Where/How to report employer?

alexjk

We are roughly 36 employees in our office, with about 20 being 'interns'. They are not covered under the JobBridge scheme. Our employer pays them between 500-700 euro a month, and gives them 2 days holiday a year. They are called interns, but they have exactly the same amount of supervision and responsibilities as the rest of us, and are expressly forbidden from saying they work here on LinkedIn, so that clients can't see how many of the workers are actually 'interns' (I know this bit isn't illegal, but it shows how dodgy they are).


So with that in mind, where and how can I complain about my employer?

davo10

alexjk wrote: »

We are roughly 36 employees in our office, with about 20 being 'interns'. They are not covered under the JobBridge scheme. Our employer pays them between 500-700 euro a month, and gives them 2 days holiday a year. They are called interns, but they have exactly the same amount of supervision and responsibilities as the rest of us, and are expressly forbidden from saying they work here on LinkedIn, so that clients can't see how many of the workers are actually 'interns' (I know this bit isn't illegal, but it shows how dodgy they are).


So with that in mind, where and how can I complain about my employer?

Has the employer broken any law and what type of contract have the interns?

alexjk

As far as I understand it here: http://www.ictu.ie/internrights/ then yes, they are breaking the law.

Interns are entitled to four weeks paid holidays during the year. Under Irish law on working time, interns earn annual leave entitlements from the time they start their internship. Where the internship is for a period less than a year there are different ways of calculating your annual leave entitlement these can be a bit tricky but a good rule of thumb is that if your internship is full time and last for 6 months then you are entitled to two weeks paid annual leave.

These interns are on 6 month contracts, but only have two days off.

As an intern - provided you are doing work of value to the employer, have a similar level of supervision and responsibility as the rest of the workforce - then you are likely to be entitled to be paid at least the national minimum wage regardless of what title your employer has put on you .

There is absolutely no difference in the workload and supervision of an intern, and my own. I get paid about 10.25 an hour to their 2.50.

livedadream

alexjk wrote: »

We are roughly 36 employees in our office, with about 20 being 'interns'. They are not covered under the JobBridge scheme. Our employer pays them between 500-700 euro a month, and gives them 2 days holiday a year. They are called interns, but they have exactly the same amount of supervision and responsibilities as the rest of us, and are expressly forbidden from saying they work here on LinkedIn, so that clients can't see how many of the workers are actually 'interns' (I know this bit isn't illegal, but it shows how dodgy they are).


So with that in mind, where and how can I complain about my employer?

so there are a few red flags with your original post:

1: how are they paid- via payroll like everyone else or cash in hand?

2: how are they recruited- even Google would struggle to recruit people based in Dublin on an average of €600 a month.

3: is it part of a government/university employment or intern scheme?
Interns arnt just people you pay to do grunt work, its a protected term, like apprentice. you can just say you hire/employ/train interns without approval from a number of bodies

4: how long are their training contracts? has anyone ever started as an intern and moved up? or do they leave after a certain amount of time?

5:how do you know what they are paid?

6:do you know what scheme they are being trained under? that might help the boardies give you better insight,

however to answer your original question, if you believe your employer is recruiting and training people illegally then you go here:


https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Complaints_Disputes/Inspections/

alexjk

Thanks for this, I will look into it.

To answer your questions:

1: how are they paid - Via payroll, 250 euro every 2 weeks

2: how are they recruited- The majority of them are graduates from France, Spain and Germany. I think this sort of internship is common in these countries, so they don't appreciate how they are being messed over here. The company hired 10 Irish 'interns' 3 weeks ago, and 6 of those left in the first week.

3: is it part of a government/university employment or intern scheme? No, it's not part of any such scheme. They wanted to make it JobBridge, but it got rejected.

4: how long are their training contracts? has anyone ever started as an intern and moved up? or do they leave after a certain amount of time? The majority are on 6 months, the newest are on 3 months. The interns working as translators are sometimes able to get a job at the end of their internship. The ones working in customer service (the vast majority) are replaced by another intern.

5:how do you know what they are paid? - We're very open about what we're paid. Everyone is aware it's a ****ty company.

6:do you know what scheme they are being trained under? - They're not being trained under any scheme. I have a copy of one of the contracts.

livedadream

1: how are they paid - Via payroll, 250 euro every 2 weeks

in this case if they are being employed illegally there is proof, i would assume though that the MD of the org isnt that stupid to pay illegal interns via payroll records, paye, prsi, usc, etc.

2: how are they recruited- The majority of them are graduares from France, Spain and Germany. I think this sort of internship is common in these countries, so they don't appreciate how they are being messed over here. The company hired 10 Irish 'interns' 3 weeks ago, and 6 of those left in the first week.

there are loads of EU intern programmes where interns are either paid or unpaid some that i can name off the top of my head are the Davinci programme, european movement, ELI, CAPA and Stint Ireland. all these are legal internships that are paid or unpaid.

3: is it part of a government/university employment or intern scheme? No, it's not part of any such scheme. They wanted to make it JobBridge, but it got rejected.

how do you know? like i said there are literally thousands of intern schemes within the EU.

4: how long are their training contracts? has anyone ever started as an intern and moved up? or do they leave after a certain amount of time? The majority are on 6 months, the newest are on 3 months. The interns working as translators are sometimes able to get a job at the end of their internship. The ones working in customer service (the vast majority) are replaced by another intern.

this sounds alot like the DiVinci programme.

5:how do you know what they are paid? - We're very open about what we're paid. Everyone is aware it's a ****ty company.

6:do you know what scheme they are being trained under? - They're not being trained under any scheme. I have a copy of one of the contracts.

you cant have an intern without them being trained. that's what intern means
intern: student or trainee who works, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification.

what i would recommend is,

one: get rid of the contract you have belonging to someone else, unless you are supposed to have it, thats just bad news friend.

two: Speak to the interns and see what their problem is, if they have one

three: report the company to the organisation that is arranging the interns. report your company to the WRC.

alexjk

They aren't being employed under any scheme though. They are being hired directly by the company. They aren't being trained, they're working full time jobs, straight in at the deep end from day one. I will report it to the WRC.

livedadream

alexjk wrote: »

They aren't being employed under any scheme though. They are being hired directly by the company. They aren't being trained, they're working full time jobs, straight in at the deep end from day one. I will report it to the WRC.

you will need to be able to tell the WRC what you are reporting them for though.

i dont understand how they can be employing interns from the EU paying them though payroll and not expecting to be caught out, how are the interns paying rent for example? most internship programmes offer accommodation or family stays.
its weird.. never come across it.

alexjk

I think they just target younger people who don't know their rights. The company only moved to Ireland from Belgium last year, and had changed their name. If you Google their original name, the first page results are from disgruntled customers and ex-employees. Thanks for the help in any case

davo10

alexjk wrote: »

As far as I understand it here: http://www.ictu.ie/internrights/ then yes, they are breaking the law.



These interns are on 6 month contracts, but only have two days off.



There is absolutely no difference in the workload and supervision of an intern, and my own. I get paid about 10.25 an hour to their 2.50.

If they are on fixed term contracts, untaken holiday leave can be paid at the end of the contract. That is not illegal. Workload is not applicable, new interns/recruits in legal and accountancy firms often work harder and more hours than the full time employees.

Mrs OBumble

OP, fair play to you for pointing out that these kids are being taken for a ride and standing up for them.

But just remember, if we can read this, then so can your boss. You've given lots of detail that would identify your company to anyone who knows about it. Does your boards name resemble you real-life name, by any chance?




Good luck with your job hunting.