Seems the company was completely let off the hook while the victim of their exploitation received no compensation whatsoever.

2 month ban, They should be completely banned from the scheme.

It’s not the first time I have heard about some employers using the scheme for free labour.

JobsBridge=ScamBridge? I think so!

There is a shop in my town seeking interns for deli assistant and car wash assistants pure exploitation of the scheme

I was on a similar scheme and treated great until I asked when I was going to be paid. He told me to f*ck off and not to come back. My contract was for 300 hours and at that point I’d worked under conditions that are illegal for 350 hours. Why? Because I was “guaranteed” a paid job after it. I can’t describe what being treated like that feels like. Still not over it.

Name and shame the rest

This scheme has failed. It is a complete disgrace and all exploiters should be brought to court. Replacing job bridge with something sustainable should be high on the agenda but as long as people can get cheap labour it may continue. Sickening to see this happening in my country.

She should be ashamed of herself for endorsing this sham of a scheme. The success stories are such a tiny fraction that there is no justification for keeping this in place.

The irony of a “Labour” minister who is protecting the identities of companies who are using this scheme as a means to line their own pockets by not paying their staff. Name and shame, Joan, if you want to cling onto any credibility at all. Let the people know what companies are willing to treat their own people like slaves in the name of profit.

The irony of a “Labour” minister hiding the identities of companies that have used this scheme as a means of free labour, Name and shame, Joan, let the people know what companies are willing to treat their own people like slaves in the name of profit.

Joan Bruton would have to google how to orgainise a piss up in a brewery.That woman is a special kinda stupid…
And then thinks she is doing a great job.
Cop on to F%&k Joan….

The very least they should do is pay the intern the going rate for the work he did, they should also be fined This is completely taking the piss of the entire system which has potential to be a great scheme if run properly.

While the theory might be good the practice seems to be poor in most of these jobbridges

Job-bridge was never more than a political scam to move numbers off the live register. Employers were always going to exploit an opportunity like this, it is not their duty to regulate. It is their duty to take every advantage they can in this recession. The blame lies only with the government again who have left it’s citizens open for exploitation, nae marched them forceably into exploitation!

This scheme was always going to be “a bridge too far”!

I put this on another report but it is relevant here too:

Architecture firms are the biggest abusers of this scheme. I have contacted Minister Burton’s office on a number of occasions about this but never once have I got a satisfactory response. From my own experience it is nigh impossible to find a paid position in this country and it is due to scambridge. Before I did my internship I was told by a friendly enough architect of whom had the decency to reply to my application that it was difficult to get an internship because firms are advertising graduate positions and filling them with experienced architects many of whom they know or they are friendly with. Choosing interns with experience over those without is in direct violation of the core rules of this scheme. Minister Burton did not agree.
When I did do my internship I was asked by the company to supply my own computer and use my own car for trips to and from the office during the day about two weeks. I didn’t mind at first but 4 months later I was not receiving any remunification for travel during work, my computer was near enough on meltdown and coffee machines and apple computers were showing up around the office for everyone except me. I raised the issue and it took another month and the threat of leaving ( 5 months into a 9 month internship) to get another computer and even then I was giving an older computer that someone else was using. I had to fix this computer to make it usable.
At the end of the internship I had to tell the manager on the last day that the internship was finished and that I will not be back in on Monday. It was so demoralizing. I worked for 9 months, destroyed a laptop and ran up thousands of miles on my car for that. Before I left that evening I was asked would I work afterwards for my social welfare plus what would take me up to minimum wage in cash and I declined. It took me weeks to get my reference. And even when I finally received it, it was very basic. It just stated that I was present for nine months and that I was helpful.
Don’t get me wrong I have good experience and I got on well with the people in the company including the boss, but a year later I am in a job that is so far removed from what I set out to do, while the practice that used this scheme is searching for another intern. And another thing that many people don’t know and Minister Burton I challenge you if you are reading this. How come Architecture firms are charging per hour for the work their interns do (in the region of e50- e100) per hour while they rely on the state to pay the wages of that person?

I did an internship over 3 years when FAS was still running it. I got a great job with a charity and got fantastic experience that helped me in the long run. The jobs available back then were proper jobs where actual skills were being taught.
Since the government promoted Job-bridge it has been exploited to no end by anyone who needs cheap labour. What skills are you learning when stocking selves for 9 months?

