JA scholarship ethics essay

Do you know a high school senior going off to college next year? Junior Achievement is running an ethics essay contest for a $5,000 college scholarship. Details and the link to JA can be found at Kiplinger’s website.

The Kiplinger’s article calls it a “tough ethical question,” but I see it as pretty black and white. Here the scenario:

As part of her summer lawn-care business, 17-year-old Jessica mows the lawn for her neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Lee, for which she is paid $20. The Lees frequently ask Jessica to do other yard work, such as pulling weeds, planting flowers and raking leaves. The Lees have not offered extra wages for the additional work, and Jessica has been too shy to ask. But her other customers do pay her additional wages for extra work.

Jessica is saving all of her money for college and would like to make as much as possible. One day, after working for the Lees, Jessica checked her payments and noticed they had included an extra $100 bill with the regular $20 payment. Jessica has worked enough during the summer to deserve the extra money, but doesn't know if the Lees intended to give her such a large amount. What should Jessica do?

My take is Jessica has a contract with the Lees, which is separate and distinct from her agreements with her other customers. She doesn’t “deserve” that money since it falls outside the terms of their contract, so she should bring it to the Lees attention. And if the Lees meant for her to have the extra money, that’s great. If she is planning on doing more work for them, that's a great time to bring up the extra work and add that to the payment schedule.

Anyone have a different take?