Why do employers treat 16/17 yr olds so badly?

[Greedybilly]

I'm just having a rant really. Both of my kids (aged 16 and now 18) and most of their mates have had really bad employment experiences. We live in a very touristy town - loads of cafes/pubs advertising for staff. Every bloody time though- there's no induction/training - chuckedin at the deep end. Told off when get something 'wrong ' , shift cancelled at the last minute, just generally treated like sh*t. 'Trial shifts' that are not paid and no job at the end ( i.e unpack our dishwasher for the afternoon for nowt)
Soul destroying for eager, hard-working kids .Makes me so mad. Independent buisinesses are the worst.Anyone else?

Over the years, my dc have had mixed experienced, in fairness.

Your rant should be about bad employers (who are also bad employers for over 18s) not about people employing 16 - 18 yr olds, as, there are good and bad employers of every age group.

My rant is about bad employers (obviously)and under 18's seem to get less favourable rights. But thanks for your helpful comment@CarpetKnees

Not here. My 16 year old has a job(pub restaurant). The place employs many youngsters. Washing dishes, serving food, clearing tables, basic food preparation. The only thing I find is that sometimes they tell someone to go home early from their shift, if it's not busy but they are fair with it. It's not the same person each time. My DS hasn't mentioned anything about being told off a lot but management have told me he is one of the good workers. This is a rural area though, so if they treated people badly word may get out and look bad on the business. I guess in bigger places, they probably think they can get away with it more. They should be treated with respect, the same as everyone should be.

My son has just finished a trial shift (unpaid) and the employer has had different candidates doing trials every day, so a week's worth of free labour.

Trial shifts are my bugbear - my DS did one of those for a butcher when he was 17. 10 hours of hauling bags of meat from butchery area to freezers, only to be told they wouldn't be taking him on as he wasn't up to speed with the others. Slave labour effectively.

Trial shifts should be made illegal. Maybe they will be when 16 year olds can vote? Really boils my piss

They shouldn't necessarily be illegal but they should be paid.

To be fair with working conditions as they are these days they're just preparing them for what work life is like 🫤

DD worked at Boots when she was 16 - they were fantastic

Currently on a zero hours contract at a local venue .. , the company are great.

In all fairness some jobs prefer kids to work, as they're cheaper. Many have 4 hour contracts so can hire 4x 16/17 year olds rather than 1 adult aged 21+. So more people to work yet pay them less.

@BallerinaRadioexactly it feels like a race to the bottom. Find it depressing in 2025 we're going backwards.

@Mademetoxicyes obviously!

Same reason landlords and politicians treat students/young people like shit. Because they know they can get away with it.

Employers who insist on trial shifts are giving fair warning of exactly how they are going to treat you going forward. Shit probably.

We had an issue in my town with a franchise (Wagamama) doing this. Multiple teens conned. I think many parents went down and demanded their children (rightly) be paid for the trial shift. So the parents complained to Head office and I dont think it has happened since. Possibly a rogue manager? Disgraceful conduct - these parents complained on the local Mums facebook page - I imagine the restaurant's takings dropped sharply for a while. Do complain.

Nandos are brilliant, they paid DD1 the same hourly rate as older staff from the start, and promoted her aged 18.

If they are doing work that doesn't appear to be part of an actual recruitment process (ie being observed to see how they do) then they should be paid. If it's clear that it's being used for free labour you can report the company: https://www.gov.uk/pay-and-work-rights

You can probably successfully challenge them if you can show that it was actually free labour, not a genuine trial.

I worked for KFC about 20 years ago and they said the first 12 hours was "compulsory unpaid training." I took them to small claims, they didn't respond to the claim so there was no hearing and they were ordered to pay me NMW for the hours, plus the cost of making the claim.

@socialdilemmawhattodo-- we have complained. Good to hear your wagamama's experience - glad people complained. I think small, independent shops/cafes are worse ( in my limited experience any way).

@spoonbillstretfordggood to hear!

@Emilysmum90exactly ! Bloody depressing state of affairs.

My 16 year old works for Primark. £12 something an hour. Took great care of him when he was unwell the other day. Maybe he just got lucky with his team

As the manager in an independent business in a tourist town, I can assure you that we’re not all like that @Greedybilly!!

I do understand the need for trials but companies getting multiple people in for trials and using them as slave labour are taking the absolute piss. If we have a vacancy I telephone interview any decent candidates, then invite my top maybe 3-5 in for face to face interview. The top candidate from those is then invited in for a 2 hour trial - I use this time to discuss what training they will be given, to discuss what standard of service we expect from them if they join our team, and I have them shadow other team members so they can see what would be expected of them. It gives them a chance to see how things work and to decide whether it’s the right fit for them.

The 2 hours goes down on their first timesheet when it’s submitted to payroll. I would only ever invite someone to trial that I was 99% sure we were going to hire. It is made clear at interview that if the trial is unsuccessful then it is unpaid however. Only once in 15 years have I had someone not hired after a trial - and that was their own choice as they didn’t realise how much work was involved in what we did. They told me they didn’t think it was what they were looking for which was fair enough.

The issue we have currently as an employer is a horrendously unreliable teen. So good at interview and trial, great with the other staff, great with customers, great at sales. BUT, she’s constantly late or not turning up at all, constantly off “sick” whenever she wants to hang out with friends or be with her boyfriend meaning other staff have to cover at last minute. She’ll call the day before a shift and tell me she won’t be in for her shift as she’s made plans 🫠 just no sense of responsibility at all. Can’t understand that she’s made a commitment and is contracted to be in at certain times etc.
Unfortunately she’s had to be let go and I have all the other staff begging me not to hire another teen - which of course isn’t fair as they’re not all the same!

I do agree under 28s can get treated worse. Also some employees anre fucking idiots and make no effort to understand their legal obligations.

The problem is kids are so desperate to get a job as it's so hard to get one, they don't want to upset the employer by complaining and will put up with unreasonable demands.