The government has insisted that its controversial work programme that sees young jobseekers being told to do unpaid internships or risk losing their benefits is NOT promoting forced labour, the Guardian has reported.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) was responding to allegations by geology graduate Cait Reilly, who has challenged the government over a two-week unpaid internship she says she was forced to take at the discount store Poundland. She says her job centre told her that failure to complete her “compulsory” placement – which involved sweeping floors and stacking shelves – would result in her losing her Jobseekers’ Allowance payment of £52 a week.

In court papers filed on Wednesday, the DWP admitted that it made a mistake by not telling Reilly she had a chance to opt out of the placement. But it says her scheme and others like it are not contrary to the Human Rights Act, and the department is “strongly resisting” the case.

In an 11-page document setting out a provisional defence for a case that could affect the position of hundreds of thousands of jobseekers in a similar position, the DWP has argued that having benefits docked does not equate to forcing the unemployed to work, claiming:

“Where a person is required to perform a task and, if he or she does not do so, loses benefit, that is not forcing a person to work.”

The Guardian also reports that Cait’s case may not be the only one of its type – the DWP is facing challenges relating to several of its new programmes, on similar grounds. This includes the recently announced Community Action Programme in which those out of work for a number of years must work for six months unpaid, including at profit-making businesses, in order to keep their benefits.

And the newspaper has collected a list of companies participating in the back-to-work schemes. Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Argos, Asda, Maplin, TK Maxx, Matalan, Primark, Holland & Barrett, Boots, McDonald’s, Burger King and the Arcadia group of clothes stores, owned by the billionaire Sir Philip Green have all taken on staff under government programmes.

But one brand – the bookseller Waterstones – has pulled out of the scheme. A spokesperson told the Guardian that after the newspaper highlighted the practice at one of its stores, it initiated a review and no longer allowed branch managers to take on work experience people as it did not want to encourage working without pay.

And concern is growing that those who work unpaid may not be the only ones who lose out from these schemes. Existing paid members of staff at the participating companies are reporting that their hours are being cut as unpaid workers are doing it for free.

A paid staff member at health food store Holland and Barrett – which has 1,000 such placements across 250 stores said:

“We have had a number of placements in our store and have noticed that the hours for part-time staff have been reduced. Staff are upset because we are all struggling to make ends meet. The real benefactors of this scheme are the companies who receive millions of pounds worth of labour absolutely free of charge and the losers are the jobseekers who see potential jobs being filled by workfare placements for months at a time and the loyal part-timers who find their regular overtime hours savagely cut.”

But Holland and Barrett said it had taken on about 50 work experience jobseekers as paid employees, insisting:

“We have committed to working with JobCentre Plus to make available 1,000 work placements available for young people aged between 16 and 24 years. We have 250 stores taking part in the scheme as well as our head office and distribution and packaging site. We ensure they are given skills and confidence to move forward with their job search and of course a valuable reference.”

Tech retailer Maplin said:

“We are more than happy to get behind the different work experience schemes nationwide. We fully support, where possible, placements initiated by the local employment offices to get individuals into the working environment. This is by no means a way of replacing our current paid employees as all the individuals involved are shadowing a full-time member of staff.”

Graduate Fog is gripped by this story – and remains firmly opposed to the exploitation of unpaid workers, whether the placements are privately arranged or done through a government scheme. We hope that these appalling programmes will be banned swiftly and effectively. Unpaid work is not the solution to our nation’s unemployment problem – it is already a big part of the problem.

*WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO CAIT REILLY’S CASE?
Should back-to-work schemes involving unpaid labour be banned? Have you done a government-backed scheme – and did it lead you to a job? Or have you seen evidence that these schemes are actually displacing paid workers?

It’s WAR! ‘Our unpaid intern schemes are NOT forced labour’, claims government is a post from: Graduate Fog

NEW FIGURES SOUND IMPRESSIVE – BUT COME MAINLY FROM BIG CITY FIRMS

Graduate pay is set to rise to £26,000 this year, according to a new survey – but how many people do you know that are earning that much money? Does your salary even come close?

The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) has predicted a jump of 4% in 2012, raising it from £25,000, where it has been stuck since 2009. Between 2006 and 2008 it rose by just 2%, so this leap is being seen as good news for graduates. The survey also shows that the number of graduate vacancies increased last year by 1.7% – although this year vacancies are predicted to drop by 1.2%. But Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of the AGR, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about graduate recruitment in 2012:

“The predicted increase to graduate salaries is significant and sizeable, particularly given the context of starting salaries remaining stagnant for the past three years. This will no doubt be welcome news to the Government and the higher education sector, but moreover to graduates themselves.”

