Negotiate a cash rate for trail work shifts

There is a growing trend in workplaces across Australia to offer prospective employees the opportunity of a trial shift. You are cautioned when these offers a May to establish the ground rules for a trail shift.

In some cases you will find that they will expect you to do 1 2 or 3 hours work for free well they evaluate for nature or skills. This is best avoided as in Australian culture this is unfair to you and 2 other employees already working at the business. It is recommended that you would only take on such a trial opportunity if you had heard good things or had a particular good feeling about the business, the operator for the opportunity.

Other times you might be offered a trial shift where you will be paid at the end of the week as part of the normal payroll. All too often trial employees that are unsuccessful in these official work trials are overlooked, forgotten or find it difficult to be paid. This is not typically intentional, it's just a reflection of how busy the business is and the paperwork involved in registering a new employee so they can be paid officially "on the books". Every time a new employee is added to the systems, it probably requires 1/2 hours of work for the accounts person to register the new employee AND account their payroll to the Australian Taxation Office at the end of the financial year.

It's probably the best idea if you're offered a trial is to identify or negotiate that you received a cash payment at the end of the trial shift. This will typically be lower and the official pay rate or rounded down to the nearest $5. For  example the classic coffee shop trial might net you $15 per hour cash and a very tidy $45 for a 3 hour hour trial. By establishing this type of trial in a pleasant way we'll show a business smarts and earn some respect.





John Nayler

Digital Marketer. Sailor. Speaker





John Nayler

Brisbane, QLD

0407 15 13 11

John Nayler

In a world where it is critical to cut through the noise and stand out, John Nayler quietly delivers significant competitive advantage through an in-depth knowledge and intense fascination with content, information and the digital world. Describing his first contact with the internet in 1998 as ‘Love At First Sight’, John successfully created the laptop lifestyle before it was a buzzword, growing a highly regarded digital and media agency, inventing and commercialising products, and launching niche magazines, from aboard his boat in the Whitsunday Islands – one of the most sought after island locations in the world. Competitive advantage is a hard-contact, tactical game which can be won or lost in the digital space. John’s education and commitment to his field, and experience at the forefront of marketing and management in the IT space, delivers an innate understanding of how to position, communicate and leverage to deliver improved visibility, lead flow, and ultimately drive sales and profitability...