gryffron wrote:Volunteers don't have to be paid. No matter what work they are doing. You can choose to work for free, or minimum wage+. Anything in between those figures would be a definite breach of the rules. But "volunteer" work for free is fine.
IMO: Describing it as a "trial shift" implies (to me at least) it is under the same Ts+Cs that the job will have. Did the employer actually use those words? Or was the word "voluntary" in there?
If you don't like it, tell them they failed the trial by not paying you.
Gryff
Yes, I brought up the issue of volunteers in the workplace before. Clearly that is fine, routine in fact.
So a little care could be taken to frame this practical exam in terms of a voluntary shift, in much the same way as volunteering for any other kind of job-related activity is an unpaid event.
As long as both sides agree to it upfront I fail to see any problem, nor the validity of any retrospective claim that an unpaid shift should suddenly be "paid". A simple signed document to that effect would suffice.