Stay safe from employment scams
Finding a job as a student is never easy, especially in a city like London, where the unemployment rate has spent years hovering around 10 per cent overall. Thousands of students come into town each year, every one of them seeking employment so they will be able to fund their tuition, buy groceries, and pay for everything else. Unfortunately for this group, there simply aren't enough jobs left in the city to accommodate them, leaving large percentages of the student population unemployed and desperate throughout the school year, and scrambling to secure some sort of summer employment.
The increasingly desperate employment climate for London's student demographic has unfortunately created an environment in which a number of companies can recruit students into jobs that seem like a fantastic employment opportunity, yet could end up costing employees time and money that they can't afford to waste. Many of these companies advertise themselves very well, offering above-average wages and seemingly secure work environments that seem tailor-made for a student who is off school for the summer.
Any time a job is being advertised, whether it's on the Internet, in print or during a job fair, the company is attempting to sell itself to you, making it seem like the best place to invest your time and energy among all the other companies that exist within the field. In order to do so, they will advertise things such as what you earn, but will include words such as “up to” in the fine print. They will post their most charismatic manager at a job fair, one able to extoll the most positive aspects of the job, and before you know it, you've signed up for an orientation or an interview, shaken a hand and began a job that will never, ever live up to the lofty promises that were made at the start.
It's important to be able to recognize these companies before beginning any sort of official affiliation with them, as it can be difficult to walk away from a commitment that you have already made, and your ‘employer' is unlikely to allow you to leave on your own terms. “The absolute best thing you can do before starting a job is proper research,” said Darlene O'Neill, manager of Career Services at Fanshawe College. “If you don't look into a company properly, you could wind up contracted to them simply by showing up.”
O'Neill and her department are in place to help current Fanshawe students and recent graduates find short- and long-term employment through methods such as online postings and the annual Career and Summer Job Fair. Over the years they have seen several examples of these questionable employers, and O'Neill has recognized common patterns that can indicate that the company may not be meeting all required labour laws. “It's a really competitive market out there, and a lot of people are vying for the almighty dollar,” said O'Neill. “In that pursuit, they are ignoring basic Canadian workplace ethics.”
While anybody is susceptible to being fooled by one of these scams, many of these companies, according to Career Services, are targeting Fanshawe's international students who are attempting to integrate themselves into their new country and are not as familiar with the employment laws we have. “Many of these students will come to Career Services after becoming involved with these companies, and often they find they have unwittingly contracted themselves to them,” said O'Neill. These contracts are often used to threaten the employee with legal action should they choose to leave the job, or report any unethical practises to the proper authorities, despite the fact that the employee is in the right.
“The biggest and most common red flag that a company may be operating outside of labour standards is any request for money at the beginning, such as a registration fee or a fee for signing up for insurance premiums,” said O'Neill. While some legitimate companies do require a monetary deposit at the beginning of tenure with them, they are for material items that can be kept or returned for the amount of money paid, such as a uniform deposit or an equipment rental deposit. Suspect fees have been explained away as ‘training fees,' ‘registration fees' and ‘data-entry' fees, among other rationales that may sound legitimate, but lie outside of what is considered legal and ethical.
Another common form that these companies will take is that of an ‘employment guaranteed' training agency, offering training in a particular field for a fee with the promise of employment after the program is complete. The Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services provides a case-file example where “an individual responded to a newspaper ad for ‘50 security officers, immediate openings.' When told during the interview that in order to get a position he must take a two-day course to qualify as a security officer, the complainant paid the $214 fee and signed a registration form. The next day, the complainant tried to cancel his registration and get his money back. The company wouldn't refund his money and refused to provide a copy of the contract.”
“Keeping your job search to legitimate sources, such as company websites, recognized employment agencies or physically handing in your resume whenever possible can greatly reduce the risk of running into one of these companies,” said O'Neill. “If you are going to be looking for jobs on Kijiji and Craigslist, then I would be prepared to ask questions before committing to a job.”
Another place that will put you face-to-face with companies you want to work for is the Career and Summer Job Fair on campus on February 5, which carries O'Neill's guarantee that all employers are legitimate. “We had one company advertising here that was known for unfair treatment of employees, but Fanshawe Security knows about them now so they won't be seen, along with any similar companies, on campus again.”
