HIGH STREET RECRUITER FAILS TO APOLOGISE FOR SEEKING FORTY SIX INTERNS, PAYING WELL BELOW MINIMUM WAGE
Since this website began, we have seen some shockingly brazen behaviour by big name brands, when it comes to their treatment and payment of their interns. But this one will take some beating.
Graduate Fog has discovered that Reed.co.uk — the UK’s most-visited job website — is advertising a whopping 46 internships within its own company, paying well below the National Minimum Wage. When questioned by Graduate Fog, Reed have failed to apologise or provide an adequate explanation for their actions.
Most of these positions – with job titles including ‘Internship-Receptionist/Administrator’, ‘Internship-Secretarial & PA’ and ‘Internship-Executive Assistant’ – sound like proper jobs which should command a proper wage. In fact, remove the word ‘internship’ from the role title and in each case you have a much more accurate description of the position’s responsibilities.
Want to see the job ads for yourself? Scroll to the bottom of this post
The 46 ads for unpaid internships within Reed are in addition to hundreds of unpaid internships with other companies, advertised on Reed.co.uk, one of the biggest recruitment companies in Europe.
What Graduate Fog finds most shocking is that the people at Reed are trying to make out that – in taking on unpaid workers to fill what look like legitimate roles – they are somehow helping the UK’s young unemployed. One job ad – for a ‘secretarial’ position within Reed Hospitality, based in south west London – includes the following statement:
Within Reed, we have considered how we can help improve the current unemployment situation and, as a result, we are introducing internships aimed at:
a. giving opportunities for job seekers to gain valuable work experience;
b. creating a learning experience for job seekers, who will be provided with a structured training programme and on-the-job coaching within a customer facing role;
c. providing a unique opportunity for a job seeker to potentially gain permanent employment – in particular, with Reed or with one of our clients.
Yet this full-time internship pays just £92.50 per week – well below the NMW (which should be around £237.20 for a week’s work).
Worryingly, 119 people had already applied.
I am deeply concerned to see that a company as large as Reed appears not to have grasped that unpaid internships are a solution to absolutely nothing. Graduates need proper, paid jobs – not endless ‘opportunities’ to work for free in order to gain yet more experience. So I wrote to them:
From: Tanya de Grunwald
To: Reed
Date: Tuesday, 7 June, 2011, 17:24Hi
My name is Tanya de Grunwald and I run a website for job-seeking graduates, called Graduate Fog.
By far the biggest issue among my users is that of unpaid internships. We believe that they exploit those who do them and exclude those who can’t afford to do them. We think they are becoming longer and longer, with less and less chance of a job at the end of them. We believe it is a myth that unpaid internships lead to permanent, paid, entry-level jobs – in fact, we believe that unpaid internships are now replacing these paid opportunities. In short, we believe that unpaid internships are solving nothing for young people – in fact, they are making things worse. I would also like to refer to you the cases of Keri Hudson and Nicola Vetta, both of whom successfully sued their employers who refused to pay them for their work as interns.
I am writing to you because I was extremely disappointed to see so many advertisements for unpaid (or low-paid) internships on Reed.co.uk, which I had always understood to be a responsible and respectable recruitment company.
Of the hundreds of internships we found, 46 were within Reed itself and paid well below the minimum wage (£5.93 an hour). The travel and lunch expenses offered did not come close to matching this amount.
One of these was for an ‘internship – receptionist / administrator’ and another was for a ‘admin / secretarial & PA’ internship. Another was for an ‘Internship / Executive Assistant’. These – and that 43 other ‘opportunities’ we found – look to me like proper jobs which should be paid. As I understand it, these employees would fit the legal description of a ‘worker’ and are therefore entitled to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.I will be blogging about this within the next few days and would like to include a response from Reed. I would therefore be grateful if you could answer the following questions (by email, so I have your responses in writing):
1) Is Reed aware that the National Minimum Wage in the UK is £5.93 an hour? Can you explain why these 46 vacancies pay far less than this, when the role descriptions make clear that proper work is expected of these employees?
2) When Reed advertises roles that pay less than the minimum wage for third parties (I have also found many of these), do you take a fee for doing this? How much is it?
3) I see you are working with Inspiring Interns, promoting their clients’ internships on Reed.co.uk. Could you clarify whether the roles advertised are paid at least the National Minimum Wage? In particular, the role Spanish speaking Marketing and PR FMCG internship looks to me like it should be paid at least the minimum wage. (In the ad, the salary is stated as ‘negotiable’)
With many thanks in advance for your help clarifying this matter,
Tanya de Grunwald
PS. I have also seen advertisements on Reed.co.uk for jobs which seem to be paid commission-only, like this one. Can you clarify how you feel this fits in with the National Minimum Wage Act? Thanks again.
