My 16 yo has taken a job that has turned out to voluntary!

It sounds like a mid communication rather than fraud. A lot of youth positions at sports clubs like this are unpaid as the business isn’t profit making, whether football coaching, helping at athletics etc. Young people use for experience or DofE as you suggest. Perhaps his enquiry wasn’t clear he wanted a paid position which is frustrating but a life lesson. Hope he can find a paid role.

I wouldn’t get into the legalities of it. He can just quit if he was not aware that it would be voluntary and doesn’t want to do it on that basis.

Modern day slavery. It seems the fitness industry is a bit dodgy when it comes to getting free labour. A lot of the budget gyms are the same. They have the downright cheek to boast about their profits which they only achieve by not paying their staff.

I do DBSs for volunteers - there is a question asking if it can/will lead you a paid role. If you answer yes you get charged, if no then it's free.

So if they got the DBS for free they either intend to not empty him or lied on the application.

Our swimming club is run completely by volunteers - committee, coaches, teachers, everyone. As are the majority in the leagues we compete in.

What I would suggest though is to see if the local authority employee lifeguards. Cours is about 300-400 quid. Some offer for free if you promise to work for them.

DD just qualified as a lifeguard and an Assistant Coach. Can't do Coach qualification until she's 18 so not looking at a swim teacher qualification instead.

David Lloyd and places pay really well for lifeguards and teachers.

I wouldn’t get excited. Only costs about £18 for volunteer DBS. Enhanced DBS for staff cost about £50.

Bet any "training" isn't formal or leading to any qualification either.

Steep learning curve for him. He should have asked the salary when he was offered. Did the advert state it was unpaid? Poor thing

Have you got anything in writing to say it was paid?

Is DS in full time education as well as this?

Tricky. I mean there’s plenty of people who “work” for clubs that are basically volunteers. Think of netball coaches, football coaches, etc. And some that aren’t, e.g. people taking lessons. So really not so much exploitation, it’s the model. Most the fees go on premises hire.

This almost happened to me when I was about 18. The interview took place, and it was more like him trying to convince me to do the job than him asking questions.

I asked me what the pay was going to be, and he said to check with the job centre.

The cheek of people wanting to use people for free and not tell them!

If your son needs to do these hours for the qualification, I would say to carry on. If not, to leave. There is no guarantee he will get a job. I hope he got free swimming sessions out of it at least!

Six weeks voluntary? Sure. Six months voluntary? Complete exploitation IMO. I'd bet my last ten pounds they decide to not keep many on as the Six months comes up.

Did you say there was no contract too? DC1 had to sign a plethora of documents for their volunteer job. Major red flags with that one OP. Seems like they're taking advantage of young ones who wouldn't always be the ways of work etc.

In my club, only the head coach receives pay, and that’s minimum wage. The coaches receive a small discount if their kids swim and the poolside helpers are volunteers for which the club will pay for the coaching course fees (as they do with all coaches, along with DBS). Not all clubs are the same and the Swim England salary you mentioned likely only applies to a few large clubs.

I’m a member of a swimming club committee, and have a 16 year old DS who has been a poolside helper for a couple of years. We pay our qualified coaches, but not those with an assistant coach qualification or poolside helpers who are unqualified (but need DBS and safeguarding once they are 16). We do support those who are long term poolside helpers if they want to gain a coaching qualification, and the club has just paid for the majority of my DS’s assistant coach course. I’m surprised a club would pay their poolside helpers. Will they pay for his assistant coach course if he is planning to do that soon?

I have been involved with swimming clubs my whole life. I have never known poolside helpers to be paid, they are usually teenagers getting volunteer experience or parents helping out. Did they actually offer him a job? Or did they just say he could help out on poolside with a view to doing his qualification.

My daughter had similar at gymnastics except they said it was unpaid, paid for her to do her gym coach exams , and gave her free gymnastics saving us £85 a month so we gave her the £85 we were saving. They also loved and appreciated her and were always turning up with cake / treats/ silly bits to show their appreciation. Yours is taking the piss. Even if unpaid they should be up front and give something to show their appreciation.

Did they ask for a national insurance number. If they didn't they couldn't of paid him anyway.

I’m a Welfare Officer with a grassroots swimming club. Poolside helper is definitely a volunteer role in our swimming club. Usually it’s either parents of swimmers or kids wanting either a bit of experience in coaching or as part of their service element for D of E. We pay for their DBS checks and safeguarding courses if we need them. We only pay our Level 2 coaches and we need one poolside at all club sessions. Level 1 coaches are all volunteers.

Edited for spelling and grammar

Who paid for him to do the qualification to coach swimming? I was a volunteer at a local swim club many years ago. I did it for 8 years. Th club paid for me to do swim coaching qualifications and First Aid Certificate. I got paid after 6 months. I think if I'd paid for my own courses I'd have got paid after 3 months.

Cheeky gits. Tell him to throw
in the towel - literally.

Poolside helpers would never be paid at a swimming club. You’d need to be a qualified coach. Some clubs don’t even pay them.

It's odd that the pay wouldn't come up before. But it is pretty normal for clubs to be reliant on volunteers. When we get teens coming to our scout group as Young Leaders it wouldn't cross my mind to tell them it isn't paid.

Now he's 16 he could do his lifeguarding qualification and get a paid job doing that? The month he spent volunteering would be good on his CV

It's a lesson for your DS. How much did he think he was going to be paid, and on what basis, as a salary/hourly rate was clearly never written down.