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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Unpaid trial shift - would you do this?

129 replies

trialshift2022 · 02/04/2022 11:58

I applied for a second job at a restaurant that will be opening this month, they rang me a few days later and asked me to come in for a trial shift at one of their other locations, it’s unpaid and last a few hours, and it will take me over an hour to get there with public transport? I live in London.

I said yes at first, but now thinking about it I don’t know if I want to go. I will basically be working for a few hours for them, unpaid whilst making them money and then all that money I’ll spending on transport, and then there’s the possibility of me not getting the job at all.

What do you think? It’s on Monday.

OP posts:
anniegun · 02/04/2022 13:48

Adding the essential info that it is a 30min trial has completely changed the original post and made most of the comments redundant. You must know that is not an unreasonable thing for a practical job

MrsLargeEmbodied · 02/04/2022 13:51

dont take the job op,

MrsLargeEmbodied · 02/04/2022 13:57

look more locally op

ABitBesottedWithMyDog · 02/04/2022 13:59

standard on my country. I'd do it if I wanted the job. In most roles, it's not as though someone shadowing actually works a lot as such.

Blondeshavemorefun · 02/04/2022 14:00

So it’s a 30m interview but at a location that you wouldn’t usually travel to

If you live in London don’t you have a travel or Oyster card

What will travel cost

Only you can decide whether worth paying for travel and spending time to possibly gain a job

EmmaH2022 · 02/04/2022 14:00

@trialshift2022

The thing is I work Monday to Friday at my current job, and I'd have to go straight from my job to the trial shift which is on the other side of London. It's just too long, too much money being spent without a guarantee of a job.

To those saying" well it's just like a 30 min interview?" Yeah but I wouldn't apply for a job on the other side of London, so I'd never had a interview that far. I always have distance in mind whenever I apply for jobs tbh.

I've emailed them explaining my reasons and id have to pass on this one.

I'm confused You have applied for a job on the other side of London?
fairylightsandwaxmelts · 02/04/2022 14:01

@ClemDanFango

Lots of restaurants and cafes use trial shifts to get free labour out of people whilst never offering anyone the job.
They do, but not for thirty minutes, which is what this is.
fairylightsandwaxmelts · 02/04/2022 14:01

@EmmaH2022 - she's applied for a job but the trial/interview isn't in the location where she'd eventually be working.

EmmaH2022 · 02/04/2022 14:03

[quote fairylightsandwaxmelts]@EmmaH2022 - she's applied for a job but the trial/interview isn't in the location where she'd eventually be working.[/quote]
That is a bit of a pain
But 30 mins isn't too bad, it's not a trial shift really

Meadmaiden · 02/04/2022 14:04

Trial shifts should absolutely be paid, but given your update that this is just 30 minutes, it sounds more like an interview. Interviews are not paid.

BattledoreAndShuttlecock · 02/04/2022 14:07

@MrsLargeEmbodied

look more locally op
She's applied for a local job - but the site isn't open yet so the interview is elsewhere.

The employers don't appear to be doing anything wrong: it's entirely the OP's decision whether she wants to invest the time and money in the interview.

Given the shortage of labour in hospitality then it may be entirely reasonable for her to say that she doesn't want to spend two hours and a fiver on travel for the interview because there will be another equally good opportunity available next week which doesn't require that of her.

However if you're in a position where you can pick and choose, a short trial shift may have the advantage of letting you see the workplace for real, so you can make an informed decision whether to take it.

rwalker · 02/04/2022 14:08

Seem reasonable TBH I can see why people do it it's a nightmare recruiting nowadays .
People just piss you about you can spend hours interviewing they don't turn up .

Sapphireskies · 02/04/2022 14:09

It depends how much you need and want a job. It is really competitive out there. No matter what job you go for there will always be a chance you won't get it and always be jobs that need travelling. In hospitality trial shifts that are unpaid are common. You need to ask how much you want and need this.

Sapphireskies · 02/04/2022 14:10

Honestly if you really want a job, the McDonald's. Very easy to get a job there. I work at McDonald's and it's a decent job. Always overtime.

PatientlyWaiting21 · 02/04/2022 14:10

Nope, don’t do it. I’m not sure why they think it’s okay to ask people to work for free. It says a lot about their morals.

Stroopwaffle5000 · 02/04/2022 14:11

I don't see the difference between this and an hour's interview where you have to do a presentation, which is fairly common in office jobs. It can takes hours to prepare a presentation!

My sister works in hospitality and she's had to do loads of free trials (I have to admit that I do sometimes wonder if they're after free labour for a shift)

Hertsgirl10 · 02/04/2022 14:13

My son had to do this in The Range, didn’t get the job but did 6 hours stacking shelves, about 25 of them.
He didn’t get the job.
He thinks they just get people to do it once a week to get free shelf stackers!

The job is always on indeed.

BoredZelda · 02/04/2022 14:13

Nope. Hospitality are screaming for staff. If someone wants you to work unpaid, you don’t want to work for them.

Thumpkin · 02/04/2022 14:14

Not a chance I’d agree to this. They are showing you a taster of how you will be valued as an employee. You shouldn’t need to do a ‘free taster’ shift without any contribution to your expenses of doing it and that only they will benefit from. Either they hire you and put you on probation, or they don’t.

Horaceandgus · 02/04/2022 14:15

I work at a fast food place that has a reputation for being a bit crap for the workers (they have pulled their socks up a bit over the years)
I got paid full pay for my interview and my first trial shift-and again for my training and modules
That's how it should be-or I'd have been one in a long line of free labour
It should be illegal not to

billy1966 · 02/04/2022 14:15

@CheesusWept

No chance. If they won’t pay for ‘trial’ shifts, just imagine how shit they’ll be to work for.
Absolutely not.

You work, you get paid.

Cowboy outfits do this.

BoredZelda · 02/04/2022 14:16

I don't see the difference between this and an hour's interview where you have to do a presentation, which is fairly common in office jobs. It can takes hours to prepare a presentation!

An interview with a job presentation doesn’t usually give the prospective employer any work product. A similar situation for office work would be if they asked you to come in and answer the phones all day or do the filing or whatever.

BluebellsGreenbells · 02/04/2022 14:16

My son had to do this in The Range, didn’t get the job but did 6 hours stacking shelves, about 25 of them
He didn’t get the job
He thinks they just get people to do it once a week to get free shelf stackers!

Nope shouldn’t work like that he needs to be paid and you can force them to do that.

I rang the employment people here and we wrote a letter together and DD got paid - she didn’t want the job they offered but he do a trail shift .

They paid up.

2bazookas · 02/04/2022 14:17

I wouldn't.

I'd offer to work a trial shift at my fixed fee paid in cash .

ExplodingElephants · 02/04/2022 14:18

Don’t do it. My DS worked a shift for a company as a trial once and it was allegedly paid. In actual fact, they didn’t pay him and he had to go to trading standards to get help so they’d pay him. Turns out they’d been running this scam for ages and were eventually shut down. Stay away.