modern apprenticehship

[miffy]

My son a lovely lad who has 12 GCSE's at grade A and B had been looking for work since leaving school last year he had written lots of applications and every time had been told, too overly qualified, not enough experience etc etc.
Finally he was able to get on a modern apprenticeship with a company to get the work experience he lacked and this would also enable him to take a further qualification his NVQ with regular support and mentoring.
However this was not his experience at all, said company did not pay him any money at all for three months, so his job seekers allowance had stopped and the poor lad had no money of his own for three months! We of course helped him but he wanted his own money.
He had a job description and a list of work to do, most of which computer based but they did not give him a computer to do it on so he had to wait for one to become free every day. This caused him alot of stress and he was always promised one but never got one.
He was criticised for his hair being too long so he had it cut, smart and trendy but the manager didn't like it still.
He was put in charge of petty cash and when he asked how to record what went out was told to figure it out himself!
He was on a probationary period which was to finish this week, he had worked very hard any things they had asked him to improve on he had done. The new manager who had been in post for only two weeks and who had asked my son to work overtime last friday which he did until 8.00pm, this bearing in mind is for the salary of £95.00 a week for a day of 8.30am until 5.00pm, called him into his office. He tore a strip off him for not being up to date on a certain file, for not ordering enough paper and for not filling out the petty cash book correctly.
He told him his probationary period was finished and they no longer wanted him there. This was the same man who had happily taken a piece of my son's birthday cake he had bought for the office staff for his birthday that day.
When i came in for school to my birthday boy i found him crying and in a terrible state not really knowing what he had done so wrong and feeling in his words 'like a complete failure'.
I am sure that this manager will now go back to the job centre and re instate the apprenticeship with another willing young person and do the same to them, then he won't have to pay him a proper salary.
My son didn't even get a written letter this was all just verbal.
I am gutted for him, this surely cannot be right.
When he was little i could put a plaster on it, if it hurt and give him lots of cuddles, yes he wanted a hug on Friday but i cannot help with the hurt he feels or the now lack of employment.
I know many people are out of work or looking for work at the moment do any of you have any advice for my son? Thank you for listening.

[Jeanied]

Oh, Miffy how awful for him. This company clearly has been very exploitative in its approach to the apprentice scheme and is getting money for doing it. There must be someone responsible for overseeing the scheme. It sounds to me that he is a bright young man, and his boss found that threatening. I think he is better off out of there to be honest.
As for your son, clearly he needs some confidence building positives, and without a job that's hard to do. Has he considered some voluntary work, which could help to build the experience part of his CV? Just an idea.

[miffy]

Hiya, yes he has done lots of voluntary work. Working in the office at my school, mending computers the children have broken too. He also worked as many hours as he could on job seekers for a charity shop for the homeless doing admin, deliveries etc. He is a lovely lad and i hate to see him so down. I think what has hit him is that until now he hadn't really had any experience of how nasty some people can be and it has hit him hard. Thank you for your advice and kind words, I am going to share the responses with him when he gets up. Miffy.x

[T8Ter]

Hi Miffy,
What a terrible experience for your son, a certain case of bullying by a very inexperienced manager. Whilst it won't do your son any good I'd find out where the head office of the said company is and write a strong, but polite, letter the their chairman, asking if this behavior is typical throughout their company, copying in the local area manager for whatever government agency was involved (if any) with your sons initial placement, at least it may stop other enduring the same.
Meanwhile, I still think that attitude and ambition and initiative go a long way with prospective employers, it certainly does when myself and colleagues interview candidates.
Have your son look at a sector where he might like to have a career, look at the qualifying companies in the area and have him research each one on the web. From that he can write a company specific letter to each one selling himself as an intelligent, willing young man, lacking experience yes, but enthusiastic and willing to learn, who has taken the time to research his potential employer.
Best of luck to him, I'm sure with your help and encouragement he won't let one sad individual blunt his enthusiasm and willingness to find work.

[pjh75]

What an awful experience for your son I hope he doesn't think that work will always be like this - it won't.

