Question

A CPA firm wants to gain a competitive recruiting advantage over its peers. Its lead recruiter has started giving $2,000 signing bonuses to brilliant 18-year-old high school graduates who plan to major in accounting during their upcoming college years. In return for these bonuses, students must agree that, if they decide to join the accounting profession upon graduation, they must accept employment with this CPA firm. This CPA is highly reputable and social media sites confirm that it pays its employees "top dollar." If bonus recipients attend information sessions for other CPA firms or interviews with other firms while in college, their offer of guaranteed employment with this firm terminates. Is this CPA firm’s policy legal? Or ethical?

Answer 1

From a legal point of view this policy and the contracts that it includes are legal since the students are adults and can legally sign voluntary agreements.

Even though this policy is legal, I really doubt that it is ethical. My biggest concerns are not with the firm, but rather with the students that receive money in exchange for future employment. The accounting firm is well respected, so $2,000 will not be a lot of money for them even if they hand them out to several students. Students also probably need the money, but as accountants they will need to make sensitive judgements that will affect their clients and many stakeholders. Remember that this bonus is given to students that haven't yet decided what to study, and if they accept it and become accountants, their only motivation will be the money they can earn.

That is where our problem lies, is the company being irresponsible for hiring people whose main motivation is solely making money? As CPAs, that might be very complex and dangerous in the future.