London, UK: Is it legal for a commercial company with paid employees to use “volunteer staff”?

Published January 12, 2011

Question by Box: London, UK: Is it legal for a commercial company with paid employees to use “volunteer staff”?
In the recession? To take on “volunteer secretaries with a view to a permanent post in 3 months”?

Sounds dodgy to me – the ad asked applicants to write saying what they could “bring to the company”, but didn’t say what the company did.

If it was a charity, wouldn’t they have been asked to say why they were interested in the work and objects of the charity?

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