Exploitation and young workers

Anything legal that gets the job done quicker is justifiable, and good business practise.

The company SHOULD be paying for all hours worked. And if they were, then you can guarantee that they would be very sharp about supervising a workforce of youngsters hard, and making sure that not a minute extra is wasted on non-revenue generating work like clean-up.

Be careful what you wish for.

And don't project the attitudes of older people working on boards onto young people who have very different body-clocks.

There's always a certain amount of responsibility that falls on the employees to stand up for themselves. Make sure the WRC are aware of the issue so they can do a spot check after clocking out time. They do night time visits to premises.

It's not. I never said it was. But there can be swings and roundabouts which apply, especially on nights when the cleanup is faster than one hour.

I'm aware of situations like going back over a very long time. I remember, for example, a French friend of mine worked in a restaurant in a fairly bustling Irish suburban location probably 15 years ago at this stage. She didn't get paid for hours worked, similar kind of b/s explanations - extra hours here there and everywhere being worked without pay.

She demanded her pay and they just fired her. She went home with the impression that Ireland's the wild west when it comes to employment law.

It ended up in a huge stand up row in the middle of the restaurant floor in front of customers. She just packed up and went back to France and I don't think she's actually ever been back to Ireland again. Left with a really dismal impression of the place.

I'd similar crap when I was teaching English in Spain years ago. An employer hired me, promised an hourly rate which seemed reasonable, but then classes were running twice as long as I was being paid for, were in remote locations like in businesses on industrial estates and I was expected to pay my own transport (often taxi) to get there and claim expenses which were never paid.

Loads of chaos - was running at a loss some weeks and had couldn't pay my rent / buy food, so I just quit one afternoon, without even bothering to give notice - packed up and went home. Told him where to go when he started calling me and asking where I was etc.

There are plenty of people out there who'll abuse students and younger workers' enthusiasm. What's worse is they'll gaslight you and make out they're doing you a favour or they're being your friend. All they care about is their bottom line.

Again, how exactly are you helping matters then?

If he complains he gets pushed out, but if mammy and daddy cause a scene everything will be just fine?

Do you know how such children get perceived in the workplace after mammy comes in to fight their battles for them? All you'll do is emasculate him.

If I ever have kids, I wouldn't want then working this type of job for the appalling pay for the antisocial hours involved...

Great, parenting and keeping eyes out for your kids doesn't end at 18, I look back at myself and I was immature into my 20s , and had a lot to learn about the world.

You are helping him understand how to deal with shady people, hopefully he will have a new job soon which will boost his confidence no end.

think this is just standard now as to how workers are treated! I used to work in retail and after doing a shift, we had to clock out before cleaning up the shop which could take up to 4 hours a night around Christmas. It's a stepping stone and gets you a reference for the next job, if you start complaining, you wont get a reference and you'll have difficulty getting another job or else be 'let go' with no real explanation. Its awful but just seems to be how most workers are treated now as union members are mostly in it for the money and do the bare minimum to actually support workers rights, they make a bit of noise every now and then so it looks like theyre doing a job but dont actually do anything proactive. That plus so many young - middle aged people are kind of forced to work in less than desirable circumstances just to get from A to B. Its awful but its the way of the world.