Sure, the government and the universities will be chuffed – it fits with their “Go to university – you’ll earn more money!” line. But will graduates buy it? Where exactly are all these graduates earning £26,000 a year? Granted, Graduate Fog is a site for jobseekers – but where we’re standing graduates earning fat pay packets are pretty scarce at the moment. So why the discrepancy?

Look closer and you’ll see that these statistics come from a survey of 214 of the AGR’s members, many of which are massive corporations, who you would expect to pay their graduate a good salary. (The list includes Accenture, Barclays and Deutsche Bank). These 214 big businesses hired 21,325 graduates in 2011. Er, what about everybody else?

We have no statistics to challenge the AGR’s finding. But we do hear from graduates every day – and from anecdotal evidence we would hazard a guess that the true average graduate salary (that is, the average salary among graduates that are earning above the minimum wage, in both ‘graduate’ and ‘non-graduate’ jobs) might be closer to… £16,000? At the most, £18,000. And of course that’s without factoring in the estimated 120,000 graduates who are earning less than the minimum wage doing unpaid (or very low-paid) internships.

Could it be that the sample of employers for this poll gives a false impression about how well graduates are really earning? If so, we are concerned that schools, universities and the government will continue to use these numbers to disguise what is really going on out there – that hundreds of thousands of graduates are failing to make their degree pay.

We would like to see statistics that include all graduates, not just the small number who manage to bag plum jobs on prestigious graduate training schemes with big corporations. If we are going to keep encouraging young people to go to university, we need to make sure we are working with accurate information about the likely outcome. We must start dealing in facts, not fantasy.

*Are you earning £26,000?
Do you know many graduates who are? Should statistics about graduate salaries be based on ALL graduates, rather than just those working for big businesses? What would you estimate the true average graduate salary to be?

‘Average’ graduate salary to hit £26,000 – but how many are really earning that much? is a post from: Graduate Fog

FULL-TIME “CAMPAIGN ASSISTANT” TO BE PAID EXPENSES ONLY

*Graduate Fog exclusive*

Last week, London Mayor Boris Johnson attacked young jobseekers for lacking the “appetite” to find work – and blasted Cait Reilly, the graduate who is suing the government for ordering her to do an unpaid two-week internship at Poundland or face losing her benefits.

Yet Graduate Fog can exclusively reveal that the Johnson is busy recruiting for his own unpaid intern to help with his Back Boris 2012 campaign for re-election in May. His full-time “campaign assistant” will receive travel and lunch expenses only.

Like many of his colleagues in Parliament, Johnson seems shockingly unable to see the link between rocketing youth unemployment and the large number of young people around who are working for nothing for months on end.

In a spectacular failure to connect the dots, the capital’s Fraggle-haired Mayor started by accusing young jobseekers of being workshy, telling the Sun:

“There are large numbers of job vacancies. Why are young people not taking up those jobs? How can we help them? That is the key problem for our economy.

“Let’s talk about the work ethic. I don’t want to stigmatise young people because many of them do have the aptitude. But we need to face up to these issues. In some cases it can come down to the fact that the jobs are there and people need to have the energy to go out and get them.”

He also launched an astonishing attack on intern hero Cait Reilly, the Birmingham University graduate who has dared to challenge the government over being forced to work unpaid in Poundland for two weeks by her local job centre. Johnson said:

“I think things are badly wrong there. There’s no reason to sneer at a job of the kind that many people do in this country. She should not turn down the opportunity to do work of a kind that many, many people do and value. It’s just amazing. She shouldn’t feel above it.”

If Cait had been paid by Poundland, he might have had a point – but she wasn’t. Then, recalling his first job as a trainee reporter on The Times – which we presume he was paid for – Johnson added:

“I remember when I first got a job I could not believe how hard everybody had to work. I couldn’t believe having left university that it really did mean getting up that early and working that long and working at weekends. It is not forced labour — she’ll learn from it.”

Labour candidate Ken Livingstone – Johnson’s rival in the Mayoral race, who ensured that his own advert for volunteers in December was approved by our friends at Intern Aware – hit back. Referring to Johnson’s column in the Telegraph which is reputed to earn him £250,000 a year, Livingstone said:

“Boris Johnson has two jobs, earning him £400,000 a year combined, so it is little wonder that he is so out of touch about how hard it is to find work.”

