Workers claim they have been forced to clean up human faeces, had payments cut off after a death in the family and have had to cancel work to attend provider appointments

Jobseekers say their employment providers have put them in positions where they have been given just one shift a fortnight, had to clean up large amounts of human faeces, and have been cut off payments after a close family member died.

In one case, Rebecca, who did not want her last name used, said her disability provider, Multiple Solutions, had registered her as a sole contractor and placed her into a role cleaning an aged care home in Gawler, South Australia, without telling her she was technically self-employed.

Wise Employment questionnaire also asks jobseekers about employment barriers, potentially including being overweight or lazy

A taxpayer-funded course run by one Australia’s biggest employment service providers gives jobseekers instructions on how to shower properly and asks them in a questionnaire if one of the reasons they are unemployed is because they are “overweight” or “lazy”.

Wise Employment is among dozens of privatised job agencies contracted by the federal government to run the $500m Employability Skills Training program to help jobseekers “become job-ready by providing intensive pre-employment training”.