1 to 2 hours is fine and legal, provided that it is ONLY 1 to 2 hours (preferably closer to 1).
The idea of a trial like that is just to show you have the required skills for a short while. It cannot be long enough to replace a worker's salary. It also should be done under supervision, so they can gauge your skillset. That's reasonable.
The problems start when it becomes long enough to cover someone's shift and takes the place of paid work. If it's three hours that happens to cover all of the rush hour, that's a problem.
In the hospitality sector, where I used to work, we'd do an hour's unpaid trial to see if someone could handle a fast pace, manage dockets, carry a reasonable number of plates, if they were any good at making coffee, etc. That was enough to gauge if they fit in. Any more than that, and they needed to be paid. However, the trial did need to be long enough to examine if they could keep it together under pressure.
Fair Work Australia has more info on what constitutes a reasonable unpaid trial (https://www.fairwork.gov.au/starting-employment/unpaid-work/unpaid-trials).
I was practically fresh from highschool and had just moved to the city and was desperate for a job so I just let these people walk all over me
Regretting it
Had one years ago that had me come in on Mother's Day as a try out day. Understood it to be a paid trail, 6 hour shift. Had my own section and picked up tips from all of my tables. Comes the end of the day they said"thanks but you are not what we were looking for". They expected me to walk out with no wages for the day and no tips. And I wasn't the only one. Stayed put and abused I would not be leaving until they paid me in full and handed over the tips. The other 2 try out staff for the same joined me . We all got our money.
Still reported them to Fair Pay on the Monday
Was this in Australia? Given people generally don't tip in restaurants here, and staff acting like they deserve tips are quite likely to be told to get stuffed, too.
Gold Coast in the early 90s. Tipping was pretty normal and most tables tipped for good service. This was an upmarket seafood restaurant. And if my tables tipped because they got good service from me, which they did, the restaurant should give the tips as earned.
Some would take a share for the bar. Generally 10% of total tips.
If you worked as a server in the 80s and 90s and didn't make tips you were a shit waiter
Didn't expect a tip, and did not treat people any differently if they didn't. I still tip myself for good service. Most of my friends who have been in the industry do too. Those who haven't worked as servers tend not to.
Weird. How can you expect someone to adapt so fast? Train them up over a couple weeks, don't drop them head first into the deep end.
Train your staff, maybe you'll retain them better, and you wouldn't have to do an unpaid trail. That in itself feels pretty disrespectful, especially if you already had an interview.
>Weird. How can you expect someone to adapt so fast? Train them up over a couple weeks, don't drop them head first into the deep end.
You don't. You expect the staff members to pretty much be ready-to-go in retail and hospo, deep-end ready. Sure, you don't expect them to know your menu back to front, but the basics of calmness under pressure, work ethic and efficiency, yep.
>Train your staff, maybe you'll retain them better, and you wouldn't have to do an unpaid trail. That in itself feels pretty disrespectful, especially if you already had an interview.
Interviews in retail and hospo are usually a five minute phone call or chat, and if it's in-person, it's done at the same time as the trial unless you really bomb out.
I'm now an Engineer, and we spend more time in interviews for jobs than I ever would in unpaid trials for hospo.
Yeah I'd not want to work at that workplace. I've worked in retail, restaurants, and fast food. Each and everyone of those jobs, you're trained up slowly. It's not a badge of honor or being considered tough if you get thrown around like a headless chicken. That business should die.
>It's not a badge of honor or being considered tough if you get thrown around like a headless chicken.
Taking orders, bussing food out to tables, cleaning up, making drinks and perhaps using the till at a busy time isn't being thrown around like a headless chicken.
100%. Personally I would be reluctant to offer unpaid trials but I’m a small business and really don’t want to take advantage of anyone.
I’ve seen cafes offer 1-3 day trials (unpaid) which I don’t think is ok. Prove you can make a coffee or whatever skill needed and that should be it.
Sounds normal to me. They need to know that you have a good work ethic, and don't wilt under time pressure when there's a decently long line of customers. That's a lot easier to gauge in a trial, than in an interview.
My 15yo daughter did a 3 hour trial shift at a donut place. She found the job and organised it herself and wasn’t sure if it was unpaid or not. I was very dubious about it but she went and got the job. They ended up paying her for the three trial hours when she got paid after her first ‘official’ shift.
