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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think they've made a massive mistake here?

161 replies

PepsiColaaa · 24/08/2021 12:39

I've recently started a new job working from home. I was miserable in my old one and wanted to try something completely different. I found this job online via an agency who was recruiting for a company and they put me forward for an interview. I was offered the job last month, my equipment arrived last week and I started my training yesterday. It is only minimum wage but it was a way for me to get experience in this type of work (I've done the same jobs for 10 years). The job was advertised as working Mon-Fri 9-5 with weekends off and when I spoke to a lady from the agency she confirmed that over the phone to.

This morning whilst we were all on teams (8 of us) the trainer asked everyone to explain why they had applied for the role. One person said it was because they had a family and wanted to spend more time with their kids on the weekends etc. At that point the trainer must have realised and asked us all if we knew it was shift work. Apparently they operate 7 days a week 8-8 Mon-Fri and 9-6 on weekends and we would be expected to work shifts. They are also open during all public holidays (even Christmas Day Sad). I explained that there had been no mention of any shift work at all and I was under the impression that it was Mon-Fri. Everyone else said the same. Apparently we only work that during the 2 weeks training and then we start working on a rota basis.

It's not a huge problem for me as I've worked shifts before and I don't have any other commitments, but I think it's terrible that the agency have given all the applicants the wrong information. Some people have even left their jobs to take this one. One lady said she wouldn't have taken the job if she had known it was shift working as she has other commitments on weekends. Obviously some wires have been crossed but AIBU to think this is a huge cock up on the agency's part? Or maybe even the company itself if they've not passed the correct information on?

We're all stuck now and unless we want to be unemployed we need to continue with the job...

OP posts:
GoodForTheSoul · 24/08/2021 13:55

As someone who recruits for a living, I find it all baffling. Firstly, always request offer details be sent to you in writing. If for whatever reason they don't/won't clarify important things like working hours before accepting. And secondly, you should always sign a contract before starting. Otherwise like PP said the company has no protection for you as an employee and you have no leg to stand on either. Always demand a contract before you start, after 10 years in the recruitment industry, I have never had anyone start or resign without one.

Fernando072020 · 24/08/2021 13:55

Yeah sorry, I was referring to the others who left their jobs for this.
Hopefully for you at least the job will be worth it

Iloveginger · 24/08/2021 13:56

I've never signed a contract and I've employed by a Local Authority for 15 years
I worked in a local authority, in a previous life, and I never had a contract of employment. I was sent an offer letter before I started work outlining the terms of my employment - job title, pay, hours of work etc.
It's not a legal requirement before you start a job to have a 'contract' to sign, but I wouldn't hand my notice in on a job without an offer letter outlining the basic details of the role.

RedHelenB · 24/08/2021 13:56

Serve them right of you all did the job Mon while Fri training and then quit. Wouldn't be so happy with the agency then I bet!

prh47bridge · 24/08/2021 13:56

@pointythings

I second everyone who is saying it isn't a mistake, it's intentional and meant to draw you in. Really ought to be illegal.
In theory they are although I'm not aware of any prosecutions. The OP may be able to take action against the agency, although it may well not be worth it.
CorrBlimeyGG · 24/08/2021 13:57

I would finish the training and work 40 hours a week Monday to Friday.

If you tried working non allocated hours, you'd be contacted and/ or logged off the system. Also you would not be entitled to payment for working when you'd not been asked to!

amatsip · 24/08/2021 13:58

I know you said you won’t say the employer but it sounds like where I work by what you have described with training etc. Is it a car hire cust service role?

essentialhealing · 24/08/2021 13:58

Standard agency, lying

prh47bridge · 24/08/2021 13:58

@CorrBlimeyGG

This is a common tactic by agencies. They've been doing it for decades.

There used to be a government body that investigated agency scams. The Tories disbanded it.

I presume you mean the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate which is still very much in existence.
HarrietOh · 24/08/2021 14:01

A few years ago I worked in HR for an NHS organisation and they were at the 10 weeks legal requirement for sending out contracts. You never got it before you started as it was so behind. You got an offer letter that stipulated basics though.

Drinkingallthewine · 24/08/2021 14:06

It sounds deliberate, and sounds like the company are happy to go along with the ruse to fill a staffing need.

That, along with the minimum wage would make me want to go looking asap for another role. They'll fuck you around on rosters and those kind of places are also rife with favourites getting plump shifts with newer staff stuck working all the bank holidays and Christmas periods.

CatJumperTwat · 24/08/2021 14:08

DH has just gotten a new job. The new place sent him his contract, he reviewed it, signed it, HR sent him a confirmation, they received it, THEN he put in his notice at his current place.

That doesn't give him any security whatsoever. His new company could withdraw the offer or terminate him from the position at any time and there would be no comeback.

No need to berate the OP for not signing a contract when a) she was already unemployed and b) it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.

Original poster
PepsiColaaa · 24/08/2021 14:08

@amatsip no nothing like that. Think along the lines of a helpline that takes calls to help customers with tracking a certain item or help them fill out a certain form etc..

