Episode 2 Britain's Hardest Workers: Inside the Low Wage Economy

In Britain, more than five million people are now in low-paid work.

I am left with ?12.76 every single week.

Some weeks, I'm just really struggling.

I have to borrow, in fact, off people.

Whether we're unskilled workers, graduates, or aged 50 or over,

many of us could have a future in low pay.

Everybody is vulnerable. Work is the new poor.

With zero-hour contracts, automation, and global competition,

employees need to be more adaptable than ever before.

There's losers in any transition period.

The question is - what do you do to make sure that

some of the losers don't fall through the cracks?

So, how tough are these jobs, and can anyone do them?

20 people, all proud of their work ethic...

I am a grafter. I've always been a grafter.

I don't ever believe anything is above me or below me.

Money, it doesn't just come to you. You've got to go out and get it.

..are taking part in a unique experiment.

I'm your factory manager for the next ten days.

They're putting themselves to the test,

trying out a range of low-paid jobs in real British workplaces...

So, that's what we're trying to achieve.

Better crack on then, hadn't we?

SCALE BEEPS I thought this was going to be easy.

..and in a specially-constructed factory.

Whoa!

I'll get there. I knew it would be a slow start, but I'll get there.

Facing an uncertain future in the job market...

I want to prove to myself how hard a worker I can be.

I'm taking part to show that there are hardworking people out there.

..they'll discover what skills you need to survive

in today's low-paid jobs.

I don't understand.

No! Sorry, it's squirting everywhere.

And just like in the real jobs market, it's competitive...

Jesus!

..with the least-productive worker being laid off after every shift...

The shift is finished. HORN BLOWS

..until we're left with the most adaptable

and most resilient worker of all. THEY CHEER

Last time, the workers were put to the test...

Man, I hope you can clean. SHE LAUGHS

..in one of the largest employers of low-wage workers...

Housekeeping.

..the hospitality industry.

This one is a mess.

Pigs are probably cleaner than this.

Oh, my God!

Next, they recycled rubbish in our purpose-built factory...

This smells revolting.

You don't realise that these are actually human beings

that are doing jobs like this.

In these two jobs often done by migrant workers...

Nobody wants to clean, nobody wants to do it.

..agency chef Stephanie found it hard to bite her tongue...

Can we change this bed? We've got to get on.

..and long-term unemployed Pam

struggled with the strict supervision.

What are you doing wrong?

When the scores were tallied, it was driving instructor Violeta...

Cos I want to be the best.

..and painter and decorator Martin...

I need a new bin!

..who came closest to hitting industry standards.

HORN BLOWS

And the four workers who failed to measure up were let go.

I was a gnat's knacker away from going home.

At the end of the day, if you've got to go, you've got to go.

This week, our volunteers will be working in the food industry -

a sector in which almost a quarter of all jobs are casualised

and workers' hours go up or down depending on demand.

So, what you choose to have for dinner one day can determine

whether someone else has a job the next.

It's the end of the second day of the experiment

and 16 workers remain.

They've just finished a tough shift recycling rubbish.

Right now, I am shattered.

Like many of the people on Britain's 1.5 million casual contracts,

they're waiting to find out what job's in store for them tomorrow...

PHONE CHIMES

..by text.

This is it now.

In areas like agriculture, hospitality and retail,

many jobs are handed out daily,

often on a first-come, first-served basis.

"In many industries,

"casual workers get to work by being first in the queue."

"Tomorrow, I only need 15 workers.

"I will take the first 15 in the queue at a meeting point at 7.30am."

Mike - the factory manager.

Somebody will be going home first thing tomorrow.

And that somebody is going to be the person that gets there last.

I don't agree with it. A lot of it's actually quite medieval.

You queue up and someone would come out

and point a finger at you and say, "You, you, you and you. Let's go!"

While some workers are used to this practice...

..for others, it's a wake-up call.

What a hard way to do things,

and for the people that make that effort on, like,

a daily and weekly basis to get work.

I'm not going to sleep. I am so not going to sleep.

We live in a world where employment is becoming increasingly casualised.

The worker carries all of the risk

and the business gets the opportunity to minimise costs

when they have changes in supply and demand.

Doncaster to...Sheffield railway station...

The workers are all staying within 25 miles of the meeting point,

so they've got to work out how to get there -

at their own expense - before 7.30am.

My brain's not going yet and I don't want to get it wrong.

I can't imagine anyone arriving there at 6.00.

It'd be ludicrous, really.

But they might.

Trains don't leave till 6.00 in the morning.

I can't guarantee it'll get me there before everybody else.

Not only that, the trains would be expensive.

If I didn't get there in time,

I've paid out for a train fare and have nothing to show for it.

Determined to be first in line at all cost,

Stewart's decided to walk...

..18 miles.

At home in Belfast, the fish and chip shop Stewart runs

with his wife is on the rocks, and it's not for want of hard work.

We leave the house at seven o'clock in the morning.

We open our doors at 11 o'clock. It's strenuous.

The spuds have to be peeled. They have to be chipped.

The fish has to be boned. Pans have to be lit.

The fat has to be changed. It's just solid.

This is what we call our patio.

We spend more time on it than we do our own patio.

HE LAUGHS

Since the recession, around a million businesses have gone under

and for Stewart, the same prospect is looming.

