You've just finished a "trial shift" at a cafe. Three hours on your feet, taking orders, cleaning tables, helping during the lunch rush. At the end, the manager says "thanks, we'll let you know" and you walk out with zero dollars in your pocket.
Was that legal? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Here's how to tell the difference.
The short answer
A trial shift can be unpaid, but only if it's short and it's genuinely just a skills check — not you doing real work for the business.
The Fair Work Ombudsman puts it simply: an unpaid trial is okay if it's no more than a demonstration of your skills for the job, it only lasts as long as needed to show that (think an hour, maybe up to one shift, depending on the role), and someone is directly supervising you the whole time.
Once it goes past that, you're not on a trial anymore. You're working. And if you're working, you should be paid.
What makes a trial illegal
A few warning signs that a "trial" has crossed the line into unpaid labour:
- It goes on for hours and hours, or repeats over several days. A barista trial doesn't need eight hours to know if you can pull a decent flat white.
- You're doing the job the business actually needs done, not just showing you can do it. If you're serving real customers during a busy shift and the place is relying on you to get through service, that's work.
- Nobody's really watching you. If you're just left to get on with it like any other staff member, there's no "assessment" happening — you're filling a roster gap.
- They ask you back for another trial, and another. One legitimate trial shift, fine. Three "trials" for the same job is a red flag.
There's a well-known case the Fair Work Ombudsman uses as an example: a young woman doing an unpaid trial at a restaurant kept getting told to come back the next day because "the boss wasn't available to decide." A week later, still unpaid, still working. That's not a trial — that's a business getting free labour out of someone hoping for a job.
What you can do if it happens to you
- Keep notes. Dates, times, what you actually did, who supervised you (if anyone).
- Ask directly if you'll be paid, and get the answer in writing if you can (a text message counts).
- Contact the Fair Work Ombudsman https://fairwork.gov.au if you think you've been underpaid for work you did. Call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94. They can help you work out if you're owed back pay, and you don't need a lawyer to make an enquiry.
A quick note if you're the one hiring
If you run a business and use trial shifts to screen candidates, the safest approach is to keep it short, keep it supervised, and pay if there's any doubt. Many businesses now just run a short paid trial instead — it avoids the whole grey area and it's not exactly expensive to pay someone for an hour or two.
Bottom line
A short, supervised skills check can be unpaid. Real work, even for one shift, should be paid. If you walked away from a "trial" feeling like you did a full shift's worth of actual work for nothing, it's worth asking questions — and it's worth knowing the law is on your side.