When companies place a position with the Jobcentre for a driving positon, have you been asked to do a days trial. WITHOUT pay? in March just gone I went for an interview arranged by the jobcentre for a Lgv 2 job driving a dustcart for a large waist company, I sat through all the interview answering all there questions and then took an on line drivers assesment test. then I was asked if I would like to do a days trial to see if I liked the job.there was no mention of NOT being paid for it. I started at 5am that ment getting out of bed at 3.30am and grafted all day till 4pm with a 30 min break, by grafting I meen pulling and pushing wheely bins to the truck and operating the rear end while the other guy sat in the cab, NO I did not do any driving, when we got back to the yard I was told that they would get back to me with a start date, they never did and later found out every day that week they had a different guy on the truck doing as I did to cover the weeks holiday of the origanal mate. then to be told you dont get paid for it realy knocked me for six, and when I told the jobcentre, they said alot of firms are doing this now.
How can they get away with this.
that’s disgusting but what can you do? if you need the job enough you’d go along with it just it case, i can’t believe the job center allows it
they call this a work trial, the job centre promote it with employers, basically its so you can try before you buy if you like, it means if you dont like the job you dont have to take it and if they dont like you they dont have to take you on and it doesnt affect your benefits, a good idea perhaps for some but not others…
It’s appalling that any company should be allowed to get away with that and even more disgusting that a job centre should be promoting such an idea, a trial period usually means a month or three in which time it’s agreed that either you or the company can decide that you should part company, what hptruck described is nothing more or less than a scam and should be stopped.
Though sadly I can understand people falling for this type of crap when jobs are so hard to find.
I did fall for it, I drove about 45mins to the job then took a lovely truck from west wales up to telford with some sheet metal on, got back with no problems, said i enjoyed it and looked forward to hearing from them etc… never heard, told the JC who said it was a trial and they trying others out too, i said seems to me thye needed they truck going to telford for the job and a free driver was an easy option, her response was it didnt affect your benefit, if you had been paid for the job you would of lost your weeks money, cheers…
Lol i got one question. What would their answer be to the person who cant claim JSA for one reason or another?
Tough luck? Id be billing the JC for the time i was out working at the going agency rate for the area, with overtime after 8 hours. After all you did goto the expense of getting yourself to and from the job, and providing yourself with food / drink for the journey. Who is gonna pay for washing your clothes you wore? all these things get worn out over time. Doing ‘freebies’ just isnt gonna cut it. This is just another step in thw rong direction taken by the JC. This added to the number of ‘ghost’ agency jobs that frequently flood the JC+ website, makes it hard for a genuine person who wants to work, to find a proper job from a proper employer.
im sorry your out of work,and have to go through the pain to get work, ive done it and so have many more. i wish you good luck, let me know how you get on ok.
The scam of getting a free days work out of a driver is not confined to the transport business, it’s pretty common in all industry particulary the hotel/catering trade where some hotels might have someone ‘on trial’ everyday of the week. They never get the job of course, it’s just that the practice is spreading.
Tiger.
How can this be legal in this Country??
We have a minimum wage in this Country for WORK, its the LAW, agreed??
So how the hell can a Jobcentre send a person to a ‘job’ for a complete day, this worker is now coming under H&S, which he has to abide by, such as steel toe caps, Hi Viz etc… This recession has bought the money making scammers out in force, preying on the unfortuate people who can ill afford to waste money on travel, food clothing for no rewards…
Its tragic that the worst money scammers are the one who you should be putting faith into, in trying to get you off the dole and into gainful employment…
I know its not easy, but find out BEFORE you go on these things what the rates are, if its a free day out for the Company, tell to go and get [zb] , you have morals and standards even if others dont, dont lower yourself to the gutter…
( language edit ) jd
Maybe T&D and a few papers should run an expose on this scam?
We have assessments, we have 3 month trial periods, but I’m sure as {ZB} not doing a days work for nowt. In general, drivers are ■■■■ upon by just about every conceivable scam as it is.
Blatant slave labour 
If you tell the jobcentre about such a practise then they will do something about it - I know 
i think its a disgusting trick and im surprised they can get away with it.
to be fair if the job is a difficult demanding job then fair enough, i mean ■■■■■■■ wheeley bins about all day isnt everyones cup of tea and i bet they get their fair few who do it for a couple of days then jack it in. but for a general driving job running to a to b then NO you should be paid.
im also very surprised at the job centre letting get away with it, as after the first 4/5 drivers going for this " free " day you would think they would cotton on.
i wouldnt do it unless i was ■■■■ sure i was getting the job.
Why would you expect anything less from a Jobcentre ? They are not there to find anyone a job but to put every obstacle in your way to stop you getting JSA that you are entitled to after your lifetime of NI contributions.You are just a statistic that a Jobcentre juggles around to make the government look better.
