Interning

A Labour MP who claims to have “campaigned tirelessly for a living wage for all” is advertising for an unpaid intern to help her achieve this. Lyn Brown told the BBC she ‘“would like to pay everyone” in her office, but “did not have the resources to do so”’.

The BBC continued: “A Westminster source told [us] that the volunteer - who has already been recruited - will be a direct replacement for an existing, salaried staff member who is leaving for another job elsewhere.”

Many companies are replacing entry-level paid jobs with internships.  In a survey in April, 17% of company bosses admitted used interns as ‘cheap labour’. Only 12% knew this can be illegal.

The law is explained here. If you’re doing work, rather than just observing, you should be paid. ‘Work’ isn’t that well defined, but if an employer gives you tasks, and expects you to show up and do them well, you are probably working. It doesn't matter if you've agreed to work for free. There is no law allowing you to give up your right to minimum wage.

If you’re an intern at a magazine or paper writes an article, and it is published, this is clearly work. Last year, the National Union of Journalists surveyed its members. Of the interns who had work published, 80% were not paid.

There is some reason for optimism, though. In May, a website intern won £1,000 in back pay. Keri Hudson claimed to have ‘practically run’ an online review website called My Village, “training and delegating tasks, collecting briefs, scheduling articles and even hiring new interns”. After a while she was promised pay, but this later changed. For six weeks work, she was awarded the minimum wage and holiday pay.

Two years ago, Nicola Vetta was awarded at least £2,000 from London Dreams Motion Pictures, a film company which took her on as an expenses-only intern. She agreed to this, but after suing them for not paying her expenses, she decided to also take them to an employment tribunal for back pay. Ms Vetta was judged to be a worker, and so eligible for minimum wage.

The crucial principle was that agreements to work for free are not legally binding. If you're working, you're still entitled to the minimum wage. I was particularly interested by this point, as I’m an unpaid intern. Since February, I’ve been working at a magazine. They give me articles to write, and expect me to do them well. I do pretty much the same work as the other writers, who are paid for their efforts. 

Of course, I won't sue. I feel I've done well out of my internship. It's given me good experience, and, crucially, means I have something to do during the day. Since February, I haven't watched a single episode of Jeremy Kyle.