For more details about the Career and Summer Job Fair, check out www.fanshawec.ca/careerservices. For more information on job scams or to report a company, go to tinyurl.com/ont-mcs2014.
The increasingly desperate employment climate for London's student demographic has unfortunately created an environment in which a number of companies can recruit students into jobs that seem like a fantastic employment opportunity, yet could end up costing employees time and money that they can't afford to waste. Many of these companies advertise themselves very well, offering above-average wages and seemingly secure work environments that seem tailor-made for a student who is off school for the summer.
Any time a job is being advertised, whether it's on the Internet, in print or during a job fair, the company is attempting to sell itself to you, making it seem like the best place to invest your time and energy among all the other companies that exist within the field. In order to do so, they will advertise things such as what you earn, but will include words such as “up to” in the fine print. They will post their most charismatic manager at a job fair, one able to extoll the most positive aspects of the job, and before you know it, you've signed up for an orientation or an interview, shaken a hand and began a job that will never, ever live up to the lofty promises that were made at the start.
It's important to be able to recognize these companies before beginning any sort of official affiliation with them, as it can be difficult to walk away from a commitment that you have already made, and your ‘employer' is unlikely to allow you to leave on your own terms. “The absolute best thing you can do before starting a job is proper research,” said Darlene O'Neill, manager of Career Services at Fanshawe College. “If you don't look into a company properly, you could wind up contracted to them simply by showing up.”
O'Neill and her department are in place to help current Fanshawe students and recent graduates find short- and long-term employment through methods such as online postings and the annual Career and Summer Job Fair. Over the years they have seen several examples of these questionable employers, and O'Neill has recognized common patterns that can indicate that the company may not be meeting all required labour laws. “It's a really competitive market out there, and a lot of people are vying for the almighty dollar,” said O'Neill. “In that pursuit, they are ignoring basic Canadian workplace ethics.”
While anybody is susceptible to being fooled by one of these scams, many of these companies, according to Career Services, are targeting Fanshawe's international students who are attempting to integrate themselves into their new country and are not as familiar with the employment laws we have. “Many of these students will come to Career Services after becoming involved with these companies, and often they find they have unwittingly contracted themselves to them,” said O'Neill. These contracts are often used to threaten the employee with legal action should they choose to leave the job, or report any unethical practises to the proper authorities, despite the fact that the employee is in the right.
“The biggest and most common red flag that a company may be operating outside of labour standards is any request for money at the beginning, such as a registration fee or a fee for signing up for insurance premiums,” said O'Neill. While some legitimate companies do require a monetary deposit at the beginning of tenure with them, they are for material items that can be kept or returned for the amount of money paid, such as a uniform deposit or an equipment rental deposit. Suspect fees have been explained away as ‘training fees,' ‘registration fees' and ‘data-entry' fees, among other rationales that may sound legitimate, but lie outside of what is considered legal and ethical.
Another common form that these companies will take is that of an ‘employment guaranteed' training agency, offering training in a particular field for a fee with the promise of employment after the program is complete. The Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services provides a case-file example where “an individual responded to a newspaper ad for ‘50 security officers, immediate openings.' When told during the interview that in order to get a position he must take a two-day course to qualify as a security officer, the complainant paid the $214 fee and signed a registration form. The next day, the complainant tried to cancel his registration and get his money back. The company wouldn't refund his money and refused to provide a copy of the contract.”
“Keeping your job search to legitimate sources, such as company websites, recognized employment agencies or physically handing in your resume whenever possible can greatly reduce the risk of running into one of these companies,” said O'Neill. “If you are going to be looking for jobs on Kijiji and Craigslist, then I would be prepared to ask questions before committing to a job.”
Another place that will put you face-to-face with companies you want to work for is the Career and Summer Job Fair on campus on February 5, which carries O'Neill's guarantee that all employers are legitimate. “We had one company advertising here that was known for unfair treatment of employees, but Fanshawe Security knows about them now so they won't be seen, along with any similar companies, on campus again.”
For more details about the Career and Summer Job Fair, check out www.fanshawec.ca/careerservices. For more information on job scams or to report a company, go to tinyurl.com/ont-mcs2014.
