Workfare: not fair

As more big businesses continue to criticise and to drop out of government unpaid work experience schemes, it is surely the case that the system is flawed. There are several different schemes currently being employed, some of which are voluntary and others of which have some degree of compulsion, but the former schemes still carry risk since those who do not complete their placements can still be sanctioned. The situation has resulted in accusations of “slave labour” from detractors, whilst supporters have argued that people should be forced to work for their benefits and that they will also gain something from the experience.

The big issue is not that people are being forced to do menial jobs, but that they are doing them for nothing. Under the compulsory “Mandatory Work Activity” scheme, anyone may be forced to work for six to eight weeks unpaid for up to 30 hours a week. It may be argued that they are essentially earning their Jobseeker’s Allowance through this, but it is hardly a comparable sum to what they would earn from paid work. For example, a 21-year-old may be paid a maximum of £53.45 in a week, yet if their 30 hours of work were paid for at the minimum wage rate they would in fact earn £182.40. Despite the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) noting that less than 10,000 people should be referred to this programme in a year, between May and November 2011, 24,010 people were referred to it. It thus seems as though the scheme is being used to take advantage of as much cheap labour as possible.

It is also doubtful just how useful the experience is to those seeking work. If big businesses use these people purely for menial jobs, then they will not in fact learn any real skills. The “Mandatory Work Activity” scheme is also supposedly aimed at those “who have little or no understanding of what behaviours are required to obtain and keep work”, yet there are accounts of people with years of experience of paid work being forced to take placements. Clearly the guidelines set in place for this scheme are being either stretched or ignored completely.

There is also concern that these schemes are being provided at the expense of more paid jobs. Although DWP minister Maria Miller recently claimed that there “isn’t a shortage of jobs” in the UK, analysis of the data has contradicted her claim and suggested that there could be as many as ten people chasing every job. If businesses have the choice of hiring a worker for a wage or providing a work experience placement for free, they will have little incentive to do the former.

It has recently been suggested by an advisory body to the DWP that evidence had emerged by December that “work experience placements were being taken on to cover Christmas vacancies”. Even those already in employment can suffer, since there has also been evidence that less overtime is being offered in instances where the work can be covered for free.

Whilst being profitable for big businesses who are being handed an opportunity to slash costs, these schemes clearly aren’t going to get Britain back to work, and they should be given serious reconsideration before the situation gets worse.

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