to think that if a workplace can find work for umpteen Work Placements they should actually be able to PAY someone to do the job?

[GodzillasBumcheek]

?

YANBU. What's the story?

DH sends spec letters out every week to various shops in our town (he is on Jobseekers Allowance), and recently got a letter back from one saying 'no thanks', but we know for a fact that at least one person has been signed off the unemployment register to do a 3 month Work Placement there. (this involves 27 hours of work per week for 3 months, for which the place of employment is paid up to £30 per person, and the Jobseeker is paid benefits as usual plus £15).
That's not all though - the place where he has been set up with a Work Placement apparently asked for 'as many as possible' to work for him...and this was yet another company entirely. Also a major clothes retailer who has a branch near us has several staff who are from 'In Training'.

Why are these shops using unpaid workers to do an actual job which could take someone fully off benefits? And why is DH now classed as employed when he is not only still unemployed put an extra £30 - £45 is being paid from taxpayers pockets to support this stupid scheme?

The 3 months being employed is training? For people who maybe have been unemployed for AGES, giving them confidence and skills and something to put on a CV.
What is so wrong with that?

it's difficult

dh has been in gbc's position, and sort of is as is desperate health wise to change jobs but can't

but have been on the other side, a student on a degree requiring a placement to pass- most do now.

sympathies though gbc, it does happen eventually- your dh will find something.

Oh, yes the company who sets these things up is called 'In Training'. The point i am making charliecat is that there are so many Work Placements at every shop, that there are less employment opportunities. What the point in having fecking shop work on your CV if it can't result in a job as all the work is being done by Work Placements who are funded by taxes? Point? There is NO point.

I used to work for a training provider and we placed young people in 'Work Placements'.

On a lot of occasions these are great for the young people and the company (the YP gets the training they need to get a 'proper job' and the company get a 'trainee' to help where they can).

Some companys do take advantage of this tho! We had a policy that we would not place more than 1 YP in a company unless it was a very big company. The official line is that these YP should be surpluss to requirement (the job could be done without them but it helps to have them there) and should never be left unsupervised.

I think considering the amount of these placements there are, being used repeatedly (one leaves, another one replaces), the words 'taking the piss' are the mildest that spring to mind.

I see the value of work-based training, but i don't believe that's what this is. I also don't see why there are not hordes of indignant MNers complaining that this means the level of unemployment in this country is a complete lie.

The numbers of the unemployed are a lie, I think. Its only bog standard job seekers thats counted as far as I know. Not including the many many people on income support, because the have children at home, that dont need to go sign on as they are not on Job Seekers.

thats why i stopped working in the nhs, i was on placements but truely doing full jobs not assisting!

I agree Godzillas - if one person leaves and is immediately replaced then it's an abuse of the system.

They are fiddling the unemployment figures that's why, plus providing free labour to business so heavily taxed they cannot afford to employ people and when they do employ people the employer has so many bloody responsibilities for training there's hardly time for the person to actually do their job.
Can you tell I've had a right day !

Found out today that the actual employees there have only four hours work per week...when they were hired it was 30 hours and steadily dwindled, directly due to the amount of Work Placements. This is not a small business, it is a chain store.

Smug mode...i told you so i told you so i told you so.

Yes, Work Placements have always been a way of providing big companies with cheap labour.
I am not opposed to workplace training in any way, and can also appreciate that for some companies, you might have a heavy workload but insufficient cashflow to pay a fulltime employee, but there need to be regulations in place to stop large profitable corporations exploiting people to this extent.

i used to work for a tv company that was pretty much run on the ground level by work experience people. it didn't matter, no one was watching, as was apparent when said company folded a couple of years later.