Trial shifts: to pay or not to pay?

This article is about unpaid ‘trial shift’ mostly in the food service industry. It includes information about why some people see unpaid trial shifts as unfair. It goes on to explain that an unpaid trial shift is less like getting someone to work for free and more like an addition to the interview process where you get to see the applicants skills, or lack thereof, at work. Also having an additional person there working for free may seem great in theory but that person is completely untrained so your typical workers are training the new person on top of keeping up w/their average work demands.

Key Takeaways:

• A common course of action, in the restaurant industry, having a potential employee take on shift on a trial basis, has come under fire lately.
• The negative press, spotlighted in part by chef, Mark Greenaway, comes as some deem the practice as exploitative.
• Popular assessment centers, which also involve unpaid labor and the opportunity for hire-hopefuls to gain skills, have not drawn attack, thus far.

“There is no legal issue in asking someone to conduct a trial shift as part of the interview process.”

Read more: http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/People/Trial-shifts-to-pay-or-not-to-pay