A university graduate has won a legal challenge on appeal, claiming that a government scheme forces people to work without pay.
Cait Reilly, 24, claimed that requiring her to work for free at a Poundland store breached laws banning slavery and forced labour.
The University of Birmingham geology graduate lost her original case at the High Court, but has now won on appeal.
Her solicitors said this could have major implications for jobseekers.
Three judges in London ruled that the regulations under which most of the government's back-to-work schemes were created were unlawful and quashed them.
Miss Reilly, from Birmingham, and 40-year-old unemployed HGV driver Jamie Wilson, from Nottingham, both succeeded in their claims that the unpaid schemes were legally flawed.
Mr Wilson was told that his jobseeker's allowance would be stopped after he refused to take part in the Community Action Programme, which his lawyers said would have involved him working unpaid for 30 hours per week for six months.
Their solicitors said that the ruling meant "all those people who have been sanctioned by having their jobseekers' allowance withdrawn for non-compliance with the back-to-work schemes affected will be entitled to reclaim their benefits".
Source - www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21426928