If I lose the business, I'll lose my home.

But however, I will work and I don't care.

If it means going out and brushing the streets, I will go and do it.

At 47 years old, Stewart faces a future in minimum wage work

and he's determined to prove he's got what it takes.

I won't be beaten. Will not be beaten.

I don't give up. I've never given up on anything in my life,

and I won't start now.

Well, it's taken me approximately five and a half hours.

He's walked through the night,

but Stewart's still not first in the queue.

Yous two look extremely well rested.

It's 6.00am and Pam and Majka have beaten him to it.

How did yous get here?

HE GASPS

While some of the workers are well prepared,

Stephanie's map-reading skills don't seem to be working out.

Oh, sugar. I've walked all that way for nothing.

PA SYSTEM: 'Welcome to the express service to Manchester Airport.'

I don't know how far away that is from the job.

I've got to work it out or it's going to make me potentially late.

Morning.

Oh, is that the queue?

I might even be the first.

Oh, BLEEP! Oh, BLEEP!

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11!

I can make it!

There are only three places left in the line

and four people still to arrive.

The last of them won't have a job.

Can you get the 25A from up here? Bus stop is just there?

Oh, my God, what's east? Which is east?

46-year-old local, Jen, is self-employed.

There's no signs.

She's run her own cafe for the past five years,

but is yet to turn a profit.

I do feel that, if I work hard, at some point, I will be rewarded,

I will feel the benefit.

It's just waiting for that moment.

It's waiting for that time when it will come back to me.

A tea, please. Yeah.

Straight along this road. The main road? Yeah.

And then you'll see the Iceland sign,

and it's that left there. Thank you.

This morning, the alarm didn't go off,

so I'm probably looking a little bit not with it.

Factory manager Mike is on his way

and he's only got jobs for the first 15 workers.

Hiring on a first-come, first-served basis

is not something I've been involved with.

But it does really reflect the challenges

in the low-pay sector in the UK today.

It's 7.30am and everyone's at the meeting point.

There's a limited number of jobs,

and despite arriving 20 minutes before the deadline,

Jen is the last in the queue.

We're going to have to let you go. Yeah.

That's the tough world of work we're living in. Thank you.

It's hard. It's hard.

It's the way of the world, isn't it, at the minute?

It's the way of the world.

Which is unfair, but then, we live in an unfair world, so...

It's crap. It's crap.

The world of casual work, you know, it's really, really demanding.

It might suit the employer to recruit this way -

they save money and they may get the keenest worker,

but the human cost can be quite high.

Some of the lowest paid workers in our economy are having to gamble

their own money travelling to jobs they may not get.

If people have to go through that on a daily basis,

I think it must be so, so demoralising.

It's an awful way not to be able to earn a day's pay. It's horrible.

So, what's driving this trend towards casualising the workforce,

and who's benefitting?

I've come to see Chris Giles,

Economics Editor at the Financial Times.

Why do we have this increased casualised workforce?

We've had a move towards wanting more flexible labour force

over very many years.

So, there's lots of jobs, lots of sectors where

you want to contract people not necessarily all the time,

but only when there's demand.

And lots of people don't want a nine-to-five, 40 hours a week job,

but actually want to have more flexibility themselves.

But for the people who are on these contracts, there's nothing.

It's just, "Yeah, come when we need you."

Is that a growing trend? Are we going to see more of that?

There is a force to make companies more efficient the whole time,

so people are looking for ways of cutting costs,

and that's a force to see more casualisation of the labour market.

And we've particularly seen it over the last seven years

because we've had an economic crisis,

and so people have been desperate for whatever work they can get.

But I would have thought, now we've got unemployment down

to roughly 5%, we are going to see a period where, actually,

the power balance shifts a little bit.

So, it isn't always with the employer

and will move a little bit to the employee.

Do we, as consumers, benefit from this casualisation of the workforce?

If casualisation of the workforce makes companies more efficient and

productive, prices are lower than they otherwise would be,

and we are beneficiaries of that.

The workers have had an early start, but rest is a long way off

as they have a testing day ahead of them.

We're off to Lincolnshire, to a farm,

and we've got a 36-acre field of broccoli waiting to be cut.

THEY LAUGH

It's going to be really tough work, but the key point today is

the harder you work, the more you can earn.

So, good luck.

Agriculture employs nearly half a million people

and last year contributed ?11 billion to the economy.

But with the increasing power of big supermarket chains pushing

down prices, profits are tight and the need for cheap labour is high.

The workers are coming here

to one of Britain's biggest broccoli farms.

This hi-tech production line relies on gangs of casual labourers

and it's back-breaking, repetitive work.

Our workers are about to do a three-hour shift

picking and packing broccoli that will end up on our tables.

This is minimum wage work,

but if they pick more than their target, they earn a bonus.

If they pick less, however, as casual workers,

they could be out of a job.

This is about survival of the fittest.

I'm incredibly nervous.

My main worry is letting the team down.

That's the main worry.

While Pam may lack faith in her ability,

that's not the case with Stewart.

As you know, I have not had a lot of sleep,

and I've walked quite a distance. However, I will not let yous down.

Today, we work and we work damn hard at any cost.

We will work till we drop.

OK, OK, OK, you are the leader! Yes, you are the leader. Thank you.

I understood. Yes, I understood. You are a man.