But things get worse. Graduate Fog has discovered that Johnson has been busy recruiting a “campaign assistant” to help with his re-election campaign. The advert – live on the notorious political jobs website w4mp now – reads:

Job Title: Campaign Assistant
Working For: Westminster North Conservatives
Location: London
Salary: Travel Expenses and Lunch Paid

Job Details:

We are looking for an intern to take a role with a busy year of campaigning for the Back Boris campaign and combining this with administration, data entry, analysis and day to day running of a busy office.

The successful applicant with have strong written, numeracy, IT and organisational skills and be sympathetic to the Conservative Party’s aims and beliefs. Both full time and part time applications will be considered. This position will provide an excellent opportunity for candidates to further enhance their CVs and gain valuable political and office-based experience. The opportunity would suit a student, recent graduate or an individual who is looking to learn more about how Political campaigning works.

It is unclear whether this campaign assistant job involves set hours – but it does seem clear that it involves real work, and that it is aimed squarely at young people seeking experience. Further research reveals adverts for further unpaid internships posted by Johnson’s office – one for multiple “campaign interns,” which appeared on the website in October.

If these interns are found to fit the criteria that make them a ‘worker’ as defined by the national minimum wage law, it is unclear whether Johnson feels he would be protected by the IPSA ruling which attempts to create a loophole allowing MPs to have unpaid interns.

If he is hoping for protection under this rule, it should be noted that as Mayor of London Johnson is not an MP. Nor is Back Boris 2012 a registered charity, so it seems unlikely he could claim that he is exempt from having to pay this campaign assistant for that reason either. We approached Johnson’s office for a comment but have had no response.

When Boris Johnson is forever telling us how concerned he is about the nation’s youth unemployment problem, we would expect him to take greater care over how he treats his own young staff. Referring to the high number of young people struggling to find work, Johnson asks “How can we help them?” Hey, here’s an idea, Boris. You could open your eyes and realise that unpaid work is not the solution to youth unemployment – it is already a big part of the problem. And you can start paying your interns a fair wage for their labour. It is a disgrace that a man in your position is so ready to take advantage of young people’s desperation in order to further his own career.

*SHOULD BORIS JOHNSON BE USING UNPAID INTERNS?
Are you shocked by the Mayor’s comments about young people – and his attack on Cait Reilly? Will you be voting for him at the election in May?

See Boris’ advert for yourself:

Boris Johnson recruits unpaid intern is a post from: Graduate Fog

Good news for graduates – work is under way on a new book which promises to help you to find a job after leaving university, even in a recession. How to Get a Graduate Job in a Recession – The Graduate Fog Guide will be available from March 2012 exclusively via this website.

Although Graduate Fog is known primarily for our straight-talking blog – particularly our work exposing the cheapskate employers who exploit their young staff through unpaid internships – we are very aware that graduates are also in desperate need of real, useful advice on how to find paid, permanent work in these difficult circumstances. Packed with practical tips and tricks, How to Get a Graduate Job in a Recession – The Graduate Fog Guide will show you (among other things):

- How to turn an unpaid internship into a paid job

- Why you’re finding it so difficult to get your career started

- How to choose your career, if you don’t already have a plan

- How to assess whether your plan is a good one

- How to find the vacancies that nobody else knows about

- Tips and tricks for breaking into the most competitive industries

- How to stay motivated during your job hunt

- Whether you should consider moving abroad

- Whether postgraduate study would boost your career – or be an expensive mistake

- How to put less effort into your job hunt – and see more results

Tanya de Grunwald, founder of Graduate Fog and the author of this new book, says:

“The Graduate Fog Blog has proved to be a huge hit with readers – and our Advice section is popular too. But I am still receiving a large number of emails from graduates who have more detailed questions about how to navigate their job hunt. They are finding it impossible to access answers to the deeper, more difficult conundrums.

“My first book – Dude, Where’s my Career? The Guide for Baffled Graduates, published in June 2008 – has now sold out, and I think it’s time to update the content. The job market has changed enormously since then – and with it, the mood and mindset of job-hunting graduates.

“Receiving emails every day from graduates in need of help, I know exactly what kind of thing they want to know. How to Get a Graduate Job in a Recession – The Graduate Fog Guide will answer all their questions in one place, making it the ultimate guide for graduates as they enter the job market.

“As the university careers services continue to peddle out-dated advice, advertise illegal unpaid internships and promote postgraduate courses that have dubious value, graduates are crying out for better guidance and support that they can really trust – yet finding that there is very little out there. How to Get a Graduate Job in a Recession – The Graduate Fog Guide is a must-read for anybody who is about to graduate, has just graduated – or has been struggling to get their career started for a while.”

