The desperation to gain work experience to become more employable in the midst of the worst youth unemployment since 1993 has led to many employers illegally taking advantage of students and young people.
A study of nearly 2000 students has found that 16% have worked unpaid hours for an employer in the last year in order to gain experience in their chosen field, whilst 86% of the students surveyed were not aware that it was illegal for employers to give them work experience, but not pay them.
A nationwide study of 1,892 students commissioned by www.studentgems.com, a service which matches students keen to gain both money and experience to employers looking for affordable and skilled individuals has found that one in five students has worked illegally in the last year through no fault of their own.
Recent figures show that 19.8% of 16-24 year olds are unemployed, up by 15,000 to 943,000, the highest rates since 1993, under John Major’s Conservative government.
The age-old problem of employers only looking for people with experience has led to one in five students working for free within the last year, in a bid to improve their employability. An overwhelming 86% of students were unaware that employers are operating illegally by offering unpaid work placements. Unless work experience is a recognised part of a qualification towards which the student is studying (making it study rather than employment), working without being paid is illegal.
Of the students who said they’d worked unpaid roles in order to gain experience in their chosen career, the average role lasted two weeks, or 10 full working days. According to recent estimates, there are 3.7 million students in post-secondary education.
The representative study of nearly 1,900 students across the UK means that 592,000 students have worked unpaid placements in the last year, giving a conservative 44.5m unpaid man-hours to UK companies, which, at current minimum wage, would have meant £214m in potential earnings for students, which would in turn be shared back into the struggling economy.
Sue Harrison, co-founder of studentgems.com explained: “It seems that many employers are either unaware of the law related to unpaid work experience, or are exploiting young people who are attempting to give themselves a leg up the employment ladder by gaining vital experience.
“Our advice to students would be: know your rights. If you apply for work experience at a company and they try to talk you into accepting an unpaid placement, you do not need to accept it. On studentgems.com, there are literally thousands of employers looking for skilled students for projects, campaigns and temporary employment, who are constantly reminded of the need to pay students an appropriate rate.
“Simply put, if you have the skills, there are employers who want to hear from you who won’t rip you off.”
Mark Pearson, founder of the UK’s leading discount site MyVoucherCodes.co.uk and owner of Croydon-based Markco Media Ltd, which employs over 80 people across the country, said: “To take advantage of students seeking work experience in these tough times simply to save money is unacceptable. The buck has to stop with the employers and it’s not good enough to say that you were unaware of the law surrounding unpaid work – it’s not allowed and that should be that.
“Students are so keen to follow their chosen career paths that they are literally willing to become slaves in order to gain vital work experience – employers have a legal obligation to ensure this doesn’t happen.”