You have to be the leader. Understood. OK.

See, I can't see any broccoli. Is that it in the ground? Yeah.

There, there. This one's a good one. This one right here.

Oh, yeah. I can see it now!

I've no idea what broccoli looks like growing in a field.

I've ate it for Sunday dinner, that's about it.

The novice pickers have been divided into three teams -

red, purple and blue.

The field of broccoli they'll be working in

has a retail value of over ?87,000 -

provided it's harvested to exacting industry standards -

and farm manager Andy Blair is here to make sure it is.

What we're going to do is select a head that is ready for cutting,

making sure we've got a nice, square cut on the bottom of the broccoli.

All these leaves need to come off. OK?

You're going to nick all those off.

On to the machine. Then the packer will take it off and pack it.

Minimum size is the length of the blade. 10cm.

Maximum is approximately that big.

The next person to touch this broccoli will be a customer,

so it has to be perfect.

If you notice, we've got a specific format

of one up, one down,

one up, one down, one up, one down. OK?

That's what we're trying to achieve.

What would you say is the average speed?

We've had teams out this morning that have cut 700 boxes

and gone home at ten o'clock.

Better crack on then, hadn't we?

The workers are expected to pick at least 50 approved boxes an hour -

the standard rate for new teams.

You two are packing.

You're initially weighing and you're initially packing.

Picking at this rate will cover

the farm's costs of paying them minimum wage.

Once they hit that target, a piece rate kicks in and

they'll earn an extra 67p per box, divided between the team.

With a new team, it always takes a little bit of time.

We would hope that a team would come in to a crop like this

and be able to virtually meet minimum wage

or just a little bit over, really.

And then on days two, three and four,

we'd expect a team to be ?10-an-hour and up to ?12-an-hour.

This job is a test of the workers' physical fitness and accuracy.

Just remember, you're going to do quality.

Each team is made up of five workers and has its own tractor rig

with three people cutting on the ground...

You spread out. You go to the corner. Yeah.

..and two packers on the trailers.

Can someone shove me up, please?

One, two, three. Go on, girl!

We're starting. We're starting.

Whoo!

Three of Andy's most experienced workers will be on hand

to make sure not a single stem of bad broccoli gets by.

Forward!

In the field, the cutters set the pace,

moving the tractor forward as they look for more broccoli to harvest.

Keep going. Faster! Faster!

Speed is vital, but so is precision,

as each head of broccoli must be exactly 15cm tall

and at least 10cm wide.

Like that, look.

You're cutting them too small. Got to be a minimum of ten.

22-year-old labourer Berwyn works on a sheep farm in the Welsh hills.

Yeah, I'm in my element. It's nice to be out in the field.

But will his experience put him at an advantage?

To be honest, it looks easy,

but it's not. No, there's a lot of skill to it.

In 2004, eight new countries joined the European Union

and Britain experienced an influx of migrant labour.

Now Eastern Europeans make up more than half

of all seasonal agricultural workers.

Forward! Forward, please!

One of those was painter and decorator Martin,

who first arrived from Bulgaria five years ago.

With all the press around migrants,

Martin is determined to use this experiment to prove his worth.

On the trailer, the packers must fill,

weigh and check the boxes,

and although it's physically less gruelling, this is no easy ride.

You've got one, two, three...five boxes to weigh. I can count.

On the red team, Pam is having trouble with her scales.

Why is it not zeroing?

I've been trying to zero the scales and they're not...

Right, we're done. And they've not been... No!

Is it the movement, then?

Each box must weigh between 8.2 and 8.6 kilos.

Any more and the farm will be giving its broccoli away.

Any less and the buyers will reject them.

I'm frantic because it sounded really easy,

same as all the tasks, but it's actually not.

As a stay-at-home mum,

44-year-old Pam has few qualifications,

and she's been out of the job market for over 20 years.

My CV is completely blank.

In fact, for me to even try and get an interview is an absolute

nightmare because they take one look at your CV and it's in the bin.

You don't even stand a chance getting an interview.

I don't have a dream job. I just want a job.

Health problems put Pam in a wheelchair

and her weight grew to 23st,

but she was determined to get back into work.

I've lost...9st.

I've gone from not being able to walk up the stairs

to being able to walk eight miles a day,

which I'm incredibly proud of myself.

I just wish I could have done it 20 years ago.

Pam knows her future is in the low-wage economy,

but she's worried she lacks the skills to cope.

That's too big now. I'm having a nightmare.

That one's just under.

It's very important they don't go overweight

cos you are giving broccoli away for nothing.

OK. Fair enough.

Come on, girls. Faster! Faster! Faster!

An hour into their shift and on the purple team,

the belt is overflowing with broccoli.

It's a bit daunting. I'm daunted! I'm struggling, I am!

This is going way too fast! Seriously!

On the ground, hellbent on hitting targets,

Qasim isn't letting up.

Faster! Faster! The two girls in the back, they're a bit slow.

To be honest, they are slow. We're going the extra speed now.

Sabrina!

Hello! Faster!

Faster! Faster!

I can clock up to 1,000 miles in a week, maybe more,

but 1,000 is, like, the bottom line. I guarantee to do 1,000.

36-year-old self-employed removal man Qasim

often works seven days a week...

Wow, that was heavy.

..but last year, he made just ?10,000.

I'm just on a job now.

