My 16 yo has taken a job that has turned out to voluntary!

[Lemurlady]

My 16 yo DS has taken what he thought was a paid job at our local swimming club as a poolside helper with a view to doing his coaching qualifications. He had to do his DBS and a 3 hour safeguarding course in his own time. He has done his first month (2.5hours/week) and asked when he was getting paid. He has been told it’s voluntary for 6 months and after that they will decide whether to take him on at £8/hour. It was never mentioned in any of the email correspondence that it was unpaid. He did not sign a contract and got the gig because he used to swim at the club and reached out to them. AIBU to expect him to be paid for the hours he has done and in thinking this is very exploitative as it would seem the only way into coaching is to work for free for 6 months. Is it even legal?

They are taking the piss.
Tbh he really should walk away.
I seriously doubt there's a job at the end of it.
They probably just use them for 6 months then start over with new ones.

I would step in and speak to them, very unreasonable as it should have been made clear it was voluntary. Although the fact they didn't mention an hourly rate should have been a red flag.

If it's a "club" rather than a business, aren't these posts usually voluntary?

Its up to him if he wants to continue on that basis.

True. We kept asking DS to ask but I think he was a bit embarrassed. I have spoken to the head coach who apologised for the misunderstanding and basically said it’s the 6 months volunteering or nothing to see how they perform as a coach. If I was a trainee in something I would expect to be pays a lower rate and have a probation period but not to have to give a 6 month trial. DS swims for another club now so have emailed them about their policy on this.

I have no idea on the legalities here. However, as another poster mentioned, they could easily tell your son after 6 months he's no longer required, and employ someone else on the same basis. The fact the role is a voluntary role, should have been made very clear to your son, from the start. Has your son only communicated with the employer regarding the role via email? So, he didn't communicate with them via a phone call or in person, prior to starting the job? If so, it's possible the employer could claim, they told your son verbally by phone or in person!! It sounds to me, a scam to obtain free labour, without having to pay someone! I could understand a voluntary role for 3 months, as that's a usual probationary period, looking then to employ a person, but 6, is taking the piss. Someone with some employment law knowledge would need to advise regarding on where you stand on your son being paid for the work already done.

I bet my last pound that they do that all the young ones get them in for 6 months without pay and just get shut of them when the 6 month period is up. Surely this is against Employment Laws and if it’s not it damn well should be. A work trial should be no more than a week.

Fuck that. They obviously just have kids on a 6 month rotation and then ditch them for the next free one. Quit with no notice. Just stop turning up.

Sounds like a business to me.

I would post publicly as well, this is a complete scam.

Horrific way to treat young people- can he take some comfort from fact he has the safeguarding training done and look for something else

This doesn’t sound legal, and I bet they’re hoping the kids will be naive enough to go along with it.

Give ACAS a ring, if they were not clear that it was a voluntary basis and they’re now saying he has to complete 6 months work for free in order to get paid employment then they’re falling foul of national minimum wage. ACAS can advise on this for free.

It is a club but coaching and teaching staff get paid. It is run by a committee who are volunteers.

Six MONTHS is an absolute pisstake and a con. No doubt in my mind that they ditch the kids when they hit the paid stage and swap for a new one.

I agree with others that this sounds like a bit of a scam.

However, was your son expecting cash in hand? Did they not take any bank details, ask for national insurance number , talk about pay at all? I appreciate it’s his first job but these are the basics. If you look through all the documentation and there is no evidence that this is voluntary only then I think you should take it further as doesn’t sound legal. Also should there not be a transparent process of what targets he needs to meet to be employed at the end of the 6 months. Being “good enough” is extremely subjective. Nonetheless it’s so hard for people to get any work experience that I would say 6 months even if unpaid will look great on his CV he could continue this until he finds a paying job? Wouldn’t cut off your nose to spite your face.

It’s unreasonable to start a job, do training & work without ever actually asking how much it pays. Lots of clubs seem to do this for the younger ones, ours does similar it is volunteering & they then put you through a qualification.

The club used to have lots of older swimmers who were doing D of E who were happy to volunteer as part of this and often continued as paid members. The club was at risk of folding and couldn’t cater for the more advanced, older swimmers which is why my son moved clubs. Now they still seem to be expecting the same from the young people but these are not affiliated with the club anymore or doing D of E.

The government also publishes a list of companies who have been caught not paying minimum wage. It won’t let me post the links but Google “national minimum wage name and shame list”, there’s one published 2025 and another published 2024.

Might be worth having a look through and seeing if they’ve been caught out before.

Free labour from kids too excited and inexperienced to understand when they're being exploited.

Might be worth seeing a solicitor.

There are definitions of 'work' and 'volunteering'.

Actors have won cases against production companies using 'volunteer' actors - when the circumstances have actually been classed as 'work' .

A friend’s DD did this and whilst it wasn’t paid, in Summer holidays from college and university the leisure centre did employ her a lot as a life guard, I don’t think she did 6 months though. It did help towards qualifications and she did go into teaching PE.

Does DS know the other poolside helpers and have any of them been there more than 6 months? It sounds like a dodgy way to make up numbers that used to be filled by volunteers. If it has always been a volunteer role why is there now suddenly the “opportunity” for a paid role in 6 months time?

Its the dishonesty that I'd be so angry about. It' snot a "misunderstanding". They've gone ahead with this knowing perfectly well he didn't know he wasn't being paid.

As he has no contract, I'd tell him to stop immediately.

This is it for me as well. Deliberately misleading and hoping he'd just take it as he's 16. It should have been clearly laid out before he started in writing.

Why would they "deliberately" mislead? There's no benefit to them of appointing, training and checking a new volunteer only for them to leave when they find there's no money.

Most youth sports clubs are run by volunteers such as scouts, guides, football, netball, hockey etc, with the only paid people being the referees, for example, in football.

Also, if your son used to swim for this club, wasn’t he aware that the poolside helpers were volunteers?

So I’m a little on the fence on this whether he is being used as free labour, or whether he signed up for a voluntary role, with a view of doing his qualifications further down the line.

It's exploitation, plain and simple.

My DD got a job at 16. They didn't want to give her any holiday pay, saying that they pay was better than other similar employers.

Unfortunately for them, I'm know my stuff, as a HR professional and I knew they were wrong. I sent them the information and offered to assist them with HR matters, to ensure they comply with the law.

All of a sudden, they decided to pay her and asked why she got her mum involved. She asked then and they tried to intimidate her.

They could see if your son was any good after one or two months. They're taking the pi$$.

He should leave.

How are they getting paid and who is funding the running of the pool?

Why should you son give up his time for free when the people he is working with are getting paid?

It dishonest not to be very clear that it was never a job to begin with.

If he is not being paid its a hobby.