Alex Hern examines the kerfuffle around Tesco's adverts for unpaid work, and finds it to be kerfuffle-worthy indeed
There is fresh outrage against the government’s flagship workfare program today, as an advert on a government job seekers’ website revealed the extent of Tesco’s involvement with the work experience scheme, which involves mandatory work under the threat of removal of benefits.
The advert which sparked the concern was for night shift work with Tesco in East Anglia, with pay listed as “JSA + expenses”. The position was advertised as permanent, despite being labelled as part of the “sector-based work academy” (SWBA) scheme, which limits placements to six weeks.
Within hours, a number of similar positions were found by Guardian journalist Shiv Malik: One advertising salary as “benefits and travel to work costs”, another in Clevedon paying “normal JSA”, and a third – the only one clearly labelled “work experience” in the title – again paying”benefit plus travelling costs”.
Tesco’s response to the discoveries has been fluctuating. Originally, their customer care Twitter feed was replying to complaints by delivering the PR line:
“We are taking part in a government-led work experience scheme to help young people, this has already led to 300 permanent jobs.”
At 10:32 this morning, however, they changed their tone, and started telling people that:
“This is an error made by Jobcentre Plus. It should be an advert for work experience with a guaranteed interview at the end.”
Regardless of whether it was an error – made at least four times, by four different Tesco stores – the fact remains that even the best spin on what Tesco is doing involves getting the free labour of a significant proportion of the 24,000 jobseekers who were told to start working for no pay or lose their benefits.
This represents a significant transfer of wealth from the taxpayer to Tesco, a business which, in a disappointing half year, made only £1.9 billion of profit.
Just as when they refuse to pay their employees the living wage, every person working for the supermarket chain while still receiving state benefits is an in-kind subsidy from the government; this is just more transparently the case when Tesco pays no wage at all.
Tesco has a choice in this matter. Many of their competitors, such as Sainsbury’s and the Co-op, have confirmed that they will not be using work experience labour; but Tesco insists the decision is up to individual store managers, and as a result the allure of free employees seems to tempting to resist.
At it’s heart, however, the problem lies with the government program which legitimises this practice.
The claim that it is aimed towards providing useful work experience that will lead to jobs is demonstrably untrue; both from the preponderance of placements which provide ‘experience’ in jobs which require none, and from the evidence provided by cases like Cait Reilly’s – taken off valuable work experience in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to stack shelves in Poundland.
Instead, it is looking more and more like this workfare program is driven by populist anger against ‘benefit scroungers’: The logic seems to be that if they can work, they should work; and if there are no jobs available, they should work for free until there are. It is policy by demonisation, and it is shameful.
See also:
• Five reasons Clegg can’t stand on his social mobility record – Alex Hern, January 12th 2012
• 2012: The year ahead for young people – Alex Hern, January 7th 2012
• Why workfare won’t work – Stephen Evans, November 8th 2010
• Alexander: Welfare reform is meaningless amidst jobless recovery – Liam R Thompson, November 5th 2010
• Tory tough talk on welfare won’t help people into work – Nicola Smith, April 21st 2010
108 Responses to “Tesco’s unpaid labour shows the flaw at the heart of workfare”
Franco
‘There are lots of benefits claimants who have lost the habit of work, if they ever had it in the first place.’
You are a bigotted ignoramus. 99 percent of those on benefits are quite capable of getting up and doing things, they should not be exploited in this way. If the government wants them to work, give them a proper job with a proper wage.
Most of the people that spout hatred and whinge incesantly about ‘scroungers’ dont have a clue what real hard work is. And those that do would be better off directing their ire at worthy targets rather than buy into the media frenzy about scroungers and benefits cheats that are largely imaginary.
Gareth_orr
Rather than private enterprise gaining from free workers. Why not make these work experience hopefulls go and clean up the streets. I think this is a better idea, and I’m on the dole too. Yes I’d rather clean streets, cut grass or other civic nicities that would benefit my town.
Awake!
the truth is that after a while of being forced to work in exchange for their benefits, people will find a job… any job, cos it will pay more than the benefit.
The elft hate this idea because it might actually get unemployment down.
pompeyfaith
You are a bigotted ignoramus, that’s one way of putting it but the fact remains these workfare programs are being undertaken by large multi-national corporations who could easily afford to pay at least the NMW this is capitalism at it’s worsted
Mike Manchester
There is quite a bit of truth in this story even if Tesco are trying to backtrack now. A friend of mine was on JSA, and as part of this, he went to work for tesco for a period of 1 month, unpaid, at 35 hours a week. At the end of the month, the manager, seemingly pleased with the work he had done, asked my friend if he would like to stay on for another few months. When my friend asked if this would be paid, the manager laughed, and said “why would we pay you when there are hundreds of people we could get to do it for free??”.
So there you have it. I have no doubt that if there wasn’t a minimum wage, Tesco would currently be employing people at 20p an hour if they could get away with it.