The problem of being low paid and self employed – but the universal lesson that doesn’t mean anyone has to be unemployed in the economic down turn

I recently gave advice to a husband of a friend’s friend, who as a Polish economic migrant to the UK had found himself unemployed.

The gentleman was an eminently hard worker, who for the past five years had worked as a self-employed body repair technician at an East London garage, specialised in repairs to that superb Eastern European brand – and probably better to drive in an economic downturn than the Bentley’s they derive many of their parts from – Skoda. In fact, so impressed was his boss with his work, when his brother decided to come to the UK the boss employed him as well. Last summer, the boss took on an a 16year old English apprentice, and my friends husband has been training him up.

When the downturn came, my friends husband was the most skilled worker, so you would have thought he would have survived any downturn. No, he was first out of the door with 2weeks notice: the apprentice he trained is half as good but cheaper on minimum wage due to his age. The concern of my friend was that her friend is pregnant, and due to give birth in December, so could I help find him a job?

Firstly can I state up front, I don’t let Ajiri deal with minimum wage work as I find that many employers don’t treat their workers well at that wage level. A low wage level tends to translate into a low respect for their employees, and you hence also see low levels of work place environment, poor health and safety and many other problems. Often the employers will tell you that the reason that it all looks so grotty is because of the way the workers treat the place, but personally I think standards come from the management and flow down to the employees, and not visa versa. However, I got into recruitment because I like people, and getting people to find their feet in the work place and reach their goals is satisfying whatever the wage level, so I agreed to a phone call.

Firstly, the guy was bright and enthusiastic – employers love that, and he had an easy to get along with personality: they adore that. Secondly, he loved what he did, but had a long term goal to get into truck/HGV driving – I translated that as liking the transport sector. And thirdly, he wanted to stay in the UK for a period. However, on the downside, although he is legal (Poland is an EU state, so there are no need for entry/employment visa’s etc), and he is paying his UK taxes, he still had no UK driving license. Also, on checking his National Insurance (health and unemployment insurance), although it was all up to date, as he had worked for his employer full time for three years, the employer had not when the legislation changed added his contributions. Further, the employer was now giving him two weeks notice, when he needed to give him at least 30days.

My friend’s husband didn’t want to hassle his employer on the NI contributions or notice period, as his own brother was still working at the establishment. So we just focused on the “what next” question.

What all people need to look at when faced with such a situation, is to answer the question: What are my transportable skills? This question is easier answered if you have a certificate for some training, which as most self-employed people need to fund themselves they don’t. Hence although my friends husband was an excellent body repair technician, he didn’t have a certificate or qualification or registration with a professional body to verify any of this. Secondly, the lack of a UK driving license restricted his UK employment prospects – most employers want a photo ID for identity, and if you are a foreign national some UK paperwork to prove you are resident and won’t walk out next week.

After our first phone call, I did some checking at jobsites for work (note – I always love the online jobsite stat’s for hits, but many in my experience are just browsing: employers, recruiters and employees to check markets. The question is conversion ratio); and found without surprise that no qualifications and no UK driving license meant he was looking at minimum wage again at best, possibly as a drivers mate (ie – a health and safety load lugger). I immediately texted him back, and gave him the address of the nearest DVLA centre in London, and told him to get down their ASAP and get a UK driving license. Apparently this was quite easy for a Polish national, but ring them if in doubt – always very helpful people, but then most of them are Welsh!

In our second telephone conversation, we talked about why driving? In my view, he still seemed very committed to the sector, which was both good (employers love enthusiasm), and bad (so I had to find him a role in transport). I had done some research, and suggested a role in bus driving:

• It's like trucking, but in often prettier looking but just as macho vehicles
• It doesn’t involve long distances away from home
• The working environment is much cleaner, and involves people over constant listening to cheese radio stations
• As the employers are subject to a higher level of regulation, they are generally more respectful of their employees
• And if you don’t like it, as a formal qualification it is fairly easy to convert from a bus/PSV to a truck/HGV license

Best of all, because of the credit crunch, there is a so great a shortage of bus drivers out in the work place at present – people can’t afford to run cars, so take the bus instead – the employers are paying people to take the qualification, as long as you stay in employment for three years: you would have to pay for your won HGV training in full. Transport for London even at present have a scheme which focuses on finding and training more women bus drivers.

So, we are now two weeks later, and my friend’s husband just rang me to tell me about his first day of training to be a bus driver – and he’s over the moon with happiness!

All people are responsible for their own career management, and particularly the self-employed. Always think about what you are putting on your CV whatever work you do, and how transportable those skills are – qualifications make them more transportable to other employers. Secondly, if you do find yourself unemployed, think about how those transportable skills could be deployed in other markets – sales in real estate is a transportable skill for sales in many other sectors.

Good Luck!