A few days later, Reed wrote back:
From: Reed
To: Tanya de Grunwald
Date: Friday, 10 June, 2011, 13:19Hi Tanya,
Please see below comment from Reed in response to your queries relating to reed.co.uk job adverts and Reed’s internship scheme.
Martin Warnes, Managing Director of reed.co.uk says: “Reed.co.uk is a job board which carries advertisements for over 100,000 jobs at any one time from more than 9,000 recruiters. Currently employers advertise both paid and unpaid internships on reed.co.uk, which many people report have given them valuable work experience, especially at such a tough time to be looking for jobs.”
Ian Nicholas, HR Director at Reed, said: “Reed has developed a voluntary internship programme, which enables individuals looking to gain valuable insight and experience into the world of work the opportunity to do a placement of up to 12 weeks. This programme is entirely intern-led, with the individual specifying the amount of time they would like to spend with us each week and a tailored approach to ensure that we give them the opportunity to learn and gain experience in their areas of interest, as well as access to mentors across the business.
“Our internship programme is governed by strict guidelines and we are currently investigating the advertisements that have been identified. The programme is firmly focussed on developing talent and helping interns to identify and secure employment in their chosen field and has already resulted in more than 100 of our interns finding full time employment.”
Kind regards
Is it just me – or did they totally ignore most of my questions? I wrote back:
From: Tanya de Grunwald
To: Reed
Date: 10 June 2011 14:12Hi,
Thanks for this response. Just two follow-up questions:
1) Are you able to expand on what is meant by “we are currently investigating the advertisements that have been identified”? Have these advertisements been taken down? Will the application process be put on ‘pause’ until you are clearer on how these placements might fit with the NMW laws? I am pretty confident that you will find that whether the intern ‘volunteers’ to work for free is irrelevant as the current legislation stands. Or can you offer an alternative interpretation of the law?
2) Is Reed prepared to commit to reviewing its policy on advertising unpaid internships? If so, please let me know when you will be announcing findings of this review, so that I can keep my users up-to-date.
With many thanks again,
Tanya
Reed replied:
To: Tanya de Grunwald
From: Reed
Date: Tuesday, 14 June, 2011, 10:04Hi Tanya,
Thanks for your patience yesterday — here’s the comment below.
Kind regards
Ian Nicholas, HR & Training Director at Reed Specialist Recruitment, said:
“Our internship programme gives individuals the opportunity to learn and gain experience in their areas of interest for a maximum of 12 weeks. We have strict guidelines in place to govern the content of our internship programme and we work closely with all of our managers to communicate this guidance. We have removed the adverts in question from the website and have strengthened our procedures to monitor all adverts that relate to our internship programme.”
Impressed? No, neither was I.
Reed has failed to explain why they feel the workers who take on these internships are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage (Wouldn’t you think they’d have access to a few employment lawyers who could clarify this?). They have also failed to clarify whether they make money on finding candidates for unpaid (or low-paid) internships for their clients. And they have failed to answer questions about the nature of their work with Inspiring Interns – or how ‘commission-only’ jobs fit with the NMW legislation.
Wouldn’t you expect better from one of the biggest recruitment companies in Europe? I would. Shame on you, Reed.
*Is Reed taking advantage of desperate, young workers?
Should one of the biggest recruitment companies in Europe be running ads for unpaid internships – both within their own company and at clients’ organisations? Are you disappointed by their response, when questioned? Would you hope that a big brand like this would lead the way in treating young workers well, including providing fair payment for their work?
Decide for yourself! Here are screenshots of some of the ads:
Intern receptionist:
Intern executive assistant
Secretarial admin internship:
In case there is any confusion, in case the casual reader can’t see what all the fuss is about and thinks that Reed is in the business of simply taking on youngsters to try to give them a good start in life, here is what their one of their sample “internships” involves.
You are taken on and must commit to staying for twelve weeks. Every day you must do this work:
– Sit in reception and deal with all visitors to the Reed offices.
– Answer calls and take messages
– Clean reception
– Make tea and coffee for visitors
– Phone, write to and email Reed customers
– Do the filing and faxing.
For this job you will receive no pay whatsoever.