Can I come to you in the next few hours?

When the end of the week comes,

I've got to weigh up my bills,

the payments I've got to make.

Some weeks, I'm just really struggling.

I have to borrow, in fact, off people

to keep me afloat for the following week.

One gone, four to go!

Qasim has been forced to take on a second job,

helping out at his mate's carpet shop.

Yes, Mr Sheikh. I've got your job sheets for you over here.

OK, what have you got? All them over there.

Prestwich? Mm-hm.

With the pressure he's under at work,

Qasim is rarely at home.

This is the only time that Qasim gets with me.

It's very limited time that we have together.

Precious time together. Yeah.

And now that his wife's expecting a baby,

there's not much time left in the day for Qasim to be a dad.

It's going to be tough bringing a child on the wage I'm on,

but at the same time, I'm going to have to balance things out.

I mean, that little bit of money that I might spend on myself,

I'll just have to stop spending it and put it towards the baby.

Faster! Faster!

Qasim's strength and physical fitness

are a bonus for the purple team, but this job's not all about brawn.

The first hour, we did 30. Half of them were rejected.

Some of them, there was short stalk. Some of them, there was long stalk.

So, there was nothing in between.

With their erratic cutting,

the purple team has a 40% failure rate

and is losing the farm money hand over fist.

Your problem - you try to go too fast and you get it wrong.

Yes. Yeah, right.

You're all looking busy, but you don't do the job properly.

The way how you go, at the end of the day,

I think you're going to end up losing your job. Mm.

Working conditions in farming can be harsh.

Most of the casual labour is recruited through gangmasters,

and in 2005, to tackle the high incidence

of mistreatment of workers,

the government established the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

What is the reality of gangmasters in this industry?

We absolutely need them.

We can't do away with gangmasters or labour providers, as we call them.

They're a crucial part of our business

because of the seasonal labour and seasonal production that we have.

You're obviously very reputable and you look after your gangs,

but what's going on elsewhere?

Is there still a lot of opportunity for exploitation?

Unfortunately, there is still a lot of exploitation going on.

It's still around Boston, Spalding, Lincolnshire, the Fens.

Unfortunately, sometimes, I think they're trying to exploit

more of the migrant workers than they do of the English workers.

The English workers tend to stay in the same places,

they don't tend to move, whereas the migrant workers

tend to move round with the work and they can be liable to exploitation.

There is this idea that people are coming here and taking our jobs.

Is that happening?

Anybody can have this work if they want to do it,

but you've got to come and work hard.

If you come and work in a gang of eight people

and you're not working as hard as the other seven,

you probably won't be coming back the next day.

That goes for an English worker or a migrant worker.

It is hard work, you have to work hard,

but you will get paid at the end of it.

Stalks are too short!

Stalks are too short! That's no good.

Back in the field,

and the blue team are working hard to hit their targets,

but tensions are growing.

Still some of these are too small.

All right. Well, just chuck 'em out, then, and stop complaining!

There's millions in here. Too big.

You have a knife there. Why don't you cut?

They've only picked 36 boxes over the last hour and a half,

and a third of those have been rejected.

Everything is wrong!

Now they're about to take a further knock.

I can't stand, please.

Let me a little bit for a few minutes.

Violeta is feeling unwell and the team have to decide what to do.

I think Violeta should go and get something to eat really quickly.

We'll carry on. OK. Bring us a Kit`Kat back.

Joking.

Allez, allez, allez! Vite, vite, vite!

Over the last two days,

51-year-old driving instructor Violeta has excelled.

No, no, no, no!

You have to pay attention to details.

Her immaculate hotel room put her team

at the top of the leaderboard.

Oh, my God!

SHE LAUGHS

Only with you, though.

And not only did her speed and determination

impress her colleagues...

To be working across from Violeta is actually quite a blessing for me

cos she's a machine.

..her work rate also caught factory manager Mike's attention.

For me, one person stood out, and that was Violeta,

and we'd like Violeta to stay.

APPLAUSE

But in these tough, physical jobs,

24 hours can make all the difference.

Sometimes, you feel well. Sometimes, you feel bad.

Today, I don't feel well.

We are not machines, yeah.

If Violeta was on this farm working on a normal, average job,

if you're not fit for work,

they might not have you back the next day.

Go, go, go! There's no time. Come on!

Oops!

Halfway through their shift and the novice workers

are starting to improve their efficiency.

The purple team's rejection rate has dropped to zero.

Keep the size coming, guys. Perfect size now.

You've got the size right.

We're doing good. We've got a good strategy in place.

We can't go too fast because we're not productive.

We're going slower and we're doing it properly.

That's nice and tight, yeah. The way you present it...

It's the way I buy it in the supermarket. Exactly.

Because people, they eat food by their eyes.

HE CHUCKLES Now we are working!

No leaves, guys!

Excuse me.

Now three days into the experiment

and for Pam, something remarkable is happening.

Spot-on.

Over the past hour, she hasn't had a single box fail.

The last person that takes up

has to be the one that finally checks everything and makes sure,

in case anybody else has missed anything.

I do feel it's a lot of responsibility,

but for the first time, I'm feeling like I've risen

to the challenge that I've been given.

And if today is my last day, I can go out thinking,

"For once in my life, I was not the weakest link."

With Violeta back up and running...

Yes, I'm feeling better now.