Aren't apprenticeship schemes government backed or regulated in some way? The company needs to be reported or it sounds like they will continue to exploit these bright, young and enthusiatic workers, get what they want out of them and then spit them out at the other end. I also agree with T8ter that the company itself should receive a stern letter asking what they are going to do about it.

Does he know what career path he wants to follow yet? In my experience, councils run very good apprenticeship schemes and there are opportunities in various areas e.g IT, administration, communications, engineering etc. I think more and more they are starting to see the value in building their younger workforce. Might be worth investigating what they are like in your area.

I wish him luck

[zazen999]

I don't believe that MAs can just be treated in this way

Have a look here; and you might want to have a word with the college that he was registered at. As he is still of an Apprenticeship age, you can call the college and talk to them about the way he has been treated

I've found this on a local college website, but I believe these rules apply to all MAs.

Employer Direct with South East Derbyshire College | Apprenticeships

If you write a letter of complaint, it needs to go to the top CEO/MD; you need to stress that he has not had adequate induction, training, an individual learning plan, a risk assessment etc etc; and copy in the College Principal and if you are feeling a bit brave, your local MP. The college might help you write this and keep it factual and not emotional [although your original post does sound pretty factual already].

[elsie-scot]

Make sure you also copy a letter to the job centre, your son may not have been the first to be badly treated by this company and it would be nice to hope they can't get away with it again

[Glutton4...]

Sadly, Miffy, this is not an isolated case.

My Nephew had a similar situation with his previous employer. He was working for a department run by the local District (or possibly County) Council. All the younger staff and trainees, regardless of physical appearance, intellect, and suitability are treated like dirt. There is an inner circle of 'scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours' that no one can seem to break.

I find it very frustrating, that these young people are finding out that all they've learned in school/college about growing up and being responsible when they reach the 'adult' world, is total rubbish. These 'games' are played up to the highest levels in many cases, and the youngsters, having no experience, are utterly powerless to do anything about it.

Big ((((HUGS)))) to you both, and I hope things pick up for him soon.

[PAULW]

As zazen say write to everybody and tell them what a con this scheme is no better that the dreaded YTS scheme that ran previous, the problem is the dreadful Elf and safety that will not let these kids do anything that may be deemed dangerous like switch on the lights, makes you wonder how millions of us who left school at 15 all them years ago ever survived to become grumpy old gits.

[dexterdoglancashire]

How awful for your lad. Zazen has given the advice I would. People need to know not to go to this employer in the future. Im sure there are procedures in place to sort out this kind of thing. Tell your lad, its nowt to do with him, its the employer that is the problem. Wish I had a job I could give him. Good luck.

[organic]

Plenty of good advice been posted I think...
...if you feel like sharing the company name I guarantee I won't ever be doing business with them, even if I'm likely to or not. I've got pretty strong feelings and principles about the right way of doing things...

...as did someone I used to know who's wife was bullied by her manager... let's just say the manager was instructed to remove his glasses that evening.

[miffy]

The company in question is peopleserve who ironically are a retraining and support company to get people back into work. They run courses and 'pride themselves on their client support and are a caring company'. Think i could get them for mis representation on that one!!
My son wants to go into IT/administrative work and in particular data analysis.

[Hilary B]

The problem is that any 'government supported' scheme is vulnerable to abuse. YTS COULD be excellent, but more often was a case of taking advantage. Looks like this version may be going the same way.
I know of one company (well known for the value-for-money in the produce they sold, in hundreds of shops) which DID use YTS the way it was intended. They took on young folk in their shops for the appropriate length of time, and if a permanent post came up around the end of that period, the most hard-working of the YTS people got first refusal.
Regrettably, this approach seems to have been a rarity.

[organic]

Miffy - I couldn't help but laugh at that. Oh the irony.

I'm not so sure I'd ever realistically encounter that company - but I've put the name in the memory banks for furutre reference none the less.

[zazen999]

The company in question is peopleserve who ironically are a retraining and support company to get people back into work. They run courses and 'pride themselves on their client support and are a caring company'. Think i could get them for mis representation on that one!!
My son wants to go into IT/administrative work and in particular data analysis.

This means that IiP, LSC, Matrix and the others that support fund and accredit them would be very interested in knowing how they treat their apprentices.

I'd have a field day!!!