Call centre apprenticeship!

littleminx_2

My daughters boyfriend has been pushed into a job by the job centre, cold calling people and basically told if he does not take the job he will not receive any job seekers allowance.
The job is working for a PPI claims company and he is being paid £100 per week, think this is way too low for a 20 year old lad,and is left with maybe a tenner after he has forked out for rent and bus/tram fares.How can this be right? this should not be classed as an apprenticeship, he is hardly learning a decent trade is he?
Anyone else had any experience of this?

Dan-Dan

littleminx wrote: »

My daughters boyfriend has been pushed into a job by the job centre, cold calling people and basically told if he does not take the job he will not receive any job seekers allowance.
The job is working for a PPI claims company and he is being paid £100 per week, think this is way too low for a 20 year old lad,and is left with maybe a tenner after he has forked out for rent and bus/tram fares.How can this be right? this should not be classed as an apprenticeship, he is hardly learning a decent trade is he?
Anyone else had any experience of this?

If he is 20 , then he needs to make a contribution to society i.e Tax...
Tell him to get on with it and use it for expereince , he will only get a better job by building his skills and thats done , whilst IN employment

Is it really BETTER to be on the dole?

cockaleekee

I expect he will also be offered training, such as an NVQ?

You might not approve of call centre/ sales work, but many people spend their whole lives doing it and they make sufficient money to live off. If he has not been able to find something himself, I would suggest he makes the most of this opportunity.

Murtle

Whilst he is there there are lots of things he can learn so surely something is better than nothing?

The pay may be pants now, but could / should lead to more work in the future for *experienced* people...of which he will be one of them.

stix62

Whilst I agree with previous comments about gaining experience, something IS better than nothing, make the most of an opportunity etc, the way this lad (and thousands of others) has been forced/threatened into this position IS wrong.

'Apprenticeships' are sprouting up all over the place these days with companys abusing the system to get cheap labour.

littleminx_2

'Apprenticeships' are sprouting up all over the place these days with companys abusing the system to get cheap labour.

My point exactly stix 62. A few years back apprenticeships were all about learning a good solid trade, not being taken for a mug in these dodgy call centres.

dori2o

stix62 wrote: »

Whilst I agree with previous comments about gaining experience, something IS better than nothing, make the most of an opportunity etc, the way this lad (and thousands of others) has been forced/threatened into this position IS wrong.

'Apprenticeships' are sprouting up all over the place these days with companys abusing the system to get cheap labour.

This is the problem. But nobody seems to care, so long as the 'lazy/!!!!less/scrounger' is working. (please not I don't think of the op's son in law as any of these things)

They don't take into the account the hundreds, maybe thousands, of pounds the company is 'scrounging' from the Government.

I once worked for a company where the MD would only employ lads under 21 to work nights, because the NMW was about £2.60 when most people who work nights expect more than NMW to do it.

You can of course gain NVQ's in customer service and these can lead on to further qualifications and better job prospects, but there are a lot of these so called apprenticeships which are nothing more than employers using loopholes to abuse taxpayers, and their employees.

It's about time something was done about it, and those companies abusing the systems brought to justice, closed down, and the owners/directors banged up.

littleminx_2

I just feel really sorry for him, having the phone slammed down constantly and being swore at, he seems so stressed and miserable with it all.

saintjammyswine

Not to argue the points above, many are valid so no flaming please.

Often apprenticeships in this type of industry are used as a way of funding the qualifications rather than using the qualifications to fund cheap labour due to the way the funding rules are set out.


This is not always the case and some employers do indeed see it as a way of getting cheap labour. If it is an apprenticeship then he would have signed an agreement from the training provider and would be working towards building evidence for a portfolio to be assessed against the standards set out in the qualification.


Not knowing the situation I cant really comment on the OP but it may be worth checking if anything has been completed like an application form for a college or private training provider or if he is being asked to work against any set standards.

Added - shame it's PPI but a job's a job in the current climate.

DCFC79

You sure the £100 a week is correct ? But I guess if its an apprenticeship then sounds about right.

Why not take it, if it means he is doing something, gaining experience albeit a call centre then whats wrong with that ?
What would he be doing if he wasnt pushed into the job, apart from being on JSA obviously ?

He can still look for jobs so its not like he will be stuck there.

littleminx_2

Thanks dori,

He is such a nice lad, well mannered and kind hearted, i feel they are taking the p**s, big time. He called the job centre and spoke to the manager, who told him to stick with it and he will pay for all his travel expenses! We will wait and see if this materialises