The final touches are being put to the book this week and next, so if there’s anything you’d particularly like to see in there, speak up now!

*Want to know when the book is out?
Sign up to the Graduate Fog News Bundle now (scroll up and look right) and we’ll email to let you know when it comes on sale.

‘How to get a graduate job in a recession’ – new Graduate Fog book out March 2012 is a post from: Graduate Fog

British graduates need to improve their work ethic if they hope to compete with their rivals from other countries, the boss of an international company has claimed.

In a piece titled Get on your bike, grads! Tony Goodwin, founder and chief executive of Antal International said many home-grown graduates are “arrogant”, “lack lustre” and have a “self-inflated air of importance” which hampers their efforts to find good jobs after leaving university. He wrote in Management Today:

“We work in countries all across the world and are constantly reminded of the efforts many jobseekers will go to in order to get a job. They don’t assume going to university is enough and seem to understand it takes hard work and perseverance to prove themselves. Unfortunately, you can’t say the same for the majority of British graduates.

“Our vast experience of the industry shows that if you want lack lustre, uninspired graduates then Britain is the place to go. By comparison, the Chinese, Indian and Polish are streets ahead. Graduates in these countries don’t have a self-inflated air of importance, they just want to knuckle down and get on with it. Their studies are relevant, they work hard in their holidays to achieve relevant vocational skills and they are constantly improving their employability.

“I would say the current generation of [British] graduates are sometimes far too arrogant in terms of what they expect they deserve when they actually lack the vocational skills and degrees they need for the world of work. Too many of them are happy to fritter away years of study on courses which have no relevance to the career they want to pursue and don’t even then use that time to develop other skills and attributes that may help them to get ahead.”

Goodwin is entitled to his opinion – but Graduate Fog finds the new trend for graduate bashing to be deeply troubling. Last week, we were disturbed by the eagerness of the British press – and public – to criticise Cait Reilly, the Birmingham University graduate who is challenging the government over a two-week unpaid internship she says her job centre “forced” her to do in order to keep claiming her £52 a week Jobseekers Allowance.

At a time when young people are struggling, is it really fair to kick them when they’re down? It is easy for bosses like Goodwin to criticise today’s graduates, saying they have the wrong skills and an entitled attitude. But he forgets that you have just spend tens of thousands of pounds on a degree you were encouraged to do because you were told it would lead to better – and better-paid – jobs than if you didn’t go to university.

He also assumes that it is the job of universities to make graduates work-ready on their first day in the office. But who ever said this was what university is for? Sure, that’s what businesses would like university to be for – because it would mean they wouldn’t have to pay a penny to train up their own staff. But the last time we checked, university was still a place of learning, for expanding the mind, not learning how to fill in an expenses spreadsheet. Is it possible that Goodwin has it in for British graduates simply because they refuse to kiss his feet?

*DO YOU THINK BRITISH GRADUATES ARE ARROGANT?
Are you troubled by the recent trend for graduate-bashing? Should employers be doing more to support young workers, instead of constantly criticising you and making sweeping generalisations about your generation being lazy and entitled?

British graduates branded “arrogant” next to global rivals is a post from: Graduate Fog

The geology graduate who is suing the government over an unpaid internship she was “forced” to do at Poundland as part of a government scheme has been savaged by the British press and public.

In December, we reported that Cait Reilly – a 22-year-old graduate of Birmingham University – was taking legal action over a two-week internship she was told was “mandatory” if she wanted to keep claiming her Jobseekers’ Allowance payments of £52 per week, in which she was required to sweep the floors and stack shelves. This week – as Cait’s lawyer issued a press release containing an update on her case – the mainstream press jumped on the story and seized the chance to give her and other job-seeking graduates a kicking.

In Graduate Fog’s opinion, some of the editorial written about Cait was vicious – and showed a disturbing attitude towards young people today. The response suggests that a troubling new trend for ‘graduate bashing’ whereby graduates are labelled “entitled” or “arrogant” for daring to complain about the way they are being routinely exploited through unpaid internships, which have become the norm, despite being illegal.

In a piece entitled “A human right not to stack shelves? She’s off her trolley” on Friday, Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir wrote:

“Predictably, Reilly has been photographed in front of her local Poundland wearing the traditional, poor wee me, sad-clown victim face. Cait, I really want to say this to you. Two weeks stacking shelves in Poundland — a breach of your human rights? Grow up.

…It is hardly ten years’ imprisonment without charge in Guantanamo Bay. It is hardly like being incarcerated in a Nazi prisoner of war camp for five long years, never knowing each day if you would live or die, sewing cross-stitch samplers to stop yourself from going insane.”