This is what Reed calls an “internship”. And while that illegally unpaid intern sits in reception doing this work for Reed.co.uk, the company is saving a minimum of £12,646 per year, because it doesn’t have to hire a receptionist to do that work.
And that £12, 646 gets put in the same pot as the other £12,646s that should be paid to all those other workers that Reed’s many “interns” replace.
And put together they all represent a saving on staff costs that goes straight into Reed’s bottom line as profit. And a decent chunk of that profit which will be channelled straight into the pocket of multi-millionaire James Reed, who runs the company.
You may wonder why people get angry. Maybe that puts it into perspective.
Other companies (especially Art Galleries and other media jobs) pay absolutely NOTHING for interns AND get people to stay up to 6 months working for free. Reed was one of the only paid internships that I actually found.
Reed use unpaid interns Caitlin, and have admitted it.
Well you better go onto http://www.artshub.co.uk and start slagging off all the other companies.
Caitlin, I’m not sure why you think the behaviour of other companies in any way mitigates that of Reed? Does the fact that one person is a thief mean that evryone else is justified in doing the same thing? What is your point Caitlin?
I’m saying that you think that Reed are by far the worst when you haven’t even listened to me when I say that people work in Art Galleries for free for 6 months. Reed defintely wouldn’t allow the internship to be ‘extended’. I agreed to do the internship, and yes the money was crap, but I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it for 6 months completely unpaid. If I had applied to an Account Coordinator role then I would probably have never have got the job because I was so inexperienced. By doing the internship and showing them that I was eager and willing to further my career got me a job that I enjoy. Instead of being stuck in a retail role because that’s the only places that would accept my CV.
Who knows if Reed are the worst? Does it matter whenther they are first in the list of employers who illegally use young people, in the middle, or last? They are all exploiters, and maybe there are lots of Arts organisations that do the same too. Does that in any way mitigate what Reed does?
Reed were happy to use you as an unpaid worker instead of paying you. or someone else to do their profit making work for them. If they paid you less than the Minimum Wage, they broke the law. Why should this revolting company be allowed to do that, whatever other benefits you might have gained from working for them?
“The greatest form of slavery is the one the slaves cannot discern …”
As is usually the case, Tanya, I think you’re spot on. Regardless of the limited benefits that these free internships give, they are still blatantly illegal.
The ‘moral’ arguments surrounding unpaid work are completely and utterly moot. If it is illegal, it’s illegal, and should be challenged and prosecuted accordingly.
These ‘interns’ have clearly been doing the role of a “worker” which requires remuneration – this is not some 2 week ‘work experience’ shadowing role.
I also join you in your bafflement at the fact that careers advisors aren’t making intern rights far more clear to students and graduates. This ‘race to the bottom’ issue is becoming more and more pronounced as I see kids doing 6-months plus unpaid work. It is utterly sickening.
Social mobility is becoming increasingly stifled, and the people from disadvantaged (or even fairly reasonable) backgrounds are being squeezed out and marginalised by those whose parents and families can support them for months on end.
I recently completed a 12 week internship with the Hospitality & Leisure division at Reed, and had the best experience I could have possibly had.
I had completed my first year at university and wanted to find work over the summer period to gain experience within an industry relevant to my degree.
I admit had I found a part-time job in a retail shop I would have earned more in monetary terms, however money isn’t everything to me, it was more important that I was in a full time working environment, learning completely new and challenging skills to enhance my employability once graduated. Reed gives this opportunity to many students or graduates that may not able to find work, possibly due to lack of experience and obviously because of the state of the economy too with a record high of young people out of work.
Reed’s internship has allowed me to develop new skills, gain confidence and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who really wants to push themselves, as the more you put into the internship the more you will gain, the internship has also helped me to obtain a years placement as part of my degree.
And along the way they got a worker for free. And they should have paid you, and everyone else, instead of subsidising their company with the labour of unpaid workers.
Reed could provide the social service you provide Sarah, and stay within the law. Other, honest, companies do this but Reed choose to take on people like receptionists, call them “interns” and not pay them.
That’s not “giving peoplle opportunities” that’s “stealing their wages”.
Here’s a stinker of an unpaid internship on Reed, and its for an Investment bank, who usually pay their interns quite a lot.
It’s clearly in breach of minimum wage law and demands a very high skill set. It also makes it clear that you would be carrying out important tasks, unsupervised.
It’s already had 130 applications.
