Should you get paid for a trial shift?

My younger sister went for a trial shift at a pub that was advertising for staff. She made it clear from the start that she was only looking for part-time work, as she is also at college.

After the shift they said they'd be in touch, but they never called her back. So she called them and they said she hadn't got the job because someone else was prepared to work full-time, which they preferred.

So she asked if she'd be getting paid for the eight hours of graft she put in on a busy friday night, and they said no.

She won't tell me which pub it is because she knows I'll go down there and get a little excited, but is this even legal?

A trial takes about an hour, which I'd expect to be unpaid. I'd expect to get paid for 8 hours, that's a whole shift. Sounds like they have gotten some free labour to cover a short shift.

Bar work is hardly rocket science, that's cheeky as feck even asking people to perform a trial. Nothing you can learn that cannot be assessed in an informal interview, can be gained from a trial.

Did your sis know up front it would be unpaid?

ORIGINAL: Rosc0PColtrane
Did your sis know up front it would be unpaid?

No mate, that's the first thing I asked her.

When she asked why she wouldn't be getting paid, she was told that the company only pays into an employees bank account, and that they weren't prepared to go through all the trouble of taking her bank details and paying the money into it for just one shift.

I really wish I knew which pub it was.

i did 3 weeks for free but got the job

i would never work for free, never have

ORIGINAL: Tomazi8

i did 3 weeks for free but got the job

Was it worth it?

definately but the circumstances are slightly different than yours, i hadnt worked previously i was 15 and worked my holidays from school in an office doing the job i do know, it helped me work for a good company who dont normally take on apprentices and i progressed well enough to be offered another job elsewhere.

Time = Money she should have been paid, that's rubbish about the bank account thing, the very least they could have done is give her £20 and say sorry but you weren't suitable. Some people just have no morals anymore!

Although I doubt you have any way of getting anything and it wouldn't be worth the hassle!