Nobody said it was, Jan. But unpaid work is illegal in this country, and Cait has every right to complain about it. Then she said:

“I would argue that doing a little unpaid work in return for benefits is not a breach of your human rights, it is actually a bonus. See it as a life lesson — and you might get more out of it than you think.”

Which is it – a “bonus” or a “life lesson”? Come on Jan, at least be consistent. Is this two-week placement a prize – or a punishment? She goes on:

“You might think that a student with barely an NI payment to her name would be happy to put something back into the pot.”

Er, what “pot” is that exactly, Jan? The Poundland pot?

“I would also argue that her stance is deeply insulting to those whose jobs actually do entail sweeping floors and stacking shelves.”

No it’s not. They get paid to do their jobs, Jan. Cait didn’t earn a penny for her work.

“One might hope that any kid walking into a lawyer’s office with this sorry tale would be laughed out of the door.”

“Kid”? Cait is 22. That’s more than old enough to vote. She has the same rights as anybody else in this country. And didn’t you just say she should “grow up”? Yet you’re the one keeping her infantilised by implying she has fewer rights and should shut up, simply because she’s young…

Not content with slating Cait, Jan next turns to her lawyer, the highly-respected Jim Duffy, ofPublic Interest Lawyers:

“What I am really thinking is that Reilly’s lawyer Jim Duffy has much to answer for. A high-profile landmark case such as this might do much to enhance his reputation.”

Er, perhaps Cait’s lawyer has recognised that she has a strong case – and this is an important, interesting and topical area of employment law? He would hardly take the case – which we assume is not being paid for – if he didn’t think Cait had a good chance of winning.

Jan then finishes by pointing out that Cait’s bravery on this issue is likely to put some employers off hiring her – something we suspect Cait has already considered, as it is the same reason why hundreds of thousands of young people do not report illegal unpaid internships every year:

“However, win or lose, it won’t do much for Cait Reilly’s employment chances — as a shelf stacker or a geology-specialising museum boss. Believe me, such a pinched sense of entitlement at this nascent stage of her career will not endear her to many putative employers.”

Well done on underlining the point that Cait – and her fellow unpaid interns – are extremely vulnerable here, Jan. That is all the more reason why Cait’s actions are exceptional and admirable.

Still, perhaps we should not be surprised that Jan Moir lacks the intelligence or sensitivity to get to grips with the details of this case. Let’s not forget that this is the same Daily Mail columnist whose writing promoted 20,000 complaints for the piece “Why there is nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death,” in which she suggested that the singer’s sexual orientation was somehow linked to his death (recorded by corners as by natural causes). The piece earned her the title of Bigot of the Year 2009, as voted by gay rights campaign group Stonewall.

But no, other journalists followed suit. Writing in the Guardian on Saturday, in a piece called “Is all work experience good experience?” Toby Young said:

“More generally, I approve of these sorts of schemes because they denude young people of their sense of entitlement… They can’t just expect a fulfilling career to fall into their laps – and the sooner they realise that, the better off they’ll be.”

He insisted that his own experience of doing unpaid, government-backed work experience as a teen in the 1980s was the making of him. But this was more than 20 years ago, when the world was a very different place, before unpaid labour became an endemic problem that exploits and excludes hundreds of thousands of young people every year. And before unpaid internships became illegal when the minimum wage law was introduced in 1998. Of graduates like Cait, Young wrote:

“The world doesn’t owe them a living.”

True – but Poundland does owe Cait Reilly a wage. And the government owes her an apology for setting up this horrific programme, which effectively legitimises unpaid internships, which are illegal. Not a grey area – illegal. Young even went on to offer Cait some (unsolicited) some careers advice, suggesting that she will need more than her existing qualifications in order to pursue a future as a museum curator:

“Perhaps the two weeks she spent stacking shelves in Poundland will have the same galvanising effect on her as cleaning lavatories did on me and she’ll go back to university and get some additional qualifications.”

Oh, is that what these compulsory, unpaid work placements are for? Pushing graduates back into university to study for yet more expensive qualifications that also won’t lead them to a paid job?

And let’s not forget that this all happened in the same week that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg assured us he was going to put pressure on employers to make sure they pay their interns at least the minimum wage. Yet at the same time his colleague Iain Duncan Smith is telling job centres to arrange unpaid internships? What is going on with these people?

