HGS PRESTON: Only if you're desperate!
Pros
It's a job at the end of the day. HGS are happy to take people on with little to no experience. But their staff turnover is so high, beggars can't be choosers.
Cons
LIVING WAGE: The increase of the living wage was meant to give people on low incomes a pay rise, right? Well not if you work for HGS. HGS used to pay staff for 40 hours a week including breaks. To get around the living wage they simply stopped paying for breaks and reduced your hours to 37.5 hours a week. You work the same amount of time and on paper you get extra per hour but the reality is you actually get exactly the same amount of money as you did before the living wage came in. In reality, the pay is crap for the shifts they expect you to do. £14k a year for having to expect to work anytime between 8am and 8pm seven days a week is just shocking. YOUR CONTRACT is not worth the paper it's written on. There's more holes in it than a sieve. The company can change your wage, your hours, your pay frequency and there is nothing you can do about it. If you think you've got something to protect you in your contract they will simply say they decided it's no longer in said contract and they will not offer any sort of compensation . Hot desking: Despite the fact there's enough space for everyone, you can never get comfortable as the next day you come in to the office you'll most likely have to find somewhere else to sit. Targets: HGS like to change these mid month so you may find yourself on target one day to suddenly find that towards the middle or end of the month the targets change with very little chance of you getting back to where you need to be. Unrealistic target gateways: Spend more than three minutes in the toilet over a day and you'll find you miss out on bonus as it's virtually impossible to get the time back. If you have a bad stomach you're best off taking the day off sick as this impacts you less than going to the toilet during a day. Spend too long or not long enough on a call and again you'll lose bonus. Shifts: You could be working anything between 8am and 8pm over seven days a week. Expect to work up to six days in a row and expect your shift to start at different times every day. Time off: Due to the shifts, it is often tough to get a weekend off work as they expect you to work most weekends and of course other members of staff probably booked that weekend off months ago. Your holiday allowance is worked out in hours and you get the same holiday hours whether you do eight or ten hour shifts.
