Saturday job - unpaid trial ?

[TheEleventhMonth]

Is this a thing these days?

It's a bullshit thing is what it is! Name and shame the company.

It used to be a thing when I was a teenager back in the 90s. It was shit then and it’s shit now.

No way! They will get a free day of labour and then there will be an excuse and no job at the end if it. Any trial period should be paid.

Be careful. My daughter did a few of these in cafes last summer while desperate for a job. None took her on and one asked her to come back next day for a second trial!
I suppose it depends what job?

Although they were ultimately useful as she used her experience gained in an interview for a supermarket job she did get. Silver linings

Tell them no. A key skill as an adult is being able to tell when someone is taking the p1ss and telling them to shove it

Where I worked a trial would be paid.

Hmmm. We shall see how she gets on - I suppose at the very least she can chalk it up as work experience which might go some way towards satisfying that criteria that lower 6th form requires? (Albeit, it's nowhere remotely anywhere near her final career aspirations).

My friend did an unpaid trial one evening for a waiting staff job. She mainly shadowed other staff and then got offered the job.

No. They're just getting unpaid workers to save money on busy days. It's really common.

If your child is working for a profit making company, she should be paid for it. It's not even being dressed up as a training session. She is effectively "giving" £60 or £70 to a wealthy business owner out of her own pocket.

@User0ne

Tell them no. A key skill as an adult is being able to tell when someone is taking the p1ss and telling them to shove it

100%.

Yes, still a thing in hospitality, including the top restaurants with Michelin stars etc.

You don't have to agree, but they probably won't offer you a job without it. You don't do very much actual work on a trial shift ime, and they don't keep you for the entire shift usually. I've never done one and then not got the job, so it's usually worth it. But if it's a student or teen or whatever just wanting a bit of extra pocket money, I can see why you wouldn't do it.