Organisation criticises ‘exploitative’ internships

Posted 01/03/2011

An organisation has criticised employers that use interns as unpaid labour within the workplace.

Social enterprise Internocracy carried out a survey which discovered that although 84 per cent of businesses think interns are a useful asset, only 12 per cent of senior and middle managers realise that not paying such workers may be illegal.

Meanwhile, nine out of ten under-35s who had heard of work placements did not know their rights with regard to getting involved in work experience for an organisation.

Internocracy chief executive Becky Heath said she thinks people who try to gain experience to add to their CVs are being exploited, particularly in sought-after sectors.

“They should be paid at least national minimum wage if they are being given responsibilities and are expected to work set hours. Intern isn’t code for free labour,” she added.

In 2010, TUC policy officer Paul Sellers said firms are “ripping off” graduates and school-leavers by offering work experience placements on a rolling schedule to one applicant after another.

Firms thinking of taking on interns or those looking for placements are advised to check their rights on the Direct Gov website.