Are you doing an unpaid internship? It may be illegal.

Breaking into the job market is challenging. When looking for work in your chosen field you can find yourself in a catch 22: Needing experience to gain employment, but needing employment to gain experience. Into this gap swoops an organisation offering experience, but no pay check.  And herein lays the controversial issue of the unpaid internship.

Unpaid internships grant folks the opportunity to work and gain experience in their area, but with a limited stipend, coverage for only transport and lunch costs, or sometimes with no financial compensation whatsoever.

This is illegal.

A student completing work experience for his or her program is not the same as an unpaid intern. A graduate who agrees to “work for free” and falls within the National Minimum Wage of a worker, or a student doing an unpaid internship that is not part of their degree, is actually entitled to minimum wage for each hour worked. Unpaid Internships are illegal because they don't comply with National Minimum Wage legislation.

“Simply put; unpaid internships exploit those who can afford to do them, and exclude those who cannot,” The National Union of Students (NUS) advice booklet on unpaid internships says.

NUS is campaigning for the rights of interns and asking university career services to stop advertising unpaid internships. In partnership with TUC, Intern Aware, Interns Anonymous and Graduate Fog, they are calling for “an end to unfair, unpaid internships.”

There is growing concern amongst the above organisations that unpaid internships are becoming normalised in the UK and increasing in prevalence. The counter-argument that interns who manage to afford an unpaid stint are benefitting by gaining future work opportunities is not true across the board. A small-scale study of 235 respondents conducted by Interns Anonymous found 82 per cent of interns did not find employment with their organisation.  A similar 83 per cent found their employer did not help them with their job search.  Where the internship did not lead to a job, over 40 per cent of interns were unemployed and over 23 per cent were working in another sector, the NUS booklet highlights. 

So, how do you know whether work you’ve done falls under the National Minimum Wage legislation?

In order to be owed the National Minimum Wage you need to be considered a “worker.” The Department for Business Innovation and Skills states:

A “worker” is someone who works under a contract of employment or any other kind of contract (express or implied) whereby they undertake to do work personally for someone else (and they are not genuinely self-employed).

A contract does not have to be written and can be oral or implied.  Key elements in establishing whether someone has a worker’s contract include:

• whether there is an obligation on the individual to perform the work and an obligation on the employer to provide the work, and
• whether the individual is rewarded for the work by money or benefits.

What are your options?

• You can report companies you are/have done an unpaid internship with to HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs)
• If you think you are entitled to the National Minimum Wage phone the Pay and Work Rights Helpline who will provide you with provide free, confidential at 0800 917 2368 (text phone 0800 121 4042). The Helpline is open from 8am to 8pm (Monday to Friday) and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.
• If you are doing an unpaid internship within the media you can contact the National Union of Journalists to advise you on your options.

What about work experience?

The Department for Business Innovations and Skills states:

Someone who enters into an agreement or contract to work for experience will be a “worker” for national minimum wage purposes and entitled to be paid the national minimum wage in the normal way, unless they are a genuine volunteer or fall into one of the groups who are exempt.

In national minimum wage legislation there is a specific exemption for “workers” who are students undertaking work experience lasting up to one year as part of a UK further or higher education course. Otherwise, students are entitled to be paid at least the national minimum wage in the normal way including when they are:

• studying at non UK educational establishments,
• doing work which is not a specific requirement of their course, or
• doing work which is a requirement of their course but which lasts longer than one year.

If you think you qualify as a worker and are not being paid the National Minimum Wage requirement seek advice from one of the avenues above or contact LSESU.

If you’ve had an unpaid internship and are willing to take action to support the NUS campaign against unfair, unpaid internships then email liz.rawlings@nus.org.uk from NUS with your stories.

Remember, when undertaking any sort of work experience or internship be sure to:

• Keep clear records of any agreements and tasks set out with your employer
• Keep a record of the hours you have worked and the tasks you have done.