A university graduate yesterday issued a landmark judicial review proceedings against the Government after she was forced to stack shelves at Poundland.
Cait Reilly, 22, has been looking for work since she left Birmingham University and has been volunteering on an unpaid basis until ordered to accept a two-week placement in the retail sector.
This involved her sweeping up and filling the shelves at the Poundland store in Kings Heath, Birmingham, also on an unpaid basis.
Work experience: Cait Reilly said she had to sweep up and fill the shelves at the Poundland store in Kings Heath, Birmingham
Now lawyers acting for the geology graduate have launched proceedings claiming that she had been made to carry out 'forced labour' or lose her benefits.
She had been looking for work in the museum sector and had undertaken unpaid voluntary work at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Her solicitor Jim Duffy claims this is against the European Convention on Human Rights.
He said yesterday: 'This Government has created - without Parliamentary authority - a complex array of schemes that allow Job Centres to force people into futile, unpaid labour for weeks or months at a time.
'By doing so it worsens rather than alleviates the cycle of unemployment that is such a significant barrier to addressing the economic crisis.'
Graduate: Miss Reilly has been looking for work since she left Birmingham University (pictured) and had been volunteering on an unpaid basis
Through her lawyers, Miss Reilly is asking the High Court to quash the controversial regulations under which long-term unemployed people can be required to undertake up to six months of unpaid work.
She wants to challenge the Jobseeker's Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise) Regulations 2011.
JOBSEEKER'S ALLOWANCE BENEFIT
In order to meet the criteria to receive the Jobseeker's Allowance benefit, claimants are required to participate in Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme.
The scheme offers work placements with companies, working in conjunction with the government, designed to give claimants practical work experience to improve their chances of employment.
If claimants refuse to take part in the work placements they risk losing their benefits.
The scheme offers work placements with companies, working in conjunction with the government, designed to give claimants practical work experience to improve their chances of employment.
If claimants refuse to take part in the work placements they risk losing their benefits.
The scheme is intended to lead to full-time jobs but in Miss Reilly's case she claimed staff at Poundland did not know what she should be doing and, despite promises of an interview, it never materialised.
In an earlier interview, she told the BBC: 'I think it's a form of manual labour in that they're forcing people to do jobs that are in no way related to what they want to do and giving them no experience for their careers.'
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: 'Our priority is to help people off benefits and into work. We are looking to help people get practical experience that will give them a better chance of getting into work.
'It is simply absurd to suggest that we should not be providing this support and effectively leaving people at home doing nothing.'
In a statement Poundland said its work experience was designed to help people find work in the retail sector.
It said: 'We work in partnership with JobCentre Plus and other government funded organisations to implement a comprehensive work placement programme designed to provide on-the-job training for those looking to retail as a career opportunity.
'Our partnership with JobCentre Plus is a positive step to get people back into work. It doesn't replace our recruitment activity, but adds to the number of colleagues we have working with us.'
OVERSUBSCRIBED: 1,300 APPLY FOR 16 JOBS AT NEW FURNITURE STORE
A furniture store has received more than 1,300 applications for just 16 jobs at its new branch - just under 87 candidates for each post at the DFS sofa centre in Llandudno, Wales.
The company said it had been 'inundated' with 1,385 applications for the 16 advertised positions at the new store, which opens on February 18.
Greg Robbins, Llandudno's Mayor, welcomed the store and called for other companies to invest in the resort, adding: 'It’s a very positive thing for the town that a national company is coming here.
'I don’t know if desperation is the word. It shows there’s a massive shortage of long-term employment jobs and that we need further inward investment.'
He added that he expected vacancies at the proposed Travelodge in Llandudno to be similarly oversubscribed. It is expected to create 60 permanent jobs when it opens an 83-bed hotel.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 9.1 per cent of Wales’ workforce were unemployed in the period of August to October 2011 - up from 8.4 per cent between May and July last year.
DFS area sales manager Adam Hankinson said: 'I have been amazed by both the number of applications we’ve received but also the high quality of the candidates.
'We’ve recruited a great bunch of people and I’m really excited about creating a new local team who will open the store within weeks.'
Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085142/Unemployed-graduate-sues-ministers-forced-stack-shelves-Poundland.html
The company said it had been 'inundated' with 1,385 applications for the 16 advertised positions at the new store, which opens on February 18.
Greg Robbins, Llandudno's Mayor, welcomed the store and called for other companies to invest in the resort, adding: 'It’s a very positive thing for the town that a national company is coming here.
'I don’t know if desperation is the word. It shows there’s a massive shortage of long-term employment jobs and that we need further inward investment.'
He added that he expected vacancies at the proposed Travelodge in Llandudno to be similarly oversubscribed. It is expected to create 60 permanent jobs when it opens an 83-bed hotel.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 9.1 per cent of Wales’ workforce were unemployed in the period of August to October 2011 - up from 8.4 per cent between May and July last year.
DFS area sales manager Adam Hankinson said: 'I have been amazed by both the number of applications we’ve received but also the high quality of the candidates.
'We’ve recruited a great bunch of people and I’m really excited about creating a new local team who will open the store within weeks.'
Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085142/Unemployed-graduate-sues-ministers-forced-stack-shelves-Poundland.html
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