OP posts:
ChrissyPlummer · 24/08/2021 14:08

@HoppingPavlova

Still do not understand. I don’t know of anyone who has provided notice with an employer before viewing and signing the contract for the next job! Also no idea who would front up to a job without having signed the contract? We won’t let people walk through the door without a contract being signed, we did have someone where it was a quick start, admin balls up etc and they had to wait in visitor area until contract was obtained and given to them to review and sign (and that was with them already receiving a copy, negotiating a few changes etc then it somehow slipped through cracks, so not as though it was their first view). They were also between jobs otherwise it would have been sorted earlier, as I said no-none gives notice without having signed.

Seemingly, if someone hasn’t signed then they can’t be on the premises as staff as they are not covered under insurance for workers should they slip over on their way out if the loo, are not bound by any confidentiality, just causes a host of potential liability issues no employer would want to risk.

They’re not on any premises. It’s a WFH job.
MargosKaftan · 24/08/2021 14:11

In a previous life I worked in recruitment. It was a long time ago, but if the agency had to refund the fee to the client because it turned out our staff had not recruited staff properly, you bet your life that was hitting their commission/bonus hard.

(We had a case where a recruiter hadn't checked the background of someone properly, they had lied about one of their qualifications. In a way it didn't matter as they had checked the job they had before, and taken references, and they didn't need this qualification for the job, but the client fired them anyway for lying about it, and insisted on a full refund - which they got and the recruiter lost a significant amount of their bonus.)

So report it to the agency and to your HR. If this is an agency fuck up, they may well not get their fee even though they placed you. If its a HR fuck up, the agency might well be able to push to get their fee even if you don't all stay in the job for the agreed time. (Usually recruitment agencies don't get the final payment from a client until someone has been in the job for 2 or 3 months).

IME people who work in recruitment care about little else except commission. Hitting that changes behaviour better than anyway else.

leakymcleakleak · 24/08/2021 14:13

I've worked for a number of reputable organisations where I got the contract on the first day. I wouldn't issue a contract to someone till I had checked their references, so it would at a minimum alert their boss they were planning on leaving: obviously thought things like salary and working hours would be in the offer email. Its not ALWAYS a sign of people trying to rip you off, in larger organisations I've worked for it was basically that the hiring team were the people I'd be working for, then they passed it up to HR who were incredibly slow about getting contracts out. I nearly didn't take one of the jobs because of it, but the offer letter included all the details OP was misled about and I was assured was enough to have that in writing.

OP, I don't know what to suggest - it really feels like there should be some mechanism for compensation for people who have been misled and actually left jobs. I have never worked for an agency so don't know how it works. Can you contact ACAS? I would honestly be tempted to contact a local MP or similar, I'm sure this is widespread and even more so now post-COVID when many people are desperate. I don't think this erosion of workers rights should be able to go unchecked.

HSHorror · 24/08/2021 14:14

In absense of a written contract you had a verbal one based on the advertised job and a whole room full of people who agree that the age cy told you those hours.

MissMarpleTheMurderer · 24/08/2021 14:21

@CatJumperTwat

DH has just gotten a new job. The new place sent him his contract, he reviewed it, signed it, HR sent him a confirmation, they received it, THEN he put in his notice at his current place.

That doesn't give him any security whatsoever. His new company could withdraw the offer or terminate him from the position at any time and there would be no comeback.

No need to berate the OP for not signing a contract when a) she was already unemployed and b) it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.

I was about to say the same, all those posters trying to make out they are so very savvy by signing contracts before informing their current employer when in reality it is worthless
thelionqwueen · 24/08/2021 14:22

Not in the UK, but would it help to report them to the Union?

thelionqwueen · 24/08/2021 14:27

You should all refuse to work other than Mon-Fri. It’s their problem to own up to, not yours.

CaptSkippy · 24/08/2021 14:28

OP, I'd start job searching again and not mention this company on your resume. Next time don't start without a contract.

BrozTito · 24/08/2021 14:34

Yep this is what they do now to get workers, not ridiculous things we once had like humane wages and hours, they lie and cajole instead. Late stage capitalism

Iloveginger · 24/08/2021 14:48

I was about to say the same, all those posters trying to make out they are so very savvy by signing contracts before informing their current employer when in reality it is worthless
Its not entirely worthless, you maybe entitled to your notice period from your 'new employer' .

isthisareverse · 24/08/2021 14:50

@FranceTeam

Never trust an employment agency, they are all lying scum
of course not.

There wouldn't be a demand for them if they were. Unlike properties websites, anyone can advertise a job and deal with their own recruitment.

But the OP is having a shocking experience, and if it isn't a genuine mistake - which would be bad enough - it's such a short term and stupid thing to do for the agency.

MissMarpleTheMurderer · 24/08/2021 15:06

@Iloveginger

I was about to say the same, all those posters trying to make out they are so very savvy by signing contracts before informing their current employer when in reality it is worthless Its not entirely worthless, you maybe entitled to your notice period from your 'new employer' .
True, but notice period won't make up for leaving your previous employer, its more the distain of posters making out the op and her new team were idiots not to have a contract but any employee is very vulnerable in the first two years.