• roofuskit@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 days ago

    Notice the “cook” in username. Unpaid labor is a common practice in the restaurant industry. They call it a “stag”. It’s supposed to be an unpaid working interview, but restaurants will schedule stages with people even when they aren’t hiring.

  • Miles O'Brien@startrek.websiteEnglish
    0·
    4 days ago

    Not programming, but in the same vein, A Trek Bicycle store manager asked me in an interview if I would be willing to work a trial shift the next day building bicycles. Unpaid, of course. Just to see if I was a good fit.

    Of course, since I was used to building 50 a day, I would have gotten all of them done in a single shift whereas they were needing to call in stores from surrounding areas to come help in a few days.

    I laughed and said if they needed help tomorrow I would be happy to work for my usual fee of $20/bike.

    Oddly, I did not get the job

    • ulterno@programming.devEnglish
      0·
      4 days ago

      The manager will get his salary by saying - They are looking for staff.
      But won’t get anything extra if he needs to pay to get work done.
      He will get more, if he can manage unpaid labour.

      • Miles O'Brien@startrek.websiteEnglish
        0·
        4 days ago

        It was.

        In Ohio? I’m almost positive it isn’t legal. It’s definitely illegal in states like California. But they’re banking on nobody recording their interview audio (which I will now be doing as Ohio is single-party state) and nobody complaining if asked.

        I doubt it’s a company policy, but I did send an email to their company offices to complain about it, for all the good it will do.