the sales companies our contributors worked with also told us they were confident the sales agents were properly self employed. so, until it s tested in court, we won t know if the law is being broken. so, what do these stories say about the world of work and employment? are young people being exploited? darrenjones, labour mp and chair of the business committee, which investigates different issues and asks the government questions, had this to say. they are being exploited because they think they re signing up for an exciting job with a good salary that gives them prospects and actually, then, they arrive at the office, they re told they re self employed, commission only, door to door salespeople that have to pay their own expenses. it seems clear to me that the law needs updating. i asked some of the big brands for a comment. credico is an approved supplier for shell energy, but a spokesman said they haven t used their services since october 2021. talktalk say they no longer have a r
and as for the national deaf children s society, they say they weren t aware of the allegations and have already launched an investigation. they added that any malpractice they find as a result will be dealt with immediately. they have sector leading safeguards in place for all staff, and say if anyone fundraising on their behalf has any concerns, they urge them to get in touch immediately. credico said: regarding the incident where lauren wasn t able to go to the toilet, the company she worked for said that they don t advise sales agents that there are no toilet breaks or lunch breaks. as for the people i ve spoken to, they have mixed feelings about their time
the direct sales industry. lots of these people work for different sales firms but the set up is really similar. if you want to get promoted, you not only have to do the sales but you have to recruit people underneath you who can hit those sales targets, too. once you reach a certain level, you start getting a cut of what they have sold as well. so, while it s not exactly a multi level marketing scheme, there are some similarities. something i ve discovered that links a lot of these companies? a business called credico. it s one of the biggest players in the direct sales industry. it s a company that essentially acts like a middleman. it contracts smaller sales companies who get their recruits to go out and sell on the streets on behalf of its clients, like talktalk or shell energy. it was originally set up in north america and it says its linked sales companies have a network of 15,000 agents.
the long working hours that are unpaid and again used under the umbrella of self employed , so it looks like it s self inflicted, makes me want to be sick. nothing i did in thatjob role was on my own terms. nothing at all. um. so, it s scary, because that s how they operate. if you could speak to somebody now who you brought into the business, what would you say to them? i have had these conversations. i d say, you know, like, i ve said, i m sorry, i still feel bad. you know, some of these people spent a year of their lives buying into this dream that we created together and that s, you know a year of your life s a long time and i do feel some guilt about that. it s not all bad, though. matt is still working in sales and says despite his bad experience working for a credico linked company, it gave him skills to move on.
for different sales firms but the set up is really similar. if you want to get promoted, you not only have to do the sales but you have to recruit people underneath you who can hit those sales targets, too. once you reach a certain level, you start getting a cut of what they have sold as well. so, while it s not exactly a multi level marketing scheme, there are some similarities. something i ve discovered that links a lot of these companies? a business called credico. it s one of the biggest players in the direct sales industry. it s a company that essentially acts like a middleman. it contracts smaller sales companies who get their recruits to go out and sell on the streets on behalf of its clients, like talktalk or shell energy. it was originally set up in north america and it says its linked sales companies have a network of 15,000 agents. with more than 100 sales