..there's just time for one final push.

We are women on the edge.

THEY LAUGH

On the edge of what, Christ only knows!

Done. Good one, girls. Well done.

Couple of cuts. Wow.

I went through three gloves. Look, I've got two.

I've got that one. I've got these little ones.

I've got another one.

Come on. I can't. I've got you. I've got you, I've got you.

As the workers head back to the factory...

..they're about to find out if anyone's earned a bonus.

Welcome back to the factory, everybody.

The broccoli cutting was a tough task

and now I'd like to give you your wages for that.

All the teams have been paid the pre-April rate of minimum wage,

which was ?6.70 an hour before tax.

?20.10. SHE LAUGHS

Thanks, Pam.

It's a bit of a shock. However,

I've been paid and at least the money's in my pocket.

None of the teams picked enough broccoli to cover the farm's cost

of paying them minimum wage, let alone for them to earn a bonus.

Unfortunately, at the rate you all worked collectively,

the farmer would have lost money,

so there's no extra wages in your pay packet today.

It put things into perspective that the workers actually earn, like,

?11, ?12 an hour doing that job.

And we wasn't even able to earn the farmer enough money

to pay us minimum wage.

To get above minimum wage,

I would have had to go three times as fast.

I was going as fast as I could.

So, how productive have they been?

And how do they compare with the standards expected in this industry?

Factory manager Mike is analysing the data to find out.

These are the score sheets from the field.

They've even recorded their toilet breaks.

The individuals who scored highest are young and male.

Violeta's score was brought down by the break she took.

In labour-intensive jobs,

any interruptions to production make such a difference.

When it comes to productivity,

an experienced team could pick over 260 boxes in the same shift.

A new team should pick 150.

Our worst team got just over a third of the way there,

as one in four of their boxes failed quality control.

The most productive team didn't pick the most broccoli.

They actually picked the best quality broccoli.

But even our best team fell well short of industry standards,

picking just 84 boxes in three hours.

To do this job, you really need stamina

and only one team demonstrated that.

HORN BLOWS

GASPS AND CHEERS

The red team picked the most boxes, and over the last two hours,

not a single one failed quality control.

I'm really proud of myself.

It's very, very rare that I can say something good about myself,

so I'm a happy girlie!

Our strategy was - do it once, do it right, zero defects,

and it worked! SHE LAUGHS

HORN BLOWS

While the red team celebrates victory,

another team will be clocking off.

GROANS Oh, well. I'm not surprised.

Blue team, I'm afraid that you're the team that picked

the least amount of broccoli,

so I'm afraid you're going to have to leave.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

There is, however, an exception.

As a smart employer, Mike always keeps an eye out for strong workers

and Martin ranked highest on the blue team's individual score sheets.

So, we'd like to keep Martin. Thank you.

Also, the farm manager and myself

were particularly impressed with Stewart's work ethic,

so we'd also like to keep Stewart.

CHEERS Thank you.

THEY APPLAUD

I saved Stewart because anybody who is willing to walk

through the night - 18 miles - he's such a hard grafter.

I'm happy I'm saved, don't get me wrong,

but it was a team effort and the team failed in what they did.

In my eyes, then, we probably all should have gone home.

We had all the tools to be a really good team,

but I don't think we worked well as a team,

so I kind of expected us to be at the bottom.

It's honestly not a surprise to me.

I saw which are my limits and I think that I faced it.

But this is it. If I have to leave, I leave.

It's not a problem for me.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

You're my inspiration.

It's now the fourth day of our investigation into low-wage work

and the 12 remaining workers are clocking on

at our purpose-built factory.

They're about to do a shift on a food production line.

Us Brits consume more ready meals than any other country in Europe.

We spend a whopping ?2.6 billion on them every year.

As our appetite for convenience continues to grow,

we're swapping restaurants for posh premium brands,

and the food industry is expected to need

more than 100,000 new workers by 2025,

and many of these jobs could be on zero-hour contracts.

Good morning, everybody. ALL: Good morning.

Today's task is behind those doors,

and again, it's an industry we all rely on.

You'll be working in teams of three,

and the team that's the least productive

will not be returning to work tomorrow.

The workers are about to do a four-hour shift

making two of the nation's popular ready meals.

On this task, we're going to be making cauliflower cheese.

They're working for Gary Bell,

who has over 20 years' experience in food processing.

The first team member will weigh cauliflower to 100g on the scales.

The second team member will be adding 100g of cheese sauce.

The third person will be adding cheese,

putting the lid on and then putting it on to the trolley.

The teams are expected to produce five meals a minute.

Sounds easy enough, but this job is highly repetitive

and will test their accuracy and endurance to the limits.

OK.

They'll only succeed if they can work together as a team.

Do you know why I'm thinking me the cauliflower?

Because I'm good with weights and sizes.

You've done this before, haven't you? Not exactly the same.

But close enough.

With three people to each team,

they'll be identified by colour-coded protective hairnets.

Do we look good?

You look like Father Christmas. LAUGHTER

So, what does it take to make the grade on a food production line?

HORN BLOWS

Let's start. Come on. Weigh! Go!

Yeah, we're going.

Measuring is critical, and just like in the real world,

quality controllers are carrying out random spot checks.

The workers have been allowed a small margin of error,

but any rejected meals will be discounted from their total.