Disgusting
http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/London/Accountancy-Qualified/Recently-Graduate-Trainee-Investment-Banking-Unpaid-Internship/?JobID=19913265&pg=3&s=100&ps=20&sr=1&gr=1&FromSector=1&fcs=5
Would everyone else be so kind as to report the advert to the reed quality team, (the link is at the bottom of the job advert page) as I have done. Let’s get this god awful drivel taken off the site (the grammar in the advert is also awful, ironic as it asks for exemplary literacy skills).
http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/London/Accountancy-Qualified/Recently-Graduate-Trainee-Investment-Banking-Unpaid-Internship/?JobID=19913265&pg=3&s=100&ps=20&sr=1&gr=1&FromSector=1&fcs=5
Can I draw your attention to a recent news article which highlights the growing levels of unemployment among 16 to 24 year olds:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/15244034
Given that there is a strong chance that many individuals in this age group will struggle to obtain paid employment, why is there such back lash at organisations who give these people the chance to gain some work experience which would put them in a stronger position to gain paid employment? Yes they may not receive a salary for this, but what’s the alternative? They sit at home unpaid anyway looking for work and not getting any valuable experience which will make them attractive to the increasingly picky employers who can pick and choose who they recruit?
People need to get real. There are so many individuals who are educated to degree level these days, it’s just not enough to land a job. Is that fair? Maybe not. Is it reality? Yes!
“Given that there is a strong chance that many individuals in this age group will struggle to obtain paid employment”
They wouldn’t struggle to do so if Reed et al gave them (at least) a minimum wage as they are legally obliged to do.
The paradigm of “working for free to get experience as a prerequisite for being paid” needs to be challenged. It was bad enough when it existed in fashion/media/PR but it has insidiously made its way into most industries now because of exactly the youth unemployment you’ve cited – graduates are desperate and will prostrate themselves for even the whiff of employment.
It’s very deliberate exploitation, and most importantly, it is illegal.
Jo, the rising level of youth unemployment is directly related to the fact that companies like Reed are now using “interns” as unpaid workers instead of paying them! If they paid them, as they are legally required to do, those individuals would no longer be unemployed, they’d be paid workers!
I think that this debate is getting blown out of proportion. How can you all be sure that these are not genuine work experience opportunties? How can you all be so sure that the activities these interns are involved in constitute genuine work which warrants pay? The feedback from the majority of interns seems to be that they valued the experience and gained something from it. Surely their opinion has more value as they actually experienced the placement and know what went on? If they feel like they’ve been taken advantage of then one would think they would just leave the placement! No one is forcing them!
Ultimately if this pressure to pay for these work experience placements continues I can only see one outcome, employers will discontinue these schemes and there will be no opportunties for these individuals to gain valuable experience (paid or unpaid!).
Where do you draw the line? Next we’ll see campaigns for school kids to receive payments for their school sponsored work experience placements to prevent employers taking advantage!
@Jo
You draw the line where the law draws the line. And the law says that if you meet the definition of a ‘worker’ – among other things having set hours and set tasks etc, not just work shadowing – then you are entitled to a minimum wage. It is also says that neither employer nor employee may waive this right. All this site is doing is campaigning for an existing law to be enforced.
@ACareersAdviser
+1
You took the words right out of my mouth.
As a side note – anecdotally I feel the whole “if these were paid positions, they wouldn’t exist because the cost is too onerous” argument is incorrect. These guys offer unpaid internships because they know they can get away with cost-cutting, not because they do not have the funds or business case to finance it. We are talking about some of the most profitable firms within their industries which are guilty of this – it’s not small businesses doing kids a favour and giving them some work-shadowing experience.
@ACareersAdviser
Totally agree. My point is, how are the individuals posting on this forum in a position to assess each of the individual cases of internships and whether the individual should be classed as a worker?
I think that there is such a negative perception of any company which offers Internships and there is an automatic assumption that people are being taken advantage of, rather than there being a focus on assessing whether they are genuinly shadowing opportunities to gain experience. Feels a little like the default position is to bash the employers for being awful rather than questioning whether they are actually providing a genuine learning environment for people who are willing to undertake an unpaid placement for the purpose of broadening their experience or exposure to a particular work environment.
@Jo
The problems here are two-fold
(1) The job descriptions, both formally on the job listing, and informally from accounts about what work people do there, indicate that they are doing the job of a ‘worker’. That is to say “whatever type of work would typically be conducted by a paid employee”. The only things which tends to fall outside of this are either work-shadowing (where you follow around and watch what’s done) or if the company has specifically contrived an otherwise pointless/valueless over a short period of time.