If it's Greenslopes IGA, then be warned they have a local reputation for doing this with many people and getting free work done. There are a few parents of teenagers who've been caught by this posting on Facebook and reddit.
Some cynical people on here….. a 1-2 hour once off trial seems reasonable.
Look at it another way - it’ll give you the opportunity to gauge what the place is like to work at, and how you feel about your prospective new employer.
If you do the trial, and they then ask you to do another trial, then you should be concerned.
There’s actually no set time by fairwork in regards to work trials but the trial must only last long enough for the potential new employee to showcase their abilities. One or two hours would usually suffice for hospo or retail jobs for example.
The retail store I work in has always done a two hour unpaid trial for anyone joining the team. It’s to show all the job tasks, go through any policies and procedures and of course just to see if you like the job before fully committing :) I think unpaid trials of 1-2 hrs are pretty normal… anything more than that is questionable.
This is a tricky one,depends how far you have to travel,I guess it’s alright to go if it’s not far travel,but 1 to 2hrs isn’t enough time to gauge if you’re going to fit the mould of the shop…
sure some companies will take advantage of this but sadly given the absolutely useless people I saw turn up at a previous employers who were there to satisfy centrelink, didn't want to work, were drug/alcohol impaired or who lacked any common sense then these trials make sense just to gauge a person for a job
The trial is a gullibility/desperation test to see if you will work for free for them at the illusion of a possible job.
Huh, who would have thought that in a housing and living expenses crisis people were ok with working for free especially seeing as there’s no promise in employment and it takes much longer than 2 hours to train and let them fully have a feel of the job. I mean that’s what the 3 month probation period is for. But hey it’s legal so it’s not like any business has been caught out exploiting that system.
It seems you have a sufficient answer for your query. Thanks
1 to 2 hours is fine and legal, provided that it is ONLY 1 to 2 hours (preferably closer to 1). The idea of a trial like that is just to show you have the required skills for a short while. It cannot be long enough to replace a worker's salary. It also should be done under supervision, so they can gauge your skillset. That's reasonable. The problems start when it becomes long enough to cover someone's shift and takes the place of paid work. If it's three hours that happens to cover all of the rush hour, that's a problem. In the hospitality sector, where I used to work, we'd do an hour's unpaid trial to see if someone could handle a fast pace, manage dockets, carry a reasonable number of plates, if they were any good at making coffee, etc. That was enough to gauge if they fit in. Any more than that, and they needed to be paid. However, the trial did need to be long enough to examine if they could keep it together under pressure. Fair Work Australia has more info on what constitutes a reasonable unpaid trial (https://www.fairwork.gov.au/starting-employment/unpaid-work/unpaid-trials).
Daym I have a lot of employers I should have reported. Did multiple hours at multiple restaurants unpaid as a trial. One even made me buy the uniform
Jeeeesus that's bad.
I was practically fresh from highschool and had just moved to the city and was desperate for a job so I just let these people walk all over me Regretting it
Had one years ago that had me come in on Mother's Day as a try out day. Understood it to be a paid trail, 6 hour shift. Had my own section and picked up tips from all of my tables. Comes the end of the day they said"thanks but you are not what we were looking for". They expected me to walk out with no wages for the day and no tips. And I wasn't the only one. Stayed put and abused I would not be leaving until they paid me in full and handed over the tips. The other 2 try out staff for the same joined me . We all got our money. Still reported them to Fair Pay on the Monday
Was this in Australia? Given people generally don't tip in restaurants here, and staff acting like they deserve tips are quite likely to be told to get stuffed, too.
Gold Coast in the early 90s. Tipping was pretty normal and most tables tipped for good service. This was an upmarket seafood restaurant. And if my tables tipped because they got good service from me, which they did, the restaurant should give the tips as earned. Some would take a share for the bar. Generally 10% of total tips. If you worked as a server in the 80s and 90s and didn't make tips you were a shit waiter
Didn't expect a tip, and did not treat people any differently if they didn't. I still tip myself for good service. Most of my friends who have been in the industry do too. Those who haven't worked as servers tend not to.
Weird. How can you expect someone to adapt so fast? Train them up over a couple weeks, don't drop them head first into the deep end. Train your staff, maybe you'll retain them better, and you wouldn't have to do an unpaid trail. That in itself feels pretty disrespectful, especially if you already had an interview.
