Guidance from ICAEW's Professional Standard's Department on when a firm’s use of ‘voluntary’ staff can breach the ICAEW Code of Ethics.
ICAEW has been made aware of instances where ICAEW members or firms have been advertising for staff, sometimes described as ‘trainee accountants’, to work on a full-time basis for a specified number of months for no remuneration.
These roles have been described as ‘voluntary’. Several individuals have brought these advertisements to ICAEW’s notice due to concerns with the ethical implications of firms advertising for, and using, unpaid staff.
This guidance outlines why the use of ‘voluntary’ staff in this way is unethical conduct, and therefore a breach of the ICAEW Code of Ethics, whether or not it is also a breach of employment law.
Where the conduct of a member or a member firm is found to breach the Code of Ethics, ICAEW will take appropriate disciplinary action.
When is it appropriate to use voluntary staff?
There are specific instances where it is possible for firms to have individuals working for them for no remuneration, but these are generally limited to work shadowing, certain internships or short-term work experience, either during secondary education or as an integral part of a higher education course.
In the instances that have been brought to the attention of ICAEW’s Professional Services Department (PSD), firms have advertised roles for a specified number of working hours each week for a set period of time (several months and sometimes up to a year). This might suggest that firms are seeking an employee, rather than a volunteer. If this is the case, there would be a breach of the Code of Ethics, as well as a potential breach of employment law.
Whether there has been a breach of employment law is beyond the scope of this guidance, as this will depend on the specific facts and circumstances in each case. However, in very general terms an employee is someone who works under an employment contract and is remunerated.
A volunteer, who may or may not have a volunteer agreement, is not paid for the provision of their services and has different legal rights to employees. They also provide services more flexibly. There is case law that provides that one of the indicators of employment is a requirement to provide a minimum number of hours per week.
If the relationship between a firm and individual engaged as a volunteer was found to be that of an employer and employee rather than a volunteer, it is possible that the firm has breached the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. Under this legislation all employees (ie those working under employment contracts) should be paid at least the national minimum wage.
What is the position under the Code of Ethics?
Whether or not the advertisement for, and use of, ‘volunteer’ staff in this way is a breach of employment law, it would be considered unethical conduct and therefore a breach of the fundamental principles of the ICAEW Code of Ethics.
The Code explains that a distinguishing mark of the accountancy profession is its acceptance of the responsibility to act in the public interest. Further, changes to the Code from 1 July 2025 explicitly require all members to behave in a manner consistent with the profession’s responsibility to act in the public interest in all professional activities and business relationships.
While ‘public interest’ is not defined, instances where firms are exploiting staff, treating some staff less fairly than others, or disregarding employment legislation would be considered to be failing to act in the public interest.
Compliance with the fundamental principles within the Code helps ensure that professional accountants meet their responsibilities to act in the public interest. The two fundamental principles that are relevant in this instance are professional behaviour and integrity.
Professional behaviour
The fundamental principle of professional behaviour (subsection 115), requires a professional accountant to:
- a) comply with relevant laws and regulations,
- b) behave in a manner consistent with the profession’s responsibility to act in the public interest, and
- c) avoid any conduct that the accountant knows or should know might discredit the profession.
The Code explains that conduct that might discredit the profession is conduct that a “reasonable and informed third party” would be likely to conclude adversely affects the good reputation of the profession.
This “reasonable and informed third party” test means that an accountant’s behaviour is measured against the expectations of someone with the knowledge and experience to evaluate the appropriateness of a member’s conduct.
The test brings conduct that a reasonable-and-informed third party would consider to adversely affect the good reputation of the profess-ion into scope. In addition, the fundamental principle of professional behaviour requires a professional accountant to treat others fairly.
Therefore, irrespective of whether employment law has been breached, it is highly likely that a reasonable-and-informed third party would consider that the advertisement for, and use of, individuals in this way by a firm adversely affects the good reputation of the profession due to exploitation of the ‘volunteers’.
Using unpaid staff could be seen as discrediting the profession as it is a mechanism to avoid having to pay national minimum wage and exploiting (typically) younger workers, while boosting profits by charging clients at full rates for work done.
In addition, there is a diversity and inclusion consequence of using unpaid staff, as any work opportunities on this basis may only be open to those who are in a more privileged position and can afford to work for no payment.
For this reason, the firm’s actions would be considered to bring discredit on the profession and therefore constitute a breach of the fundamental principle of professional behaviour.
Integrity
The fundamental principle of integrity (sub section 111) requires a professional accountant to be straightforward and honest, which includes fair dealing.
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.
Dealing fairly with staff or potential staff would also include an employer taking advantage of an imbalance of contracting power when agreeing contract terms with a potential member of staff. Although under the principle of freedom to contract, parties can enter into a contract on their own terms, this is subject to certain statutory boundaries which protect against unfair practices and exploitation.
An advertisement for unpaid staff describing the role as that of a ‘trainee accountant’ is also potentially misleading, as this could be taking to imply that the work would count towards 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.
Consequences
If ICAEW is made aware of ICAEW members or firms advertising for, or engaging, staff to work for no remuneration on terms that appear to be those of employment, whether or not this is considered to be legal, the Institute will take action on the basis that such behaviour is a breach of the Code of Ethics.
Issues to consider
ICAEW members and firms must always have regard to the letter and spirit of the Code of Ethics. This guidance highlights the risks of breaching the Code, as well as employment law, by using volunteer staff to fill roles that are analogous to paid employees.
These considerations would not apply to individuals who are work or job shadowing, where they are observing other work and are not doing any work themselves.
Firms should ensure that their use of any volunteer staff is appropriate under employment law and is not structured in a way that a reasonable-and-informed third party would conclude adversely affects the good reputation of the profession due to exploitation of the volunteer individuals.
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