Where people are ‘adding value’/doing value-adding activities, except where volunteering for charities etc., not paying them NMW is illegal.
(2) Even if everyone was absolutely faultless here, and it wasn’t illegal, it would still bias certain industries (and, increasingly, all industries) against those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It’s unacceptable that it’s becoming increasingly prevalent to demand prior work experience for new recruits, and the only way to obtain such experience is to work without pay – this ultimately means that to get any job you would need to have the financial ability to support yourself unpaid for months at a time.
I would like to offer my open an honest opinion of Reed, and all of its branches and divisions.
It is true that given the economic down turn internships programs are a good thing very similar to normal work experience at school or university. However, But! And this is the big But!!! Reed is one of the largest recruiters in the UK indeed in Europe now. It makes huge amounts of profits which line the pockets of the greedy Reed family. Considering they also have huge contracts supplying UK government departments then the Prime Minister and all of his magic MPs should take note.
It is blatant slave labour however grateful the poor students are. Minimum wage is the Minimum wage and it just makes me sick to the stomach. Even working for Reed as a normal consultant is hard. They are incredibly penny pinching, they give you hard targets that you will never reach, well most consultants don’t. The Reed management is crafty and cunning at best. All they are interested in is the bottom line. They are the most unethical employer this side of the moon. Any student wishing to work for reed as a Recruitment Consultant needs their head checked. Anyone using them to find employment needs to tread very carefully.
They are quite prepared to ruin your career just to get their next couple of pounds. They will pour utter b*** SH** into your ears offering a very practiced, polished kind of advice. Trust me they couldn’t give two ticks about you or your career. All they are interested in is making money off your back whether that be permanent or temporary work.
The poor students are easy prey for these slick consultants. Very naively, most students wouldn’t know what doggy assignment is going to land on their lap. I could continue to list the bad practices by these so called recruitment professionals but I am making myself sick writing this. It isn’t just Reed, all recruitment companies have the same issues at their core. After all it’s a sales job what do they care, they have targets to reach.
It’s a great plan the only winners are Reed management the pawns are the consultants who do their dirty work for them and the workers who loose out BIG TIME. The idiots are the clients who are quite prepared to part with huge amounts of money worried if they don’t they won’t get the same budget for the next fiscal year. It’s a mad house at it’s best.
My parting advice to any good eager student is get out there and do the ground work yourself. Grow a pair of balls and sort your CV out yourself there is loads of online help these days. Please, please don’t use recruitment companies and yes that includes GREEDY REEDY!!!!!
P.S. I am quite sure that any reed PR company man/woman reading this might want shout about Reed donating large sums of money to charity every year. Well yes they do its true, but not benefit the charities, it’s to benefit them. They get large tax breaks from the government when they do.
Have you interned unpaid for Reed? Or for any other well-known brand? Fancy some free money?
Check out Interns Fight for Justice – the new campaign from Graduate Fog and Intern Aware. We are looking for interns who are feeling brave / angry / skint enough to challenge their former employers and request the wages they are owed for the work they did unpaid.
Even if your internship was a while ago and you agreed to work unpaid at the time, that doesn’t matter. The minimum wage works out at around £1,000 a month, so depending on the length of your internship you could be in line to receive a tidy sum!
Just get in touch with us for more information:
https://graduatefog.co.uk/2012/2080/interns-fight-justice-campaign/
Thanks!
Graduate Fog x
PS. None of this will cost you a penny!
Well I think in GENERAL Reed is one of the shittest ‘recruitment consultancies’ in the country. I’m a student and sent my c.v. into Reed for temp work over the Summer as I’m off from Uni until October. Not only have Reed not found me ANYTHING, their pathetic excuse has been that my c.v. is and I quote from an email: ‘graphic design orientated’ and so is not suitable to send for temporary roles, where admin and reception and office skills are highly desired.’
The ‘consultant’ went on to say:
I’m sorry you don’t feel that agencies have been helpful towards you but Iwould still advise to update your CV and advertise your transferable skills as temporary roles need people with varied experience who can jump in at the deep end and have experience with roles.’