There are no decent jobs out there so how can a jobcentre find you one ? A decent company is hardly likely to give a decent job to some no-mark the Jobcentre has pushed their way.I am signing on at the moment and I get absolutely no help from them whatsoever.They like to make out that they treat you with respect ,not in my mind they don’t.I have to sign on at 9.00 am but they don’t open the building until 9.00am so you are stood outside a jobcentre waiting for it to open which I find humiliating.One of the 18 year old clerks will call you “Mate” to which I have to correct them straight away ,I am not their mate.
I enquired about training,I thought that if they paid for a HIAB licence it would give me more scope for work.The only way that they might have paid for it would have been if i had had the offer of a job.I should apply for a job requiring HIAB and expect the employer to say “You’ll do fine,once the Jobcentre have trained you you can have the job” when people already have HIABs and can start the next day.
For those of you who have never seen the inside of a Jobcentre,God help you if you ever have to.
1 aspect nobody has looked at
insurance
if you are not an employee and not getting paid i doubt you would be insured to drive. even on a any driver policy.
years ago when i was on the buses a driver had a rear end smash. it transpired he was on a split shift starting at 6 am till 10.30 then off the clock till 16.00 till 19.00 the smash was at 10.45 as he was running late.
the end of the story was that the insurance refused to pay out as he was not getting paid so therefore should not have been driving.
might be worth having a word with an insurance company regarding the legality of a days trial with no pay
Ayup,I had someone try this with me in 90s,but I told them I dont work for nowt and got the pay 
.Maybe anyone doing this can put a diary up for us to see nice pics,whether they get paid is another thing,but at least they have nice pics to show us and will have saved the firm some cash maybe Its the same as flash motors and no cash to me,not a chance,thanks. cheers. Joe.
hptruck:
When companies place a position with the Jobcentre for a driving positon, have you been asked to do a days trial. WITHOUT pay? in March just gone I went for an interview arranged by the jobcentre for a Lgv 2 job driving a dustcart for a large waist company, I sat through all the interview answering all there questions and then took an on line drivers assesment test. then I was asked if I would like to do a days trial to see if I liked the job.there was no mention of NOT being paid for it. I started at 5am that ment getting out of bed at 3.30am and grafted all day till 4pm with a 30 min break, by grafting I meen pulling and pushing wheely bins to the truck and operating the rear end while the other guy sat in the cab, NO I did not do any driving, when we got back to the yard I was told that they would get back to me with a start date, they never did and later found out every day that week they had a different guy on the truck doing as I did to cover the weeks holiday of the origanal mate. then to be told you dont get paid for it realy knocked me for six, and when I told the jobcentre, they said alot of firms are doing this now.
How can they get away with this.
i used to do that for an agency and i love every minute of it
ROG:
If you tell the jobcentre about such a practise then they will do something about it - I know
Rog
Im sorry mate but they wont, with me they told me it was a company parctice, and alot of firms are doing it and it IS within the law, but if you consider the fact that with all the people out of work, you could technically run a vehicle evry day of the week with a different driver from the JC and it will only cost you running costs of the vehicle, youll have no salary to pay out. and in my case this is what the company I went to did to cover for the guy who was on a weeks holiday.
This has also happened yesterday to a friend of mine who went to a well known coke firm as fork lift driver, today he is at home, but he was told it was a days trial with no pay. This is wrong and its only the companies who gain out of it.
I have written to my local MP about this scam, to get the law changed or to at least receive a minimum wage.
If you tell the jobcentre about such a practise then they will do something about it - I know
hptruck:
Rog
Im sorry mate but they wont, with me they told me it was a company parctice, and alot of firms are doing it and it IS within the law,
I can only go by the two cases I know of - the jobcentre looked into them and refused to have their ads in any more - maybe it’s up to each individual JC…
Coddy:
How can this be legal in this Country??We have a minimum wage in this Country for WORK, its the LAW, agreed??
It’s legal because technically you’re a “volunteer” and are exempt. I’m not saying it’s right, IMO it isn’t, but it is legal.
ROG:
If you tell the jobcentre about such a practise then they will do something about it - I knowhptruck:
Rog
Im sorry mate but they wont, with me they told me it was a company parctice, and alot of firms are doing it and it IS within the law,I can only go by the two cases I know of - the jobcentre looked into them and refused to have their ads in any more - maybe it’s up to each individual JC…
We had a local agency years ago supplied staff to computer factories, they were notorious have a recruitment drive in the job centre, get 50 people to sign up and to start work the next day, then they would work half a day and told no longer needed again.
The JC banned them from advertising or using the JC for interviews, really annoys the JC because end up with a load of paperwork to sort out 50 peoples benifits.