It's the stuff of dystopian fiction: welfare claimaints sent to work for no pay at profitable private companies, with costs born by the taxpayer. British courts are taking aim at the policy, the BBC reports.
Miss Reilly said that in November 2011 she had to leave her voluntary work at a local museum and work unpaid at the Poundland store in Kings Heath, Birmingham, under a scheme known as the "sector-based work academy". She was told that if she did not carry out the work placement – which, she said, involved stacking shelves and cleaning floors – she would lose her Jobseeker's Allowance.
