END THE XMAS SHOP SLAVERY
Record campaign against trial shifts for no pay
THE Daily Record today calls for an end to soul-destroying unpaid ‘trial shifts’ for people trying to get a job.
We are supporting campaigners including MP Stewart McDonald to demand a change in the law
amid growing anger at the scale of the exploitation.
The hospitality trade has already been named as a high-profile offender but big retailers are also accused of taking advantage of job seekers with long, unpaid, so-called “interviews”.
Today, the Record reveals claims that retail group B&M expected one man to work three unpaid shifts as a “trial”.
A manager then dashed his hopes by telling him not to come back – just one hour before he was due to start what he thought was his first paid shift.
The campaign kicks off as shoppers across the UK take part in the annual Black Friday pre-Christmas shopping frenzy.
In Scotland, campaign groups such as Better Than Zero have been targeting bosses who rely on unfair zero-hour contracts and use unpaid shifts.
At Westminster, McDonald, the SNP MP for Glasgow South, is trying to ban trial shifts without pay.
He lodged a private member’s Bill this year and has secured support from other parties – except the Tories, who say they will give it “consideration”.
McDonald said: “Unpaid trial shifts are common practice across the UK. However, they are also exploitative and take unfair advantage of people genuinely seeking work.
“On Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days on the calendar, it’s increasingly likely you’ll be served in a shop by someone working an unpaid trial shift.
“The run-up to Christmas is also a time when employers are more likely to take advantage of people genuinely seeking work.”
He claimed young people are working as many as 40 hours for free.
During research for his Bill, McDonald heard how people were asked to cover busy evening shifts without pay, even after the employer had already decided to hire them.
Some people complained they had been asked to do a trial, then heard lots of others did the same – none of them getting a job.
McDonald said: “The private member’s Bill I have brought forward has received the support of the STUC, NUS, and the Better than Zero campaign.
“It’s time this Tory Government and parties across the UK also stepped up to the mark.
“A fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.
“All work should be paid fairly and properly, which is why the practice of exploitative, unpaid trial shifts must come to an end.”
At Holyrood, Labour, Greens and the Lib Dems have backed the SNP’s challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May.
The Scottish Tories said: “This is a thoughtful Bill which is worthy of careful consideration.
“Ruth Davidson will do just that and Mr McDonald will receive a response in due course.”
Labour MSP Neil Findlay has long campaigned against zero-hour contracts and unpaid shifts.
He said: “They are systematic within the retail and hospitality sector.
“People are being taken on for trials, kept for two or three days, free labour from them, and then told there’s no job.”