The College View
FEATURES
21.03.12
13
FEATURES@thecollegeview.com
Fighting for workers’ rights By Grainne Coyne
I
t doesn’t seem so long ago that we had our pick of the market when it came to part-time jobs, summer work, and employment after graduation. In most cases, a job was a given. Then the recession came along and burst the bubble. There were fewer jobs, attitudes changed and there were fewer reasons to be picky. The common perception of many is that if you’re one of the lucky few to have a job, you should be grateful and take what you get; complaints are not welcomed by colleagues and most certainly not by employers. But where do you stand when you feel you’re being treated unfairly at work, if you’re unsure of how many hours you should be working, and unsure of the rights you’re entitled to if you’re in unpaid employment? According to the National Employment Rights Authority, we’re all “entitled to receive basic employment rights” regardless of the industry we work in. But not many students are aware of their rights, and fewer still would question their employer through fear of being easily replaced. Laura was one of these students. She studied retail management in GMIT and enjoyed all aspects of her course except for onethe work experience. “This was the part of the course I had been looking forward to for two years. The placement was for six months which was great for the experience I needed for when I graduated college. But when it came to the placement period, everything I had expected was the total opposite,” she explains. Laura says that students in her course had to go out in search of employers for their placements and very few retailers were willing to hire students for the required length of time. In the end, she was forced to take on unpaid work. “I found it extremely difficult applying for this short period of time. Eventually one retailer responded; a high street fashion chain which is what I dreamed of getting a placement with. An interview was involved and it was successful and I took the placement – voluntarily,” she says. The rules on working hours for those who work voluntarily vary depending on the industry, but usually 30 hours is the upper limit. Laura ensured that she only worked that amount and although she enjoyed her work experience, she was disappointed that she was the only
student out of her class not to gain full time employment from her placement. “It left me feeling disappointed, used and unfulfilled - I worked for free for six months and showed them this is what I want and can do, but there was no job offer; not for that store, not even for the other stores in Ireland or Britain,” she says. Laura is one of many students who have more than enough qualifications, but are still unable to find a job in their desired field. The picture is very different than it was a few years ago. “They knew I was graduating the next year and that I would have the qualifications for the job. It was a downer and the funny thing is they gave me an excellent performance appraisal. I am aware that many students are struggling with this situation, and in my opinion, it’s beyond ridiculous when companies are complaining there aren’t the right qualified workers for their jobs,” she says. When it comes to internships, many students are unaware that they have the same basic employment rights as paid employees. Employees’ rights are the same whether you’re in paid employment full time or part time. However, many students are still not aware of this, and those who are are wary of the unforgiving nature of the job market. NERA says that the maximum amount of hours an employee can work a week is 48, although this would be less when it comes to part time employment. Many employees are unfamiliar with the breaks they are entitled to, and many don’t receive the breaks they deserve despite working the required amount of hours. NERA states that “You have the right to a 15-minute break if working four and a half hours of work and a 30 minute break if working six hours of work.” A DCU student, who wishes to remain anonymous, recounted their time in part time employment, and felt they were given more difficult tasks and assigned more inconvenient hours as a result of being a student. “I didn’t feel that I was treated unfairly; I just felt slightly taken advantage of. I lived on a direct route so I was always scheduled to work the early mornings or the late nights. I never got to do the normal 9-5 shifts. “I think what upset me most was the fact that I was exhausted and trying to do a million things at once. We regularly worked seven and eight hour turnarounds and I often had to stay back longer. Sometimes I was worried that I would miss my bus home.
“I was aware of fellow employees who had and had received off the cuff comments followed by an apology later in the day. I knew that all I had to do was say something, but I just couldn’t. I guess I was afraid that I’d be told I could be easily replaced. People were queuing up to work in the place and there were CVs coming in every single day,” explains the student. The student later left the company due to time management issues re-
Image credit (above top): gaelick.com Image credit (above): Waponi via Flickr Creative Commons
garding college and work, but feels that many students in employment are putting up with unfair working conditions due to the lack of jobs in the market. “I think employers feel they can get away with things a lot easier now,” explains the student. “I think they assume that students will just be so grateful to have a job that they won’t ask questions for fear of losing that source of income.” Legislation protects the rights of
all employees, whether paid, unpaid, full time, or part time, but it seems that these basic legal rights are in danger of becoming less of a concern for both employer and employee. Whether out of fear, or a sense of gratitude for simply having a job in the current economic climate, it seems that employees are willing to put up with a lot more from their work in order to avoid receiving a lot less.