A working interview is a hiring stage where the candidate does real or realistic work while you watch. In hospitality and retail it is usually called a trial shift; in trades, healthcare and dentistry it is often called a working interview. It is one of the most direct ways to see whether someone can do the job, and also the stage most likely to cause a wage claim if you get it wrong.
This guide covers when a working interview is a good idea, the pay rules in the main countries, and how to run one that is fair to the candidate and useful to you.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on the facts; check with an employment lawyer or the official guidance for your country before you run unpaid trials.
What is a working interview?
A working interview is a short, supervised session in which a shortlisted candidate carries out tasks from the job, usually at your workplace, alongside your team. It comes after at least one conventional interview and before an offer.
It differs from a work sample test in one important way. A work sample test is a task built for assessment: a mock customer email, a sample spreadsheet, a cooking brief in a test kitchen. A working interview puts the candidate into your real operation, with real customers, patients or products. That realism is the point, and it is also why the law often treats the time as work.
Should you run one at all?
A working interview earns its place when the job is hands-on and hard to judge from talk alone: chefs, baristas, bar staff, hairdressers, dental nurses, mechanics, warehouse operatives. You learn about speed, hygiene, safety habits and how the person fits into a busy team.
It is a poor fit when:
- the work cannot be shown in a few hours (most office and knowledge roles)
- the candidate would need system access, training or a licence they do not yet have
- you would be asking someone to give up a shift at their current job to attend
- you are using trials to cover a staffing gap
For roles like these, a structured interview plus a realistic task gives better evidence. Our guide to work sample tests explains how to build one.
Interviewing for an open role?
Before the interviews, Cohesyve can find and contact candidates from your job description, test them on a simulation of the real work and rank them. Ten candidates free, no card.
Do you have to pay for a working interview?
It depends on the country and on what the candidate actually does. The common thread across the countries below is that the more the trial looks like ordinary productive work, and the longer it lasts, the more likely the person is entitled to be paid.
| Country | What the official guidance says | Practical reading |
|---|---|---|
| UK | A trial lasting longer than one day is likely to attract the minimum wage in all but very exceptional cases; a few hours may be reasonable | Keep unpaid trials to a few observed hours, or pay |
| US (federal) | Work that is "suffered or permitted" counts as hours worked and must be paid | Pay for any trial where the candidate does real work for you |
| Canada (Ontario) | Since 21 March 2024 a person doing work during a trial period is an employee if the skills assessed are ones your employees use | Pay trial shifts at least the minimum wage |
| Australia | The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes specific rules on unpaid trials | Read the Ombudsman's guidance before running one |
| India | No specific national rule on trial shifts found | Pay, or keep the trial to a simulated task |
The UK: what GOV.UK says about unpaid work trials
The UK government's minimum wage guidance has a section on unpaid work trial periods. It says there are no fixed rules, and lists the factors a court or tribunal is likely to look at:
- whether the trial is genuinely for recruitment
- whether it lasts longer than you would reasonably need to test the person
- how far the person is observed while doing the tasks
- how closely the tasks match the job on offer
- whether the tasks have value to you beyond testing the person (simulated tasks normally do not)
- whether trials are a way you run your business, for example to keep labour costs down
The guidance states that a trial lasting longer than one day is likely to be entitled to the minimum wage except in very exceptional circumstances, while a few hours may be reasonable. Its worked examples are useful: a two-hour café trial observed by the owner is unlikely to need paying; a week of bar shifts, an unobserved eight-hour warehouse shift or a twelve-hour kitchen trial on the busiest day of the week are likely to.
Jobcentre Plus also runs a Work Trial scheme for some jobseekers, which is one of the limited exceptions where an unpaid trial is allowed. If you recruit through Jobcentre Plus, ask them about it.
