Assignment 2 | Audit case

Ana Carolina Faim | 1002583896

Inês Fonte | 1002584256
Laura Hager | 1002584655

Ethically, this is a difficult decision to make, since both choices will bring some
negative consequences.

In one hand, if she drops the issue, it will be easier for her since she is new in the
company and she is not in a powerful position to change the running system, so
we believe that she by herself will not have enough influence to change that
situation and probably if she did try to do it, she would be fired. On the other,
trying to fight the issue would be more ethically correct, since what the company
does is an illegal practice.

According to this, we believe that the most ethical decision would be to continue
to fight the issue. To support our decision based on the theory, we will try to
answer the three questions that aim to solve the problems ethically:

 Utility: Does it optimize the satisfaction of all stakeholders? Regarding

the clients, their interest is going to be optimize since they are not going to
pay taxes and they will gain with this practice. However, one of the
workers, in this case Sue, will not be satisfied since this practice is against
to her beliefs and principles. Moreover, the clients’ workers will also not
be satisfied with this practice, as they are treated as they should be.
 Rights: Does it respect the rights of the individuals involved? Not really
because the client’s workers are not seemed as employees, so they don’t
have the proper rights as they would have if they were classified as
employees and if they have a regular contract.
 Justice: Is it consistent with canons of justice? We believe that this is not
fair for the workers, since the workers lose some rights and also because
what the company is doing is scaping the justice system.

According to the answer of these questions, Sue should try to make the company
understand that this is a practice that should be changed, since it is illegal and
not ethical.