MPs and lawyers in the UK are calling for unpaid shifts to be made illegal.

Currently, companies can invite prospective employees to do trial shifts with the possibility of a job at the end; however, according to BBC News, trade union Unite has pointed to an increase in complaints over unpaid shift work.

This Friday, a private members bill, ‘Unpaid Trial Work Periods (Prohibition) Bill’ is set to receive a second parliamentary hearing. The bill seeks to prohibit unpaid trial work periods in certain circumstances.

Stewart McDonald, the SNP MP for Glasgow South who proposed the private members bill, says the current legislation, which bans "excessively long" trial shifts, is not working. McDonald added that “companies are just trying to cover staff absences in other parts of the business.”

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation said it supports call for unpaid shifts to be made illegal.

REC director of policy Tom Hadley commented, “Hiring procedures are about testing somebody’s ability to do the job. However, there’s a difference between testing someone’s skills in an assessment setting and asking them to work for free. Recruitment processes cannot be an excuse for exploiting people.”

“Testing waiters’ silver service skills in a simulated restaurant environment is an example that’s absolutely legitimate. But as soon as you have candidates working in a real business setting alongside paid employees, they deserve to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage,” Hadley said. “We know businesses that use this method and pay candidates appropriately. Any employer who doesn’t is tarnishing their own brand and giving business a bad name.”

Meanwhile, the Federation of Small Businesses said unpaid shifts are a valuable part of the recruitment process, but shouldn't cross the line into exploitation.

Colin Borland from the Federation of Small Businesses told the BBC, "Small businesses can sometimes be reticent about hiring or even looking to expand headcount when the work is there because they are worried about making the wrong decision. The more that we can do to make sure that they hire the right people the better. You just have to be very careful that it doesn't cross into what's exploitative."