Can we employ someone for no pay

[Pistom]

We have been approached by someone who wants to work for us for no pay for a period of 3 months, on condition that we give them a referance that they worked for us and that they were honest/reliable/hard working if that is how we feel they performed.

We have a role to fill but no budget available yet but in all honesty we may take them on if they fit the bill early next year when we have the budget. This hasn't been offered and is not part of the deal.

The person has been out of work due to family commitments and is now finding it hard to get back as they have rusty skills.

Does any legislation stop us from moving forward with this?

[davepoth]

Minimum wage law possibly.

There's been some hoo-hah recently surrounding unpaid internships (which is a fairly close analogue to this) so I would tread carefully. I've got a feeling that all of his benefits would be stopped too, even if he's not being paid.

[s-w-p]

If the person is on benefits & you are willing to sign a Service Level Agreement you would be able to take them on for a period of 2-8 weeks, 25-30 hours per week for Work Experience. Both duration & hours per week are guidelines, so there is some flexibility in both. To retain entitlement to their benefit, if it's JSA they will need to continue with their job search & attend the JCP office fortnightly to sign on, the time can be adjusted to suit the hours you need them if required. The JCP will also be able to help them with travel costs, childcare costs, and possibly other things such as suitable clothing if required although this is discretionary.

Anything done outside of this, if they are on JSA will affect their entitlement to benefits as there will be an availability issue, I.e. If the person is working for you F/T, albeit unpaid, they won't be available to look for or take up paid work.

If you are interested in doing it as Work Experience either you or the person will eed o contact th JCP to get the paperwork done, it's minimal, honestly!

If they're not on benefits though please feel free to ignore this post!

[Pistom]

Many thanks. They are not on any benefits so it sounds quite straight forward.

Thank you.

[98elise]

Pistom said:

We have been approached by someone who wants to work for us for no pay for a period of 3 months, on condition that we give them a referance that they worked for us and that they were honest/reliable/hard working if that is how we feel they performed.

We have a role to fill but no budget available yet but in all honesty we may take them on if they fit the bill early next year when we have the budget. This hasn't been offered and is not part of the deal.

The person has been out of work due to family commitments and is now finding it hard to get back as they have rusty skills.

Does any legislation stop us from moving forward with this?

Sounds just like the sort of person you would want to employ

I hope you are able to take them on in both respects

[stevieb]

s-w-p said:

If the person is on benefits & you are willing to sign a Service Level Agreement you would be able to take them on for a period of 2-8 weeks, 25-30 hours per week for Work Experience. Both duration & hours per week are guidelines, so there is some flexibility in both. To retain entitlement to their benefit, if it's JSA they will need to continue with their job search & attend the JCP office fortnightly to sign on, the time can be adjusted to suit the hours you need them if required. The JCP will also be able to help them with travel costs, childcare costs, and possibly other things such as suitable clothing if required although this is discretionary.

Anything done outside of this, if they are on JSA will affect their entitlement to benefits as there will be an availability issue, I.e. If the person is working for you F/T, albeit unpaid, they won't be available to look for or take up paid work.

If you are interested in doing it as Work Experience either you or the person will eed o contact th JCP to get the paperwork done, it's minimal, honestly!

If they're not on benefits though please feel free to ignore this post!

So what the JCP are saying is that if you want to get off your arse and get some experience under your belt you can only do this part time for a maximum of 8 weeks. Just cause you work 8 hours a day does not stop you looking for a full-time paid job. No wonder no one cam be arsed to do anything to better themselves.