Since when is a person allowed to work 60 hours a week? Doesn’t the European working times directive state that a person can only work for a maximum of 48 hours per week!?! Or am I mistaken?

I’ve personally found the scheme quite beneficial here in Waterford, I’m not sure the account of a disgruntled intern is to be trusted fully. JobBridge is a fine and rewarding program to be part of.

I was an unpaid intern at the Munster Express in the days before Job-bridge. I can’t say much about Job-Bridge (since I don’t qualify for/want to get unemployment, I am ineligible for it) so I can’t really comment on the particulars, but I do know enough about working at the Munster and the staff there to stick up for them.

I did not receive much in the way of training while working there either, but I understand why. Print media is ailing and the Munster has been fighting to stay alive. I don’t think these difficulties reflect some flaw in the character of the people working there or even those running the paper. The situation the paper finds itself in is hardly unique, either in Ireland or abroad. The realities of the economy and competition from online media (such as the Journal) have made it difficult to keep a traditional print paper afloat.

Up until two or so years ago it was the last local paper in Ireland to have an in-house printing press. Not a bad record for a paper that’s been around since 1860. The management did what it could to go against the trend and keep these jobs going, but when you’re not even the only paper in a town like Waterford it’s quite the task keeping the doors open at all. After I left much of the production and printing staff had to be let go. Before I arrived the paper had also lost a number of their regular writers, either through retirement or further job losses. Job losses are hard to defend but in this case I think it was an effort to keep another workplace in Waterford from shutting down altogether.

Even though I didn’t have somebody at hand to walk me through my work, I had my own desk and computer to work from and most importantly I had the trust that I could manage well enough on my own. Within the first two weeks I had an article printed and went on to help edit most sections of the paper, as well as getting to write advertising supplements and articles for the news, business and entertainment sections. If I really needed help, I could ask somebody in the news room. The few journalists still working were often overloaded with work and hadn’t too much time to help but they still lent me their ear and took the time to go over what I’d written and helped me improve it.

I was also made to feel welcome. Though my desk was tucked away in recess on an upper floor everyone I met knew my name and had a chat with me when they saw me and invited me for workplace functions like birthdays or meetings over tea. Plus, unlike some interns in other workplaces I wasn’t expected to spend the first few months or years doing nothing but making tea for the rest of the staff. When I started working there I had barely finished my leaving cert and my work experience consisted of a few weeks covering for somebody in the local shop, but I still got a chance to get involved in the workings of the paper and within a short time I had effectively become a published journalist. I left the Munster to return to college and finish my degree but as far as I know, the other intern who had been working there went on to become a full time journalist at the Munster. Two degrees later and still looking for employment in my chosen career, I can say that those months working in the Munster did more for my confidence and professionalism than all of my college education combined. It was cheaper in the long run too.

I don’t want to discredit Martin Malone or defend Job-Bridge, but I still want to show my gratitude for the opportunity I was given and provide some context. Things have changed at Munster and I’m sure it’s not getting any easier, with the recent retirement Johnny O’Connor, the deputy editor. Johnny and the other newsroom staff are some of the hardest working people I have known but still took me seriously, even being the whippersnapper I was (and still am). I also could rely on them for references and support throughout my search for jobs and during college career. I miss the days when I could get an internship. It’s easy to underestimate how much work of any kind, even unpaid work can make somebody feel useful.

Maybe some things were done wrong. Pursue this case, and by all means let there be justice – but if we’re looking for somebody to go after, I don’t think small community employers are the best place to start. I can think of plenty of politicians and bankers who could use your attention and outrage.

You can do what some people are advocating on Twitter and boycott the Munster, but you will likely only help bring about more job losses in Waterford. The few people the paper can still afford to employ aren’t big shots with six figure pensions, they’ve families to support. I hope Martin finds a steady paid job, and I hope I do too.

Its a laugh in the face of all our so called “European Laws”. I ‘d like to see the pr!cks in Kildare street on jobbridge.

I have seen quite a few public sector jobs advertised – it just stinks I suspect it was a big plan mini plate the live registrar figures and avail of free workers especially in the public sector.

There needs to be a change in attitude and these companies shunned. Like there should be a campaign where people bombard these employers with cvs and email and bring the system down. I’m on a roll here but if every job advertised got hundreds of replies would that make the system unworkable?

How many hours a week are people on jobscam forced to work? How are travel costs not included in payment?

**ignore the mini plate should be manipulate (auto correct)