Islington Tribune - News: Job | Employment | David Renton

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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 14 November 2008

David Renton (left) and Dick Muskett at the Tolpuddle Martyrs mural

You want a job? Then pay up

EMPLOYMENT advice worker David Renton this week hit out at “draconian” working practices which force employees to pay bosses a deposit when they are hired.
Mr Renton, who works at Islington Law Centre, said the deposit scheme was a “cruel” system which meant workers received no wages for weeks or months.
He added: “For example, these days in order to get a job in construction or in a bar you often have to pay anything from £200 to £500 deposit. A construction worker may be charged a deposit for protective clothes or equipment.
“Asking for such deposits is illegal under employment laws but employers are able to get around it.
“It means you may have to work anything from two to three weeks, or even months, without pay.”
Mr Renton warned: “If you smash something, are clumsy or leave the job early then the employer will keep the deposit. I’d never heard of this practice until I started working at the law centre.
“Employers charge the money to ensure workers don’t walk off the job. Bosses can even make money out of it if they sack staff before they have earned £500 in wages.”
Hannah Reed, an employment rights officer at the Trades Union Congress, said it was illegal for agencies to charge workers
up-front fees to find work or reserve jobs. “Most individuals shouldn’t have to pay to work,” she added.
Workers from abroad are particularly vulnerable. “They are often illegal and too frightenedto object,” said a Citizens Advice Bureau worker.

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