How to deal with ethical issues with my job?

It’s hard to deal with people who act without integrity. You should let candidates know the organization you are recruiting for has a high demand for talent and that they are always looking for new people, whether there’s a current opening or not. Also, quote a range of pay that includes the real level they are likely to get offered so they are not deceived.

Clearly you don’t want your reputation at risk here, be honest with people, if that’s not acceptable to your employer then start searching for your own new job. Good luck! Peace

I would have trouble working somewhere that I had to lie.

Is anything they do, or that they do, actually illegal? Then I defintely wouldn’t do it. I would have to decide whether to tell my boss it is illegal, if I wanted to stay. There isna risk with it. The company might be glad you told them, or mad you told them.

I don’t see why you have to lie anyway. Why can’t people know the truth? It’s a staffing agency, people sogn up even when there is no immediate job opening, it’s not a bog deal.

The money thing is ridiculous, that has to be fixed. They aren’t just liars they are stupid if they think that is not worth looking at your numbers.

As @BosM has suggested, though not in so many words, you are not a robot. You don’t have to automatically do everything that the client – or even your own boss – have said they want done in exactly the way that they say to do it. (If that were so, then you can bet that your job would be done with a robot very soon.)

In fact, @BosM has suggested some imaginative and clever ways to finesse the issue, specifically by not following a word-for-word script and explaining “the truth as you know it” in a diplomatic way that also doesn’t vilify the client or your boss. It’s very possible, in fact, that the client does have pending positions open once they make an announcement about future plans that have been kept under tight wraps, for example. That’s not uncommon, since a business moving into new territory or new markets often wants to be under the radar until all the pieces are in place, to avoid their competitors getting their own plans in place.

The money thing is a potential problem if there really is “bad math” or worse, lying, going on, but I’ve seen enough confusions over complicated pay and tax schemes in my career that I don’t automatically assume “evil” when “incompetence” is a potential reason for the problems.

Look for another job although you seem to have had issues with every job you’ve held so far.

I almost went to work for a place like that once. They folded within weeks. Find a new job now before they leave you in the lurch.

I agree that it is essential for you to seek employment elsewhere. It is merely a matter of time before the sharp practices of your client are called into question with nasty legal ramifications. And fall guys WILL be required. If you’re doing the lying, a defense of “I was told to lie” is rarely sufficient.

I suspect that what you tell candidates when there are no positions available is a matter of good or bad copy writing. Your company needs something good to offer applicants even in those situations. If they don’t have something to offer, then they havne’t thought out their services completely.

It seems there’s an opportunity for someone to step up and write that verbiage that explains the situation in an honest and encouraging manner without having to lie. It may be that your company (or the client) needs to offer something more than just a waiting line to get people to stick around.

Beginning to realize for most, no matter where you go there will always be some kind of problem at work. These people were approved to move forward and I placed them somewhere else when another client wanted then. I’m not making unemployed people wait a month or more for a job that doesn’t exist if they can start work the next day…