Abusing the Protection of Human Rights

"Is there a government apart from the people? Is there any foresight apart from humanity? .... nothing is more senseless than to base so many expectations on the state, to assume the existence of collective wisdom and foresight after taking for granted the existence of individual imbecility and improvidence."

Frederic Bastiat

Christopher Chuck Wetherall posted this anguished outcry to Twitterverse asking for someone to explain:

“Why oh why am i subsidising cheap labour for poundland if u need more staff pay minimum Wage http://t.co/4axWP5zc”

His distressed Tweet was in response to a story in the Daily Mail about a hapless young Graduate who is taking legal action against the Government under the Human Rights Act; claiming that forcing her to stack shelves at Poundland in order to keep her Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) benefit is ‘forced labour’ and so illegal under Article 4.2 of the Act:

Article 4

Prohibition of Slavery and Forced Labour

1. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude
2. No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour
3. For the purpose of this Article the term "forced or compulsory labour" shall not include:
   

a) Any work required to be done in the ordinary course of detention imposed according to the provisions of Article 5 of this Convention or during conditional release from such detention;
b) Any service of a military character or, in case of conscientious objectors in countries where they are recognised, service exacted instead of compulsory military service;
c) Any service exacted in case of an emergency or calamity threatening the life or wellbeing of the community;
d) Any work or service which forms part of normal civic obligations.

 

One of the roles performed by government is the collecting, holding and distribution of funds for social insurance services but the argument here is that government should not be using collected tax money for the provision of “free” labour to commercial enterprises.

However, to assist the sheer volume of people that most need this support (around 250,000 young people over two years) with training and work experience requires the support of big businesses. As a small business owner, I would not have the time to invest in supervising a placement not the work for them to do. Large businesses have more flexibility to provide such placements as an extension of the flexible labour policies (normally met through part-time positions) at peak periods such as Christmas. That is why placement providers include chains such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s. But they require incentivising, and so the scheme works by allowing claimants to get much needed work experience. It is not exploitation but a mutually beneficial arrangement.

It should also be understood that a work placement cannot be a guarantee of an interview or a full-time position. This will depend on the attitude and quality of work displayed during the placement. I was not surprised that no interview was offered in the case of this story, as it was no doubt made perfectly clear to everyone that the individual concerned had no interest in the role.

An opinion poll undertaken by Ipsos MORI in September 2011 for the BBC found that most people want a benefits system; 92% agreed that “we must have a benefits system that provides a safety net for everyone who needs it”. However, the majority (62%) consider that the UK benefits system does not work properly and that the government should do more to cut the benefits bill (72% of respondents). The most telling result was that almost 80% of people surveyed felt that “job seekers should lose some of their benefits if they refuse work they are capable of doing”.

The Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme is intended to break the cycle of deprivation by requiring JSA claimants to participate in the scheme in order to gain much needed work experience. The cycle of deprivation exists when the benefits system provides a better standard of living than can be obtained working a minimum wage job, which results in long term unemployment and generations of young people raised to rely on social ‘hand-outs’ rather than earning a living. In many cases, there is no wage earning role model to emulate.

Now, this graduate may not be one of the long-term unemployed that the scheme is intended to help into work, but what frustrated me about the story is her apparent attitude. There appears to be an expectation that someone of her proven intellect will not be required to do certain “futile” tasks – the worst kind of snobbery.

When I left University there was a recession, but I was determined not to end up on benefits. I could not secure the type of role that I had imagined for myself during my Academic career but I accepted that it was a sign of the times and took whatever work I could find. I believe that the experience of working in a range of service and retail industries helped to shape my work ethic. I am also surprised that someone that is above stacking shelves was not able to work out that attending a ‘retail jobs fair’ was likely to result in a work opportunity in retail rather than geology.

Worst of all, I am disgusted that that policies and legislation introduced with the best of intentions to assist the many are apparently being inappropriately interpreted and exploited for the few.

I would argue that not working when job opportunities (of any kind) are presented places an unfair burden on society; that there is a civic responsibility to contribute to, rather than act as a drain on, our society. Therefore, I refer you back to Article 4.3 (d) that states “any work or service which forms part of normal civic obligations” is not included in the definition of forced labour.

If it is the choice of the individual to claim benefits under the JSA, an individual’s choice to attend job fairs and an individual’s choice not to continue claiming if the system offers work opportunities that are “beneath them”, where is the infringement of human rights?

Links

Ipsos MORI results available at the following BBC site: (The Future State of Welfare: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/10_october/27/welfare.shtml)

The original story (assuming it is still available) can be found at the following page. Be warned, this will expose you to the Daily Mail first hand and I accept no responsibility for any mental health complications that may arise as a result. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085142/Cait-Reilly-Unemployed-graduate-sues-ministers-forced-work-Poundland.html)