Well, things may have changed but my first Bar-tending job in London used the same process and that was 1995, perfectly reasonable in my opinion. Gave me a view of the place, people, clientele and them a view of me. It was pretty much an international standard in that Industry and one I employed when I was hiring some years later. I’ve never come across it in other industries I’ve worked in.

Similarly on zero hours contracts, I effectively worked zero hours contracts, just by a different name, when at uni during holiday’s, so nothing new there. Was a great arrangement, no commitment on either side so if I didn’t want to work one day I didn’t have to.

Erm, that’s not really how a zero hours contract works… I got punted on to one for my almost F/T student job. If I had decided I didn’t want to work one day, I’d have been straight out the door.

Seems fair enough. Just the practical side of an interview.
And he didn’t have to do it. Bit late now to decide that it wasn’t good idea.

More money wasted in replying to this thread than he’d have earned.

I worked in many pubs and restaurants from about the age of 15 until I left university and was never expected to do a shift for no pay. The first shift might have been a trial but it was still paid.

If he gets called back he can always nick a shifts worth of beer & crisps!

I think it should have been a paid trial.

Forget about it, learn (ie dont do it again) and move on.

Pretty much how zero hour contracts work.

Nope. Nothing like how zero hours contracts work. 😕

it should at least be, if we don’t hire you we will pay you for what you did, if we hire you, you don’t get paid for the trial day.

that would seem fair.

I would reckon the other way round would make far more sense.

I once worked at a 120 bedroom hotel and the owner was getting the bedrooms painted one by one by telling decorators that he had a job to paint the whol hotel . First he wanted them to paint a bedroom so that he could see the quality of their work . Unsurprisingly the work was never good enough and he never paid anybody . He’d only got about 6 rooms done by the time I left , doubt he would have got many more done .

You should go there for a meal and when the bill comes tell em it was a trial meal and you’ll come back next week and pay for another one if you decide if it was any good…

Erm, that’s not really how a zero hours contract works…

Depends on the employer. My zero hour contract involves me being offered shifts and asking if I can do them. I frequently decline shifts for a week for one reason or another. If it suits me I do more. It needs the right attitude from the employer of course and an employee who is in a position to be flexible. It’s my second part time job so I can cope with periods with few shifts and depending on other commitments step up and work extra shifts when they are stuck.

I’ve been offered regular contracted hours and refused. Zero hours suits me better.

Helps with the next job he goes for.
“Do you have any experience?”
“Yes I did a shift at the cock and bull, but they didn’t pay me. I think they just wanted free labour.”

How about calling it “he got a bit of work experience for free”? He can at least talk about having experience of waiting tables at his next interview (if he didn’t have it before).

Funnily I asked Dave at the local if I could do a shift for him for free before I went to university, in return for him showing me how to serve different drinks properly, change the barrels etc… The idea being it would make it easier for me to get a part time job while I was away. He did, I had a great time and a few beers thrown in too. Never got a bar job at uni though, ended up working in a shop, which I’d already got loads of experience at doing before I went to uni.

For summer holiday work I always used to spend an afternoon walking around the agencies with a CV seeing what they had. I always ended up working the next day – except my last holiday where I was adamant I wanted an office job for the summer. That summer I started the following week instead.

First he wanted them to paint a bedroom so that he could see the quality of their work . Unsurprisingly the work was never good enough and he never paid anybody . He’d only got about 6 rooms done by the time I left

Fair enough I suppose if you find as many decorators as possible then decide who’s the best and pay them for the remaining rooms – which will be a chunk less than the whole lot. If decorators are happy to play this game. Though maybe he’d just choose the cheapest in the end?!

I don’t think it would be unreasonable for him to give them a call and ask for some feedback about the experience. If he’s not going to get the job at least he’ll find out why (hopefully not because they needed to fill a shift).

+1 khani love that suggestion.