sophie. “But there’s a clear distinction between giving people that experience in the workplace, where they are effectively observing other work, and exploiting people by using them as unpaid staff in your business.”

In the instances that have come to ICAEW’s attention, firms have advertised roles for a specified number of working hours each week over a set period (several months at least), terms which would be appropriate for a paid employee, rather than a volunteer or unpaid member of staff. This would be a breach of the Code of Ethics, as well as a potential breach of employment law.

An ethics perspective

Whether there has been a breach of employment law is beyond the scope of ICAEW’s guidance, and this will depend on the specific facts and circumstances in each case. “However, we would consider advertising for, and using, staff in this way to be a breach of the fundamental principles of the Code of Ethics,” says Caroline Turnbull-Hall, Senior Regulatory Policy Advisor at ICAEW.

Under the Code, members have to behave in a way that is consistent with their responsibility to act in the public interest. And exploiting staff, treating some staff less fairly than others, or disregarding employment legislation, would be considered as failing to act in the public interest.

The two fundamental principles that are relevant in these circumstances are ‘professional behaviour’ and ‘integrity’. The principle of professional behaviour includes the requirement for a professional accountant to avoid any conduct that might discredit the profession.

In practice, this is conduct that a ‘reasonable-and-informed third party’ would be likely to conclude adversely affects the good reputation of the profession. “From an ethics perspective, we think exploiting individuals in this way is something a reasonable-and-informed third party would consider brings discredit on our profession,” explains Sophie.

The principle of professional behaviour also requires a professional accountant to treat others fairly, and the principle of integrity requires them to be straightforward and honest. Advertising for staff to work for no remuneration, and contracting with them on this basis, would be considered not to be dealing fairly with staff, regardless of whether the individuals concerned accept the engagement terms.

“There’s an inequality or imbalance in contracting power here,” explains Caroline. “If you’re junior and you want a job, but a firm is offering it on very unfair terms, you probably aren’t in a position to argue against it. You can obviously walk away, but if you really need some experience on your CV, you will probably take it.”

“It’s also about whether the person understands what they're signing up for,” adds Sophie. For example, where an advertisement describes the role as a ‘trainee accountant’, the individual might reasonably assume that the practical experience that they get will count towards their qualification, which would not be the case in the absence of a training contract. This would be a breach of the fundamental principle of integrity, which requires that a member should not be associated with false or misleading information.

Linked to this, there is also a diversity and inclusion issue associated with using unpaid staff. This is because any opportunities may only be open to those in a more privileged position who can afford to work for no payment.

“You have to have other means to support you if you're going to work for free,” says Sophie. “So, this type of unpaid role wouldn’t be providing equality of opportunity.”

What are the consequences?

ICAEW members and firms must adhere to the letter and spirit of the Code of Ethics. They also need to ensure they are complying with relevant employment law.

“The purpose of this guidance is to make it clear that we don’t consider it acceptable for our firms to advertise for staff to work for free, or use staff in this way,” stresses Sophie. “And, regardless of whether you're breaking the law, if we become aware of this happening in our firms, it's something that would be reported to the Conduct Department for them to investigate.”

“There’s a very clear line between short-term work experience or shadowing, where people are observing and learning, and cases where people are in what is effectively a full-time employed role but expected to do the work for free,” says Caroline.