Firstly, I find this disgusting as clearly the woman hasn’t ‘READ’ my c.v. at all. I’ve been told time and again ‘by experts’ that c.v.’s have to be brief, to the point and ONE PAGE long – as ‘potential employers and recruitment consultants don’t have time to read it in detail’ etc. So, my c.v. was formatted to one page; it also clearly illustrated that from all the experience I’ve obtained either in paid work or work experience that this was all done in OFFICES. I’d even stated what PC/MAC experience I have and it is very good. To then be palmed off with this level of tripe angers and frustrates me even more. Having been a student prior to doing my second degree now to try and better myself – in Graphic Design – I know of all the pitfalls and frustrations students seeking jobs can face, but this doesn’t help me. I crafted my c.v. to be eye catching – something a lot of GD Students do but its clear the CONTENT has not been looked at at all by this idiot who works for Reed – instead of putting my c.v. forward as someone who actually has excellent transferrable skills she simply looked at the style of my c.v. and thought SOD THAT. Very nice – not. I’m amazed such idiots work in places like Reed. Furthermore, if I had sent in a bog standard c.v. detailing ALL my jobs and temp work since 2002 AND had lists elaborating on what I did I’m no doubt sure the IDIOT would then harp on about it being ‘too long and not one page in format etc, etc – you can’t win with prats like that – yes, I am angry as I should be earning instead of sitting at home doing nothing all Summer long! Thanks for bugger all Reed – my blog even details the idiots name and branch locale should anyone else like to experience how shit Reed are.
Hi guys
Bit of a bolt from the blue but has anyone received a payment from Reed recently, for wages they should have been paid during their unpaid / expenses-only internship there?
If so, please email me ASAP, thanks! (All correspondence treated in strictest confidence of course.)
http://bit.ly/duLICY
Does anyone else find recruitment agencies totally useless? My cv may as well have been written in wingdings.
Reed and the like are here to sell and make a profit out of your CV, they could not give a damn about people. Like most recruitment agencies, people are cattle….
Remember, when you go contracting and/or temping, they take a cut out of your pay….
I would like to add to the discussion on unpaid internships within Reed. I have worked for Reed for nearly 3 years’ we have had 3 interns in this office all of which have been offered permanent contracts within Reed, one went from Intern to Administrator and on to Risk and Compliance Executive and he is damn good at it,I am sure he will be promoted in the future too, speaking on his behalf he has absolutely loved his time at Reed from the beginning and is so grateful that he was given the chance to do so. There is a success story for you, and there are many more from my colleagues around the country.
Thanks for your comment Lauren. However, the question is not whether Reed’s internships are useful or enjoyable, or whether desperate young people say they are ‘grateful’ for the opportunity. It is whether these internships are a) legal and b) open to everyone, from all financial backgrounds. Do you have any views on those two aspects?
Thanks for you reply.
I totally agree, those are the questions that need answers.
My understanding is that this has now changed within Reed and these interns are now paid at least the NMW.
I’d also like to respond to Nicolas, Reed do not take a cut out of anyone’s pay. Here is how it works for all those that don’t understand the recruitment business process:-
Permanent roles:-
Client needs an employee
Reed advertises on 6 major job boards which each cost the client if he/she did himself, in the figure of about 6k – for one advert on one job board.
Reed screens, compliance checks, arranges interviews and the company take on an employee( in short|)
Reed invoice company a fee for this work based on an agreed rate or a percentage of the candidate salary – meaning if the job was paying £20k – say 15 % of 20k which is £3k. Candidate’s salary is still £20k no money has been taken out of that candidate’s salary.
Temporary roles:-
Same as above except Reed employs the person as a temporary person working for client for Reed, the hourly salary say £10 – Reed charge the client for example £15. That will include the NI, Tax, Employers NI etc that Reed has to pay legally and the fee for work done to place said employee. No money is taken from the candidate, the fee is on TOP of the employee’s hourly rate, if the candidate was to be paid more, the fee would be higher (to cover costs etc) no money is taken from candidates it is completely free to use a recruitment agency, most of us here really care about our candidates, I personally have seen the other side and worked with young people in the Jobcentre so I have compassion and realise they are real people, of course I do, I am sorry you have had a bad experience, it may seem that recruitment consultants are just in it for the money and don’t care and in some cases it may be true but not in my experience of our offices up and down the country.
I used to work for reed as a consultant. It was the worst job I have ever had. They used to say they took care of their employees but reality was very different. In fact the treatment of its own staff was disgusting. The greed of the Management was disheartening. Reed optimises everything you don’t want in a company. It’s no wonder they have such a high turn over of staff. Once new staff members realise what is happening they usually can’t wait to leave. A horrible place to work.
I think reed a conning the goverment it’s reed being greedy they only help people who benfit the company it’s z disgrace reed grow a pair of bollocks and admit ur wrong in you outlook on jobs for the unemployed you a fucking disgrace and you know it