The US: hours worked under the FLSA
The US Department of Labor's guidance on hours worked says that work not requested but "suffered or permitted" is work time that must be paid. A candidate who serves your customers, cleans patients' teeth or picks orders on your floor is doing work for you, whatever you call the session. Many state laws add their own rules. The safe course is to pay for working interviews at the role's rate and process the pay through payroll.
Canada: Ontario's trial-period rule
Ontario's guide to the Employment Standards Act says that, since 21 March 2024, a person who performs work during a trial period counts as an employee if the skills being assessed are ones your employees use. Its example is a candidate who works a trial shift waiting tables: they are an employee under the Act even if you never make an offer. Other provinces have their own legislation, so check the rules where the job is based.
Australia
The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes guidance on when an unpaid trial is lawful, including conditions on supervision and length. Read it on fairwork.gov.au, or call the Fair Work Infoline, before you run a trial shift.
How to run a fair working interview
If you decide a working interview is right, design it like any other assessment: decide what you are looking for first, then build the session around it.
1. Pick the two or three things you need to see
Write them down before the candidate arrives. For a line cook it might be knife skills, timing under pressure and kitchen hygiene. For a dental nurse it might be infection control, chairside support and how they talk to anxious patients. If you cannot name them, you are not ready to run the trial.
2. Keep it short and observed
A named person should watch the candidate throughout and take notes against the criteria. In the UK guidance, being observed is one of the factors that keeps a trial on the right side of the line; it is also the only way you will learn anything.
3. Tell the candidate everything in writing beforehand
Send a short note with the date, start and finish time, what they will do, what to wear or bring, who they will report to, whether the session is paid and at what rate, and how they will hear the outcome. Our interview invitation email template is a good starting point.
4. Cover safety and insurance
Give a safety briefing, provide protective equipment, and check that your insurance covers someone who is not yet an employee working on site. Do not ask candidates to use dangerous equipment they have not been trained on.
5. Score it the same way for everyone
Use a simple scorecard with the same criteria and rating scale for every candidate, and fill it in straight after the session. Our interview scorecard template works for this.
6. Make reasonable adjustments
Ask every candidate whether they need any adjustments. In the UK, Acas lists job applicants among the people employers must make reasonable adjustments for; the same thinking applies wherever disability discrimination law covers recruitment.
Working interview checklist
- [ ] The role is hands-on and the key skills can be seen in a few hours
- [ ] Criteria written down before the session
- [ ] Pay decision made and written into the invitation
- [ ] Session length fixed and kept to
- [ ] A named observer for the whole session
- [ ] Safety briefing and protective equipment ready
- [ ] Insurance checked
- [ ] Scorecard prepared, same for every candidate
- [ ] Adjustments offered
- [ ] Outcome sent within the time you promised
Alternatives to a working interview
If pay rules, safety or practicality make a trial shift hard, these give much of the same evidence:
- A work sample in a simulated setting: a tasting in a test kitchen, a mock appointment, a sample job sheet. The UK guidance notes that simulated tasks normally have no value to the employer beyond testing.
- A skills test or job simulation online: useful for roles with a large written, numerical or customer-service element, and easy to give to every applicant on the same terms.
- A structured interview with situational questions: ask candidates how they would handle specific situations from the job. See our structured interview guide.
FAQs
Is a trial shift the same as a working interview?
Yes, in practice. "Trial shift" is the usual term in UK and Australian hospitality and retail; "working interview" is more common in the US, especially in dental and veterinary practices. The legal question is the same: is the person doing work for you?
Can I make the trial shift unpaid if I hire the person afterwards?
Hiring the person afterwards does not decide the question. In the UK, the guidance focuses on length, observation, the tasks and their value to you. In Ontario, the trial-shift worker is an employee whether or not you make an offer. The simplest answer is to pay.
How long should a working interview be?
Long enough to see the skills you wrote down and no longer. The UK guidance treats a few hours as potentially reasonable and anything over a day as likely to require pay.
Do I need the candidate's consent?
You need their agreement to attend, and they should know exactly what is involved before they say yes. Put it in writing.