Tesco has faced a barrage of assaults today on their social media pages following what appeared to be an advertisement for a position that paid “Job Seeker Allowance, plus expenses”. The night shift work at an East Anglian branch of the UK’s largest private sector employer is part of the Department for Work and Pension’s programme to get long term job seekers back into employment.
The scheme was introduced by employment minister Chris Grayling in May 2011, with the aim to introduce long term job seekers back to work through mandatory work experience.
According to The Guardian, Tesco said that over the last four months around 1,400 people had worked for free for a month as part of work experience in its stores, and since the scheme began 300 jobseekers had gained a job with the company.
Tesco further stated that there was an error in uploading the advertisement as it is illegal to take on a job seeker for 6 months without paying them.
We note that the offending advert was removed last night! advertisement