Stupid scales.

On the red team, buoyed up by her success as a broccoli packer,

Pam is back on the scales.

SHE GROANS

Was it the zero or the T? T.

She's working alongside removal man Qasim...

I need to put it on there.

..and unemployed Zach.

You all right, Pam?

They're all new to production line work.

You know me. Give me ten minutes and then I'll be fine.

Just take your time, Pam, and you'll get your rhythm.

Being at the head of the line is a big responsibility,

as it will be up to Pam to set their pace of production.

Right. Now it's set up right.

There's a tolerance, so you can go five under, five over.

If a strong pacesetter is important,

then the green team is at a big advantage

because heading up their line is agency chef Stephanie.

Slow down a second. Slow down. Sorry!

Go. All right, ready. Yeah, ready.

I've found that, when you do work like this,

you don't need to go to the gym.

So, not only am I doing a job, I'm working on my waist muscles.

That's my added benefit for me.

57-year-old Stephanie worked as a senior hospitality manager,

but was forced to leave her job because of family illness.

When her husband died three years later,

she struggled to get back into full-time work,

so Stephanie became an agency chef on a zero-hour contract.

Today, I'm on standby.

That means that I haven't got anything booked for today,

but if someone phoned in sick, they need a chef now.

You don't know if you're going to work from one day to the next.

You don't know how many hours you could be working.

You don't know where you're going to be working.

PHONE RINGS

Hello. What have you got for me?

'It means that you have to say yes

'to virtually everything that's asked.'

Five hours. All right. It's better than nothing, isn't it?

Because if you don't, then someone else will

and they will be asked next time. That's the reality of it.

Stephanie can earn up to ?12.50 an hour,

but her limited shifts meant, last year,

she only earned ?13,000 before tax.

Living like this is very stressful because...

SHE SIGHS

..I don't know, from one week to the next,

whether I am going to cover the cost of my house,

get the next six months' car tax,

pay for my phone.

My phone is critical.

Without a phone, I don't get bookings.

Stephanie is desperate to find full-time employment

to ease the strain of her unpredictable life,

and regular minimum wage work could provide the answer.

SHE CHUCKLES

Would I like a maid to clean my home?

Goodness me!

I wonder if they've got any vacancies.

SHE LAUGHS

With zero-hour or casual labour contracts,

workers have some rights, like annual leave,

but they're only accrued on the hours they work,

and no amount of work is guaranteed.

I reckon we're doing a good job, but we need to up it.

There are at least 1.5 million of these contracts in Britain today,

but are they all bad?

I'm talking to Mark Beatson

of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development

to see what he thinks.

Are zero-hours contracts exploitative?

Our research shows that, on average, zero-hours contract employees

are just as satisfied with their jobs as other employees,

so it's not the case that

every zero-hours contract job is a bad job.

They work for some people, they don't work for others,

and I think that's very important to emphasise.

What if it's your only option?

If you're on minimum wage and you're going from one job to the next

and you're living hand to mouth, how do you protect yourself?

Well, some zero-hours contract workers protect themselves

by having more than one job.

That means that if one employer is not offering them work,

then they actually have another job, as well, to go back to.

If you're insisting on zero-hours contracts,

if you say that, "We don't guarantee giving you work,"

then it's quite right, I think, that the Government has made it

illegal for them then to say, "You can't work for somebody else."

I think that's, you know, an entirely sensible option to us.

Where's the incentive to go and do the job to the best of your ability?

Well, of course, there is a negative incentive.

Economists talk about things called efficiency wages,

which is the idea that

if you don't work hard enough, you're going to get the sack.

I think there's a much more positive story to tell, though,

which is actually that most people at work,

they take pride in their work, they take pride in doing a good job

and being recognised for doing a good job.

And it requires managers who are able to see people as individuals

and just give them that bit of recognition and encouragement.

But the reality on the shop floor is that the pressure

to generate profits means that targets often come first.

OK, gang, the QCs are just checking your weights and

they're finding quite a few underweights.

That whole trolley now potentially could be underweight,

which is obviously a lot of time and effort and money

cos all of that product might now have to be rejected,

which is obviously going to cost money. OK.

Let's make sure these weights are right. OK? Thank you.

Right, come on!

60% of the blue team's cauliflower cheese has been rejected

and they'll have to pull together as a team

if they're going to fix the problem.

I don't see how they can be underweight.

It could be me, it could be him.

Cos, obviously, you've got scales over there.

I haven't got time to do that! SHE LAUGHS

SHE SHRIEKS

Spillage! Spillage!

While the blue team is struggling with their underweight meals,

Stewart's white team is facing a different problem.

Put 100. Exactly 100. Exactly?

Exactly 100.

Fish and chip shop owner Stewart is heading up the line

with military precision.

Just making sure the measurements are more exact.

We have got a bit of scope. We can go a wee bit higher,

but I want to try and keep it as close as possible to the 100.

But it's very time-consuming.

It's quality as opposed to quantity. Keep sliding it, Stewart.

What's that? Keep sliding it. I will if I can get it weighed.

LAUGHING: OK. Don't keep telling me to keep sliding it. OK, OK.

For factory manager Gary,

a worker like Stewart doesn't give him good value for money.

Stewart's actually slowing the line down

by being over-accurate on his weight,

which is reducing the output by about 50%.

