To withdraw my job applications when employers want me to do an unpaid trial shift?

[Eyelinerofthetigers]

Because I think it’s a fucking piss take?

I thought there was a law being introduced saying employers have to pay applicants for trial shifts but it seems not as so many employers seem to think it’s acceptable to want applicants to do this.

A friend has recently done an unpaid trial WEEK for a sales job. At the end of the trial the manager of the company said he’d probably got the job but that he just needed to confirm things with the company owner and then he’d be in touch. They’ve since totally ghosted my friend and it’s been 3 weeks!

An unpaid ‘couple of hours’ should surely be enough to demonstrate an applicants capability to do the job……full shift is unacceptable and a week is taking the piss!

@Eyelinerofthetigers Although unpaid trial shifts are legal in the UK, I agree it's an absolute piss-take. Personally, I would withdraw my application and I'd be clear about the reason why. Any employer who is prepared to take advantage of job seekers in this way is not a company you should want to work for. On the upside, at least you've found out this early that they're arseholes.

I don't agree with it, but I can see how a trial shift would make sense in the service industry for instance. I expect a fair bit of it is shadowing anyway.

Absolutely YANBU. I find this to be utterly patronising on the part of the employer. Either offer a job or don’t, the unpaid free trial is an insult

I can't believe the outrage in these responses.
I work in hospitality and after nearly 20 years in the industry, I'm yet to interview for a position that didn't include an unpaid 3-4h trial shift.
I'm not saying I support it, but it is a standard practice in some industries

This!

As a newly qualified primary teacher (many, many years ago now!) I naively accepted an unpaid ‘trial day’ offered to me by a supply agency. They said that the school were looking for a permanent teacher but wanted to check out their ‘teaching styles’ first. This was in the 90s and at that time, there was none of the hideous ‘interview days’ that we have now. No teaching a lesson or data tasks, just a short panel interview and a tour of the school.

I was new, keen and really needed a job, so I agreed. It never occurred to me that it was a scam! But it was!

I was told to be there by 8am and was shown to a classroom. There was a list of what I needed to get through, but no resources and nobody to ask (everyone ignored me and there was no TA). It was a Year 5 class in a very, very deprived area of Manchester. Behaviour was shocking.

I kept thinking that at any point, the head would come in to observe me teach (or at least someone!) as this was supposedly a ‘trial’ to see if I would be a good fit for the school. Nobody came in! At lunch time, I went and found the deputy (head was nowhere around) and asked if someone would be coming in to observe. She didn’t know (apparently!) Nobody did…and at 3.30, just after the children had left, I finally found the head and said that I was surprised that nobody had come to observe etc. She said, quite bluntly, that she ‘knew I wouldn’t be a fit for them’ so hadn’t bothered coming in. I asked how and why she thought that, as this was the first time we’d spoken. She just shrugged and held open the door, saying ‘once you’ve marked the books feel free to leave’. I did NOT mark the books!

I found out later, via the head of the school that I did get a job in, that this school does this several times a week, to cover sickness and staff shortages. There was no job, and the supply agency was run by her husband!

If this happened to me now, I’d report them to Ofsted, but I was a very young, straight from Uni, graduate and I just inwardly fumed.

Unpaid ‘work trial days’ should be unlawful.

When my daughter was 15 she did a trial shift at a v posh v expensive tea room in the middle of the main town tourist attraction. (Similar to Baths Pump dining room) . She wasn’t even told until the end that it was unpaid. She came home disappointed because although she had been told how well she had done - had not been offered the job. Yes I am THAT mother. Long story short but she was paid in cash that evening despite the ‘owner being unavailable’ . . The reason I went toe to toe with them was a few enquiries about how she had heard about the job and then a few posts from my daughters friends and acquaintances made it obvious that they were ‘trialling’ 3 kids EVERY weekend - none of whom got the job.
Picked the wrong kid. I work as an investigator in modern slavery and human trafficking . They closed a few months later .

I wouldn’t do an unpaid shift. Their interview process should test my ability and suitability in other ways, not require me to do the full work expected of an employee for free. If they need to test someone working on a shift then they should pay. Years ago, Aveda asked me to work a day on their shop / salon floor for free after I’d passed their interview stage. I said no. There’s no need for me to be observed using a till and greeting people for an entire day at my own expense!

Dressage? On Facebook?

@BurntBroccoli yes I meant dressage!

Well done to @Slimagain for getting money out of them! 👏

Yanbu they really take the piss with this stuff.

I worked in hospitality for longer than I care to admit.

Unpaid trial shifts are very common.

I was stung a couple of times before I was made aware of the fact that trials should only be 1-2 hours and after that should be paid at the hourly rate.

Once I done a really busy lunch shift, was told I got the job and would be paid. I wasn’t.

Second time was a Friday night in a fancy hotel restaurant. Again was told I had the job and they would be in touch about shifts.

Shitty employers use trials to fill gaps in labour and prey upon young, uninformed people desperate for work.

I have done trial shifts and ended up with the job and worked there for a long time. I definitely wouldn’t work for any employer who required an unpaid trial nowadays though. It’s a big red flag.

My ds has been caught out by this three times! Each time he has worked his socks off then ghosted.

It's a scam for many employers, it should be illegal.
I hope he found something more secure.

Thank you.
Unfortunately still nothing 300+ applications. Very often getting an interview which goes well then later rejected for ‘lack of experience’. He’s applying for all sorts outside of his preferred area as he just wants to be working. That’s when he’s taken advantage of with the ‘try out’ days.
I don’t know how he hasn’t cracked to be honest.

Depressing.

Why is it fine? At minimum wage it'd cost the employer £6-12, and they can't even do that?

My two teens have both experienced this too in going for weekend/Saturday jobs. One of them was a local deli who were clearly doing this repeatedly as they were always looking for applicants on the local FB page. It's so exploitative!

My teenage daughter did an unpaid trial evening at a restaurant the other week. She decided subsequently not to take the job, as they didn’t actually show her how to do anything. It was a Saturday night and it was too busy, so they gave her snappy instructions and that was it. She has only just turned 16 and this was her first experience of being in a workplace. She felt stupid and out of place.
Annoyingly, they had given her a uniform for the trial, so she had to trek across town a few days later to return it (she’s a decent kid and did this for them, whereas I’m sure plenty wouldn’t have bothered!).
I don’t believe in trial shifts at all and it really winds me up. It’s a piss-take. Even the big chains do it though. Eldest daughter had one with Nando’s years ago when she was a student.

Absolute bastards.

The £12 would be fine - but all the admin setting up a person for an hour trial would put them off

I think 30-60 minutes as part of the interview process is fine - dd did this for her first job at 15, but not a whole shift. It taking the piss, but unfortunately it's legal

Assessments for work can take hours though. DS applying for apprenticeships this year had one over 3 hours (Rolls Royce) and the Army was 48 hours!

Hopefully it will become illegal.

An audition is reasonable, but not a fair comparison with most trial shifts as the hiring organisation presumably wouldn’t be making a profit from paying customers watching the audition.

If Random Name Burgers use people on an unpaid trial to perform work which customers pay for, then they profit from people’s unpaid labour.

Fantastic

I wish someone would name and shame them

I did a month unpaid trial for my current job, which is admittedly niche.
I've been there for just shy of 8 years now and it was the best gamble i ever made and has been life changing.
I suppose it depends on the job though.