It can be both an exciting and scary time when your child lands their first job. You want to send them out into the working world safely but sometimes employers can take advantage. While it’s reasonable to expect that an employer will abide by the law and treat your child with respect and decency, sadly that isn’t always the case.
As you are likely to have experienced or witnessed in the workplace, not every manager is nice and not every employer is fair.
The magnitude of the issue is reflected in research by Industry Super Australia and Cbus which found employers dodging superannuation payments are pocketing $3.6 billion per year from 2.4 million workers. That’s a lot of employers doing the wrong thing by a lot of people. No doubt many of those impacted are unaware of their loss let alone being able to challenge it.
While of course it’s not just teenagers who are at risk of dodgy employment practices, their inexperience and lack of awareness make them especially vulnerable. Reflect for a moment on how little you knew about your rights when you started your first job. How confident did you feel in challenging people older or more experienced than you?
For many kids, entering the workforce is a daunting experience. Not only do they need to learn how to perform in their role, but also how to be a successful member of a team. Among the most important things they also need to learn is what they can and should expect from their employer and colleagues.
Most kids depend on their parents to help them to understand what is right and wrong in the workplace. Guidance I have sadly too often needed to provide to my own son who has found himself working for unethical employers. While my overwhelming urge has been to visit his workplace for a ‘chat with the boss’, clearly this isn’t a helpful approach on any level.