Cauliflower is probably more expensive than Stewart's time

standing on that line so he really needs to step up his speed

to try and get more meals down the line.

With profit margins a constant concern, for Gary,

the most important thing is keeping production lines running smoothly.

Stop at the moment, please.

On Stephanie's green team...

Guys, I'll change the trays.

..warehouse worker Majka is a veteran of the production line...

Majka! Majka!

Leon! I didn't know where you was. I tell you stop. I didn't hear you.

I didn't hear you. I didn't know where you was.

..but graphic designer Leon is a complete novice.

Leon, hear what I say. Yeah, but...

Stop. Hold on, no. Just speak... Even if you attack me.

Leon, we work together. I'm not arguing. Leon...

OK, I know, I know. Listen, listen.

If we don't work together, there's no sense.

We're working together, but I'm saying I didn't see you, that's all.

OK. Yeah? That's all.

The workers are expected to make five meals a minute,

but with the lunchtime stock-take looming,

removal man Qasim on the red team is feeling the pressure.

We need to speed it up badly.

Just let me tell you something. Yeah?

You can only go as fast as the scale will allow you.

Let me tell you something - you know when you put it on?

You zero it, whack it on and you put them on.

It's how fast you work. No, you can't just...

All right, let me show you. Let me just tell you something right now.

Go on. You can't just go like that, right?

No, you don't do that, though. You don't do that. Watch this.

Are you listening? Go on.

No, no, of course I'm BLEEP listening. Go on, then.

All right, leave it, then. If you're going to...

No, no. Don't fall out, guys. No!

Guys! Guys! I'm being civilised.

Yeah, that's unacceptable.

I'm not... Now, let's listen, right.

Have you thought about just changing round? I just asked her. Yeah.

You know, because that's the most demanding job.

In a target-driven environment, tensions are bound to rise,

but Pam and Qasim have taken Mike's advice

and got their production line going again.

It's all right. You sure? Once I'm in me rhythm...

Shout up if you do.

Don't worry about saying owt. Yep.

I'm just doing it me own way.

But Qasim isn't convinced their problem is solved.

We've got a weak link in the team.

She's doing half a job and I'm not happy, honestly,

because I've put in 110%, me.

HORN BLOWS

The lunchtime stock-take is done.

Stephanie's green team is at the top of the leaderboard...

Ohh! Whoa!

THEY LAUGH HAPPILY

..while Pam's red team is in last place.

If you tell me I'm doing this wrong, I will take your advice.

Exactly. Why? Because it's a team activity.

If I get upset, I've got issues. Not you. I've got issues.

In the real world, people like that get sent home

because they're bringing emotions to work.

TEARFULLY: Maybe it's just a personality clash with me and Qasim.

OK? But I haven't done...enough jobs in my life

with enough people to grasp yet

how to put the clashes aside and move forward.

Because I've hardly worked,

I haven't figured out how to do it yet. Maybe I don't know.

Qasim's worried Pam will end up getting him fired,

but as the second half of their shift begins,

he's in for a surprise.

The reason why some of the meals have been rejected is

we're not putting enough cheese on them. Oh, my God!

It seems their third team member Zach

has been scrimping with the topping.

So, you've now got the extra complexity of

you need to be upping your speed,

and you need to make sure the quality is right

cos you've got to get back in there with the other teams.

Whoa!

Look at it as a kick up the arse for the team to motivate us on.

Exactly. There you go. Right, right, right.

The second ready meal the workers are producing is lasagne.

Same positions, yeah? Yes, it's the best way.

HORN BLOWS

All the main ingredients are dispensed by machine

so there's no weighing involved, but it's harder than it seems.

Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm trying!

There's a foot pedal to release the vegetables.

Ah, sorry!

And if you can work out how to use it...

I'm not in the right...

Sorry about that one, Zach.

I've got it in the wrong hand, that's why, innit?

There's a dispenser to deliver the white sauce.

No! Sorry, it's squirting everywhere!

And it's doing it again. It's just gone all mad on me.

The last person on the line adds a sprinkle of cheese,

if they're quick enough. SHE GASPS

Look, guys, you're supposed to tell me, not just let me go!

Ah!

Just a slight spillage. Just getting used to the machine.

On the white team, Stewart is again setting the pace,

but after being so cautious earlier on the scales,

he's now a little trigger happy.

You have a tendency to try and put your foot down.

You're on a foot pedal.

It's not long before he runs out of vegetable mixture.

Bag's empty! We're empty. I need a refill.

Also on the white team is 22-year-old Sabrina,

who's a professional cleaner.

She's not listening. I'm listening.

I thought you were speaking to somebody else.

While Sabrina wants to follow the hygiene rules to the letter...

You need to wash your hands now, you've touched a bin.

Sabrina... You need to wash your hands.

..Stewart is more concerned about their position on the leaderboard.

Stewart, you're not listening, love. I can't do anything.

Yeah, but you touched the bag.

I can't work like this. You're not listening, though, Stewart.

I can't wash my hands... You've touched the bin!

You can't touch that! I'm not touching this product!

But you've still touched the bin! I'm not...

OK, do what you want. Right, OK, here.

But that's what I mean. You need to...

OK, then I can help you. Pass me the scissors.

Don't need to shout about it.

It's just embarrassing. It's not embarrassing.