The way we see it, Cait Reilly’s case is extremely important, because it asks some crucial questions that young people deserve answers to:

Why is JSA even being used to help graduates to fund unpaid internships? Cait wants to use her JSA to continue an internship she set up herself at a museum. But why should she need to do this? Why isn’t the museum paying her a wage?

Why is the government instructing job centres to help big companies to break the NMW law but providing them with a steady supply of free labour?

What is the aim of these forced unpaid internships – and is there any evidence that they actually help youth unemployment?

Why are big companies being allowed to gain unlimited unpaid labour, through a scheme backed by the government? How is Cait working for Poundland “putting something back in the pot,” as Jan Moir puts it?

Why are young people being treated as second class citizens?

Graduate Fog is disturbed by the viciousness of the attacks on Cait, who is sticking up for her right to be paid a wage for fair day’s work. Where did this venom come from? Hundreds of thousands of graduates have found that they spent three years doing expensive degree courses on the advice of those they trusted – and have now been by the law, the government and their universities. They have every right to be angry. As Cait’s lawyer Jim Duffy said:

“The Government has created – without Parliamentary authority – a complex array of schemes that allow Job Centres to force people into futile, unpaid labour for weeks or months at a time. By doing so, it is worsening rather than alleviating the cycle of unemployment that is such a significant barrier to addressing the economic crisis.”

We agree 100%. Why are people kicking graduates when they’re down? And why are they so keen to give the government powers to force people to work for nothing, when we already have a minimum wage law that says that is illegal? Graduate Fog wishes Cait Reilly and her lawyer Jim Duffy the very best of luck. We’re right behind you.

*Is the Poundland intern a hero – or a whinger?
Are you impressed that Cait Reilly is standing up for herself – or is she giving graduates a bad name? Was the press reaction to her case fair – or are you worried that ‘graduate bashing’ is becoming the norm in the press?

Poundland intern faces brutal backlash for challenging “forced” labour is a post from: Graduate Fog

A graduate is suing the government over an unpaid two-week work placement at Poundland which she was told to complete by her local job centre – or face losing her Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).

Cait Reilly, 22 – a geology graduate from Birmingham University – had been seeking experience in the museum sector, but was told she must complete a “mandatory” fortnight at the discount high street store instead, or forfeit her £53 a week JSA.

The job centre – in King’s Heath, Birmingham – was acting under the government’s highly controversial Work Programme, in which young jobseekers are denied their right to the National Minimum Wage for up to eight weeks and forced to work in supermarkets and other high-street brands in order to keep their benefits.

Cait told the BBC:

“My adviser told me that there was an open day to find out about retail jobs. When I actually found out that it was a work experience placement that could take up to six weeks of unpaid work, I approached her and told her i wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go ahead with it. At which point she said “Well it is mandatory and if you don’t complete it you will lose your JSA benefits.”

She said that being forced to take unpaid work in a field unrelated to her career plans was “frustrating” – and raised questions about who was really benefitting from these mandatory placements:

“We had been promised training in various retail roles, but in actual fact all we did was what seemed like the labour that other people weren’t doing. I want to get into the museum world. Working at Poundland gave me no relevant experience towards that career at all. I was taken away from work placements at museums, given no valuable experience or training and potentially missed a lot of opportunities in the field I was interested in.”

Yesterday on Graduate Fog, we wrote about our growing concerns that some brands – particularly high street retailers – appear to be taking advantage of government-backed employment schemes in order to cut staff costs and boost profits. We are worried that they are using schemes to replace proper, paid shop jobs with unpaid or low-paid apprentices and Work Programme jobseekers. But Poundland hit back against this suggestion, saying:

“We work in partnership with JobCentre Plus and other government funded organisations to implement a comprehensive work placement programme designed to provide on-the-job training for those looking to retail as a career opportunity.

“Our partnership with JobCentre Plus is a positive step to get people back into work. It doesn’t replace our recruitment activity, but adds to the number of colleagues we have working with us.”

Public Interest lawyers, acting on Cat’s behalf, have sent a letter-before-action, the first stage in a potential judicial review, challenging the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise) Regulations 2011. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is due to respond to Ms Reilly’s case on 14 December. Outlining her reasons for pursuing legal actions, Cait said:

“We’re hoping we can approach the government and ask them to maybe think about how they’re putting these plans into action.

In what Graduate Fog sees as the start of a backlash against a government policy which ignores young people’s right to fair pay for their work, Cait has become the first young jobseeker to publicly take a stand against this appalling treatment. We support her 100%, wish her the very best of luck and will keep you updated with her progress.