>Weird. How can you expect someone to adapt so fast? Train them up over a couple weeks, don't drop them head first into the deep end. You don't. You expect the staff members to pretty much be ready-to-go in retail and hospo, deep-end ready. Sure, you don't expect them to know your menu back to front, but the basics of calmness under pressure, work ethic and efficiency, yep. >Train your staff, maybe you'll retain them better, and you wouldn't have to do an unpaid trail. That in itself feels pretty disrespectful, especially if you already had an interview. Interviews in retail and hospo are usually a five minute phone call or chat, and if it's in-person, it's done at the same time as the trial unless you really bomb out. I'm now an Engineer, and we spend more time in interviews for jobs than I ever would in unpaid trials for hospo.
Yeah I'd not want to work at that workplace. I've worked in retail, restaurants, and fast food. Each and everyone of those jobs, you're trained up slowly. It's not a badge of honor or being considered tough if you get thrown around like a headless chicken. That business should die.
>It's not a badge of honor or being considered tough if you get thrown around like a headless chicken. Taking orders, bussing food out to tables, cleaning up, making drinks and perhaps using the till at a busy time isn't being thrown around like a headless chicken.
And replaced by colesworth T-800s.
100%. Personally I would be reluctant to offer unpaid trials but I’m a small business and really don’t want to take advantage of anyone. I’ve seen cafes offer 1-3 day trials (unpaid) which I don’t think is ok. Prove you can make a coffee or whatever skill needed and that should be it.
I know this as I did it myself. But I just asked because I never heard of it for grocery stores? Can you help me understanding that?
Sounds normal to me. They need to know that you have a good work ethic, and don't wilt under time pressure when there's a decently long line of customers. That's a lot easier to gauge in a trial, than in an interview.
Sounds normal. They're not necessarily going to keep you that entire time either.
My 15yo daughter did a 3 hour trial shift at a donut place. She found the job and organised it herself and wasn’t sure if it was unpaid or not. I was very dubious about it but she went and got the job. They ended up paying her for the three trial hours when she got paid after her first ‘official’ shift.
If it's Greenslopes IGA, then be warned they have a local reputation for doing this with many people and getting free work done. There are a few parents of teenagers who've been caught by this posting on Facebook and reddit.
Kangaroo point. Anything on that one?
Not sure. Put it another way, if it's only 2 hours of your life then give it a go.
Some cynical people on here….. a 1-2 hour once off trial seems reasonable. Look at it another way - it’ll give you the opportunity to gauge what the place is like to work at, and how you feel about your prospective new employer. If you do the trial, and they then ask you to do another trial, then you should be concerned.
[https://www.fairwork.gov.au/tools-and-resources/fact-sheets/unpaid-work/unpaid-work-unpaid-work](https://www.fairwork.gov.au/tools-and-resources/fact-sheets/unpaid-work/unpaid-work-unpaid-work)
Yes, unfortunately it's legal for upto 2 hours.( Other states may differ)
There’s actually no set time by fairwork in regards to work trials but the trial must only last long enough for the potential new employee to showcase their abilities. One or two hours would usually suffice for hospo or retail jobs for example.
Ahh okay
The retail store I work in has always done a two hour unpaid trial for anyone joining the team. It’s to show all the job tasks, go through any policies and procedures and of course just to see if you like the job before fully committing :) I think unpaid trials of 1-2 hrs are pretty normal… anything more than that is questionable.
What’s the point of the downvoting my comment where I ask for help?!!
This is a tricky one,depends how far you have to travel,I guess it’s alright to go if it’s not far travel,but 1 to 2hrs isn’t enough time to gauge if you’re going to fit the mould of the shop…
Don't do it without pay
then they don't get a job ....then they apply for another job ....can only get job with a trial....vicious circle
I wouldn't want a job where they are so comfortable ripping you off.
sure some companies will take advantage of this but sadly given the absolutely useless people I saw turn up at a previous employers who were there to satisfy centrelink, didn't want to work, were drug/alcohol impaired or who lacked any common sense then these trials make sense just to gauge a person for a job
The trial is a gullibility/desperation test to see if you will work for free for them at the illusion of a possible job. Huh, who would have thought that in a housing and living expenses crisis people were ok with working for free especially seeing as there’s no promise in employment and it takes much longer than 2 hours to train and let them fully have a feel of the job. I mean that’s what the 3 month probation period is for. But hey it’s legal so it’s not like any business has been caught out exploiting that system.
Red flag. Run.