It's the fact that you need to be washing your hands.

Thank you. There you go.

Chill, we are doing it well. Come on, don't argue.

While painter and decorator Martin knows what counts in this world,

it's all new to graphic designer Leon.

This is one of those jobs that the workers themselves,

you're pretty much invisible in society

because all people want to know

is that I can go to the shop and buy my food.

There's no second thought for where it comes from.

There's no second thought for who actually packages it,

put it together.

Whoa!

That's a huge insight to me.

When a workforce is hidden from view,

what happens to its representation and what happens to its rights?

Frances O'Grady - General Secretary of the TUC -

is concerned.

We're seeing a breakdown in that traditional contract of mutual

respect and obligation between those employers and those workers.

It's about low pay, but not just low pay.

It's about not having strong rights. It's about having no voice at work.

It's about having nobody standing up for you against the bad employer

and being frightened to make a complaint yourself.

Do you think there's any loyalty

if you're on zero-hours or on minimum wage?

If you're on rubbish wages

and you don't even know when you're going to be working that week,

why should you feel loyal to that employer?

But we are competing in a global climate, aren't we?

Do you have to keep your wages low?

Yeah, well, I'm always fascinated that global competition has

given us the reason why British workers should get low wages

and at the very same time,

those at the top should get even bigger pay packets.

In many other countries, we've seen manufacturing flourish

and that's not to do with lower wage costs.

That's to do with governments

who don't just leave it all to the free market.

So many people are on zero-hours contracts.

Where are we heading with this?

This is storing up huge problems for our society

and I think we're now reaching levels of inequality in wages

that are unsustainable.

Yeah, just go, go, go!

Back at the factory and their shift on a production line is almost over.

They must have that final push towards the end of the shift

and obviously still keep their focus on quality and quantity.

SHE SQUAWKS I like this speed. Keep it up!

Keep it going. Keep it going.

I say, "Never give up, regardless" because I wouldn't be here now

if I'd have given up and I don't believe in it.

I might moan and groan a lot and annoy people,

but I'm not a quitter.

The red team has managed to make up ground,

but will it be enough to keep them from going home?

HORN BLOWS

And again. Wait a minute.

I've got my thumb in it. I've got...

LAUGHTER Do you know what?

I'm having such a calamity today!

Pam, use that. Use that. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I'm having such a calamity.

The workers have completed their four-hour shift.

Berwyn. At the pre-April rate of minimum wage,

they've earned themselves just ?26.80 before tax.

Have you seen how much they've given me for all that hard work?

Look at the state of me!

For such a physical challenge,

I really think they should get paid extra for that.

Compared to people that work in offices

and sit there and write stuff, I think they should, at least,

be paid 50% more than what they're paid.

Today, my feet are killing

just by standing in one place most of the time.

And that's four hours. So, you can imagine eight hours.

You can imagine a week, a month. Just... Yeah, so...

Nah, it's not for me. HE LAUGHS

So, what kind of people are perfect production line workers?

And who would put a spanner in the works?

Mike is collating the data from the factory to find out.

It's obvious you've got to be very precise,

but not only have you got to be precise,

you've got to be precise hour after hour.

This graph shows the total number of meals

an experienced team would produce in a four-hour shift

and what a novice team is expected to produce.

Our worst team produced just 405 meals.

They would have to work six times as hard

to meet the same productivity as an experienced team.

Our best team wasn't able to reach the target either.

They produced just 627 meals over the shift.

To work on a production line, you've got to work as a team,

and only one of our teams did that.

HORN BLOWS

We maintained. We maintained. There you go.

See? It paid off. It's good. Yeah.

High-five, man. Definitely, definitely.

Good, good, good, good, good.

While Stephanie's green team held the lead, the red team,

with their slow pace and high rejection rates, failed to improve.

It's a bit gutting going from top spot to going home,

but at least I got up to that top spot

on the one task where I actually felt that I was as good

as each and every other team member.

Remember your broccoli moment. I know. It was your finest.

I'm not going to look at it like I failed because I didn't fail.

It was a group activity.

There were teamwork issues,

productivity issues, training issues.

Multiple issues. It weren't one.

There were a lot of contributing factors.

Like a football match - if a team loses,

you can't blame an individual player.

So, the way I look at it - it's just one of those things.

I take it on the chin.

Aw, take care.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Over the last two days, seven people have been laid off.

Since then,

Qasim's wife has had a baby boy.

And after 23 years out of work, Pam has had a breakthrough.

I got a job at Tesco. They call it customer services assistant.

I call it checkout girl, but it's kind of the same thing.

I absolutely love the job, but I still don't like scales.

They drive me mad.

Next time...

Rob, move your bloody tray.

..the workers step into the world of online retail.

We've got to be like robots, doing all this.

Every move they make will be tracked...

Leon's took an early lead

with four items that he's scanned into his basket.

..as targets must be met. SHE GROANS

You all right? No, I'm cracking up.

You wouldn't be happy with that

if you got that in the post, would you?

Whether fulfilling our orders or checking our products...

Looks a bit wonky, doesn't it?

..can the workers hack it in the world of e-commerce?

Oh, come on! Pfft!

If there is nothing new,

then the Court of Appeal aren't going to change their decision.

You have to question everything.

There were two areas of fingerprints on the carrier bag.

It's an obvious case to re-examine.