(This blog post was originally published on 7 December 2011. The sudden flurry of publicity around it is because the right-wing press has only just noticed the story and twigged how important it is!)

*Would you accept a “mandatory” internship at Poundland?
Who benefits the most from these unpaid placements – jobseekers or retailers? Are you pleased Cait is taking a stand? Have you been told to complete a compulsory internship as part of the Work Programme?

Yes! Graduate sues government over ‘mandatory’ Poundland internship is a post from: Graduate Fog

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday launched a new campaign to open up recruitment at some of Britain’s biggest companies to young people from all backgrounds. Yet campaigners have raised concerns that it falls short of what is necessary as it fails to insist that companies stop using unpaid interns.

The so-called “business compact” has been signed by more than 100 big companies, including Barclays, HSBC, Tesco, Marks and Spencer. Coca-Cola, Nestle, the law firm Allen and Overy and oil companies Shell and BP. Mr Clegg – who has previously spoken out about valuable internships being grabbed by those with “sharp-elbowed middle classes” – said:

“This is an important step towards a society where it’s what you know, not who you know, that counts. Working with the Coalition, the biggest hitters in the City of London are helping lead the way to a fairer, more open society. By opening their doors to young people from all walks of life, this marks the start of a culture shift at the heart of British business, driven by the belief that ability and drive should trump connections and privilege.”

Yet those who read the small print say something is amiss. While the compact states that those who sign it will make access to internships open and transparent, without barriers for people from poorer backgrounds and advertise work experience places fairly and recruit fairly, it does not include a pledge not to use unpaid interns.

When journalists questioned Clegg’s team on this point specifically, they clarified that those who signed the compact should pay at least minimum wage or travel and lunch expenses “where possible,” so that poorer applicants were not excluded. “Where possible”? We’re talking about some of our banks and law firms here. Are any of them seriously saying they can’t afford £250 a week so that their hard-working interns can eat? If so, we would like to know who they are.

The announcement came as new research was published underlining the edge that internships give over those who are unable to work unpaid. According to High Fliers, more than a third of the graduate vacancies this year are expected to be taken by people who have already worked for the firm in some capacity.

Graduate Fog‘s friends at the interns’ rights campaign groups welcomed the pledge – but raised concerns that the details of the compact may not go far enough.

Ben Lyons, co-founder of Intern Aware, said:

“We welcome this announcement and it is great to see that some of Britain’s biggest companies are committing to the principle of fair internships. This scheme will help young people without parents in that cosy dinner party circuit where a quiet word can lead to a job. Smart employers know that it makes business sense to hire on merit, not background.

“However, not enough is being done to ensure that interns can afford to take up opportunities. Employers don’t need an opt-in scheme to have a legal duty to pay their interns. A few pounds a day in expenses is not enough for anyone to live on without huge support from the bank of mum and dad. If Nick Clegg is truly committed to social mobility he will make sure that HMRC enforces the minimum wage for interns.”

And Becky Heath, co-founder of Internocracy, said: “Yet another Compact is just lip service and is not committing to any real change for young people looking for a way in to a career.” She also remarked that, “his Compact could have gone much further than signing up 100 or so large firms”, pointing out that small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) make up 99% of employers in the UK.

We’ve said it a thousand times before, but we’ll say it again – because a lot of (supposedly clever) people just don’t seem to be getting it:

These companies can make their recruitment as transparent as they like – and advertise them as widely as possible. But if the experience that applicants need to get the jobs is only available to those with the means to work for months without pay, they may as well not bother.

Contacts will always be helpful – and Clegg can’t outlaw parents who are trying to help their children to get their careers started by connecting them with people they know. What he can do is ensure that the national minimum wage law is enforced for all internships that involve proper work. If Clegg really wants to help level the playing field for people from all backgrounds, that’s what he should be doing.

*WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CLEGG’S BUSINESS COMPACT?
Is it pointless unless those who sign it promise to pay their interns? Is Clegg all mouth and no trousers? Do you believe he will ever help get the minimum wage law enforced for interns?

“Only pay your interns if you can,” Clegg tells big businesses is a post from: Graduate Fog

Are you worried about your finances? A new report has revealed the shocking reality faced by many graduates struggling with debt. Of the 44,000 people granted fast-track insolvency since so-called ‘debt relief orders’ (DROs) were introduced in 2009, one in four was under the age of 35 – and experts have warned that graduates are especially vulnerable.

