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?

I am an independent business owner who has two under 18 employees and I don't treat them like that. One has had a probationary meeting today. There were some small problems to iron out but we've done some training wrapped up in smiles and positivity because I know half the battle is confidence. She took it on board and her attitude was significantly different this afternoon. It's her first job and these kids need coaching and understanding. I think the problem is, employers think they can employ cheap under 18's and expect the same immediate standard of a 25 year old. It's not fair.

I'm the parent of a 17 year old, so maybe I look at it differently. DS has a good job in a bar, he loves it, he's paid £12.44 and hour, the same as all bar staff. To get the job though he did do six months of Friday nights helping with sound and lighting for £20 a night, £10 of which went on his taxi home. As that is the career he wants to go into, he willingly did it so he could learn, and he's learned a lot.

I was treated appalling at 16, 17 in various jobs. On my apprenticeship, in two retail jobs with huge companies. It was almost a reliance on that I wouldn't have the confidence to say anything or fight it. I got sacked from my apprenticeship for speaking to a builder on the phone and not annunciating, I kid you not. The principle of my college would not have it that the business owner was being unreasonable, it was entirely my fault.

Because they can, is the short answer. Nothing has changed in 30 years!!

As I understand it, trial shifts need to be paid, we certainly pay any trial shifts at the rate the job is advertised at whether they are taken on or not and whatever age they are. So report that.

We've actually moved to only employing 18+ because of the issues we've had employing 16-18.

But in all honesty, hospitality relies on treating it's staff like this, no matter their age, because it's tight margins that have only gotten tighter recently, and generally people are already complaining about the costs of hospitality services.

If we want fairer treatment for people working in hospitality then we need to be prepared to pay for that to happen as customers, which is where most people draw the line and are vocal about the fact it's not worth the prices now, never mind if the conditions for staff were improved, if they were paid more.

If they haven't been hired though and just made to work a fake "trial", there's nothing to lose.

Its disgusting. I employ 16-25yo and they complete 3 trial shifts after training to ensure they are a good fit. They are fully paid for their work at the usual rate. An unpaid shift is no trial, it is slave labour!