Warning over ‘hidden costs’ of work experience

Bluefin Insurance Services said the act of providing work experience could backfire as a result of poor awareness of unpaid workers’ rights. Around 85 per cent of businesses in the region will take on at least one work experience placement student over the summer.

However, Bluefin said many employers are completely unaware that unpaid workers usually have the same rights as paid employees.

Peter Castle, head of customer proposition at Bluefin, which has offices across Yorkshire including Leeds, York, Skipton and Harrogate, is urging organisations to take suitable steps to ensure their safety.

He said: “Giving young people the chance to gain valuable work experience is commendable and can be beneficial to the organisation as well as the individual. However employers must not take their responsibilities lightly. If an organisation, in addition to its unpaid workers, has at least one paid employee, it places a duty on them to ensure the unpaid workers have the same rights as their full-time employee, and therefore the same health and safety responsibilities apply.”

He added: “Businesses introducing work experience students into their workforce should deliver the same health and safety briefings and induction which they would give a new member of staff. Similarly, organisations whose workforce is comprised mainly of unpaid workers should ensure the correct health and safety signs are displayed and training delivered even if there is just one paid employee working in the same office.”

He added that unpaid workers are also protected against discrimination and harassment, so businesses need to treat them fairly or they may be subject to an employment tribunal claim.