The statistics, published by the Insolvency Service, suggest that young people’s finances are becoming a major cause for concern – and experts says graduates are at particularly high-risk, as they struggle to find jobs and their salaries are far lower than they hoped. Una Farrell, a spokesperson from debt counselling charity the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, told the Guardian:

“Student debt does play a large part in getting people used to taking on large debts early on and it limits their ability to manage their finances. The CCCS is very worried about future generations who are going to end up taking on higher levels of debt.”

Debt counselling charities say the statistics are a worrying indicator of the financial strain faced by young people today, and warned that graduate debt could force many more into financial difficulty in the future, as tuition fees and the cost of living continue to climb. Joanna Elson from the Money Advice Trust said that many 25 to 34 year-olds:

“…Might have expected to be further up the financial ladder by that stage in their life. At the same age their parents would most likely have bought their first home, have a comfortable pension lined up, and be saving for the future. For today’s 25 to 34-year-olds the picture is much bleaker.”

DROs are proving to be popular with younger people in financial trouble, as they are designed for those with a disposable income of less than £50 a month and savings and assets worth less than £300 – and applicants cannot be a homeowner. “You have to be in pretty dire straits to qualify,” said Farrell.

If a DRO is granted, up to £15,000 of debt can be written off. But getting a DRO is no quick fix to a person’s finances – there are long-term consequences. Those granted one will have problems getting credit for many years to come.

This report increases Graduate Fog’s concern about the finances of a generation of young people who have been crippled by student debt and now face the task of keeping their head above water as the cost of living rises and graduate salaries remain appear to be falling. The question is, will things get worse before they get better?

*Are you worried about debt?
Are you – or your friends – struggling to make ends meet? How much of the problem is caused by your graduate debt? Do you predict more under 35s getting into serious financial trouble in the next few years?

Thousands of graduates opt to go bankrupt is a post from: Graduate Fog

A Conservative MP has angered graduates keen to build careers in politics by declaring that internships within parliament are a “non-story.” The row erupted when he was challenged for advertising a six-month unpaid internship by former deputy prime minister John Prescott on Twitter, who labelled him “Britain’s meanest MP.”

Graham Evans – MP for Weaver Vale in Cheshire – has been advertising for a “bright and hardworking” intern to sort his post, draft letters and research issues. The position lasts six-months and does not even offer travel or lunch expenses. Yet when questioned about it, Evans insisted the episode was a “complete non story” and said:

“It is common practice for MPs of all political parties to have volunteers helping out in their parliamentary offices. My office has a small number of full-time students come in to do ad hoc volunteering to gain experience of Parliament around their studies. This is an exciting opportunity for many young people and it is perfectly legitimate.”

The row erupted after the politician was challenged by Labour MP – and former deputy prime minister – John Prescott. Tweeting a link to the ad for Davis’s unpaid internship, Prescott wrote:

“Is this Britain’s meanest MP? Wants young person to work for him for six months for nothing – not even food and travel!”

Later, Prescott told the Mirror:

“At a time of record youth unemployment, is this their idea of job creation? They pay young people nothing while giving honours to bankers and party donors. It’s just the same old Tories.”

In recent months, Graduate Fog has reported on the scandal of the huge number of internships STILL being advertised by scores of politicians from all political parties, including cabinet minister (cabinet minister!!) Jeremy Hunt. This is despite agreement that youth unemployment is a huge problem in the UK today.

We continue to be irritated by politicians’ arrogant insistence that their own unpaid internships are somehow allowed, because of a ruling by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) which attempts to create a special loophole for parliamentary internships. In reality, legal sources tell us that the Ipsa ruling is highly unlikely to stand up against the Minimum Wage Law.

Whilst maintaining they care about social mobility and youth unemployment, politicians continue to run unpaid internships which exclude those who can’t afford to do them, exploit those who do them – and displace paid jobs for young people.

Any politician who claims to care about social mobility and / or youth unemployment should have no problem in condemning unpaid internships outright. Unpaid internships are not a solution to youth unemployment – they are a big part of the problem.

However, while we are always pleased when a high profile individual draws attention to this issue – as Mr Prescott has – it would be even more welcome if he could first direct some of his outrage towards his own colleagues in the Labour party who are guilty of exactly the same behaviour. If Labour are to take the moral high ground on this issue, they must make sure they have earned it.

* SHOULD MPs BE ALLOWED TO HAVE UNPAID INTERNS?
Was John Prescott right to name and shame Graham Evans? If the Labour party was truly behind interns’ right to be paid, shouldn’t they ban unpaid internships within their own party first? Or are you just happy to see this issue being raised by high profile individuals, as it keeps the subject in the headlines?

MP says unpaid politics internships are a “non-story” is a post from: Graduate Fog