The majority of young people have experienced some for of abuse or harassment in the workplace, a NextGen investigation has found.
A shocking 74.2% of undergraduate students polled reported experiencing some form of exploitative, abusive, or harassing behaviour in their first job, according to an exclusive survey.
The majority (84%) were employed in retail or hospitality and 51.5% experienced some form of economic exploitation.
For the few respondents who only had positive experiences in the past, the majority of young adults talked about their experiences with mistreatment as though it has been normalised.
Many in the survey of 330 students, conducted by professors and researchers at Griffith University also drew attention to the fact that employers did not have any empathy when it came to mental health issues.
Amy*, a 17-year-old student from Chesire working in the retail sector, said: “My manager didn’t understand mental health properly, so he saw my absences as me not being bothered to attend work when I was mentally exhausted.”
“We didn’t resolve the problem because he ended up letting me go.”
“In response, I got upset about him not understanding my mental health. I looked for other jobs. I didn’t know how to respond because I felt so hurt and betrayed.”
Mental health is a factor that appears to be greatly overlooked - 44% of young people have concerns about their studies and exam pressures and one in four people will experience a mental health problem each year.
Other students we spoke to about their negative experiences said they had been routinely humiliated by bosses.
Lucy*, an 18-year-old student from Manchester, has been ignored and humiliated in hospitality, she believes, due to her age and the fact she is a student.
“I am a student working part-time since the age of 16. In my past employment, I have experienced countless times where I have been ignored because my opinion didn’t matter.”
Managing 15 hours of college a week and part-time employment, with a lengthy distance to commute, is mentally and physically draining for a young adult with multiple commitments to manage.
She revealed one of the worst experiences she had ever dealt with at work.
“In my first job in hospitality, I was taken advantage of. I have worked countless days and nights.
“This resulted in me overworking and not being paid overtime- falling behind with my education, extracurricular activities, and losing myself completely.
“During these hours, the workloads would be heavy, I would be left to deal with multiple orders myself whilst no other staff would be working.
“I always believed in getting along with your colleagues and customers well, it is what makes everything flow and come to life.”
Another student, Katie*, Manchester, 17 at the time of the incident, shared another experience of being humiliated in front of colleagues.
Working in the intense, extremely busy, and frantic environment of hospitality was something that this student was new to but picked up very quickly.
“I worked in hospitality; I was mistreated by my shift manager. The moment I realised my situation has become more of a problem was the time they humiliated me in front of other staff members and customers too."
Accidents at work do happen and Katie was embarrassed when she bumped into a colleague which resulted in a spillage.
It should not have been a big deal, but her manager screamed at her in front of customers and colleagues.
“The shift manager screamed at me in front of all the people when a real team leader would have pulled me aside and spoken to me calmly in that situation.
“This problem caused me to have a panic attack and quit my job as I didn't want to see this person again after the situation I was put in.
“I was not sure how to handle the situation, I was only 17, I wasn’t fully an adult yet- I didn’t have any power over the situation.”
She added: “I knew I needed to leave that workplace because it made me unhappy and felt like an unsafe place to work. Report any unusual behaviour, try staying calm in these situations.”
Michaela Gray, a Human Resources Business Partner at Social Care Institute for Excellence, agreed these experiences are unacceptable.
“One of the roles of HR is to support people and help them reach their full potential.” she says.
“If you feel you are being bullied or discriminated against, reach out to your manager, or HR, or ACAS, or your union for advice and make sure you use those terms so it is taken seriously.”
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Ask, don’t be afraid to reach out, know your rights.
“A mistake is evidence someone tried to do something - so don’t be afraid to ask again.”
The importance of understanding contracts and rights is also extremely vital to young people entering the workplace for the first time.
“We need more employment education to teach young people more about loans, mortgages, pensions,” Michaela adds.
“Read through your contract and employee handbook so you know the company policies and procedures.”
What is her advice for employers taking on younger members of staff?
“Employers should understand that young people that are employed are an investment.”
“There may be a little more hand holding, but it is rewarding.”
“Developing young people is a good thing, it keeps companies cutting edge. Employers should be open to suggestions and ideas- young people have different views.”
