A university graduate yesterday issued a landmark judicial review proceedings against the Government after she was forced to stack shelves at Poundland.
Cait Reilly, 22, has been looking for work since she left Birmingham University and has been volunteering on an unpaid basis until ordered to accept a two-week placement in the retail sector.
This involved her sweeping up and filling the shelves at the Poundland store in Kings Heath, Birmingham, also on an unpaid basis.
Now lawyers acting for the geology graduate have launched proceedings claiming that she had been made to carry out 'forced labour' or lose her benefits.
She had been looking for work in the museum sector and had undertaken unpaid voluntary work at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Her solicitor Jim Duffy claims this is against the European Convention on Human Rights.
He said yesterday: 'This Government has created - without Parliamentary authority - a complex array of schemes that allow Job Centres to force people into futile, unpaid labour for weeks or months at a time.
'By doing so it worsens rather than alleviates the cycle of unemployment that is such a significant barrier to addressing the economic crisis.'
Through her lawyers, Miss Reilly is asking the High Court to quash the controversial regulations under which long-term unemployed people can be required to undertake up to six months of unpaid work.
She wants to challenge the Jobseeker's Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise) Regulations 2011.
Through her lawyers, Miss Reilly is asking the High Court to quash the controversial regulations under which long-term unemployed people can be required to undertake up to six months of unpaid work.
She wants to challenge the Jobseeker's Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise) Regulations 2011.
The scheme is intended to lead to full-time jobs but in Miss Reilly's case she claimed staff at Poundland did not know what she should be doing and, despite promises of an interview, it never materialised.
In an earlier interview, she told the BBC: 'I think it's a form of manual labour in that they're forcing people to do jobs that are in no way related to what they want to do and giving them no experience for their careers.'
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: 'Our priority is to help people off benefits and into work. We are looking to help people get practical experience that will give them a better chance of getting into work.
'It is simply absurd to suggest that we should not be providing this support and effectively leaving people at home doing nothing.'
In a statement Poundland said its work experience was designed to help people find work in the retail sector.
It said: 'We work in partnership with JobCentre Plus and other government funded organisations to implement a comprehensive work placement programme designed to provide on-the-job training for those looking to retail as a career opportunity.
'Our partnership with JobCentre Plus is a positive step to get people back into work. It doesn't replace our recruitment activity, but adds to the number of colleagues we have working with us.'
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