04/01/2012.Atif’s story: I can only afford to consider this career because my internship was paid

A guest post by Atif Shafique.

Through its paid and employee-centric internship, the RSA provided me with a great and affordable stepping-stone to my desired career path.

We all know the current reality of unpaid internships is a scandal. It permeates not only through industries that are already known for unscrupulous practices, such as the fashion and media industry, but also organisations that claim to be dedicated to an ethical and social purpose. Think tanks are some of the biggest culprits, along with Members of Parliament that are brazen enough to make speeches about economic justice and the plight of young people while exploiting their own unpaid interns and making this career path unaffordable to those that aren’t privileged enough to survive on a salary of 0.

Despite this, there are a number of organisations that have been appalled by the exploitation and inequalities at the centre of this scandal. Thankfully for me, the Royal Society of Arts (RSA, www.thersa.org) was one of them. Last summer, I saw a job posting placed by the RSA on w4mp.org – a site otherwise notorious for being a Craig’s List of employment illegality for questionable organisations that feed on pools of unpaid labour. The only reason I was able to apply for the RSA internship was because it offered the London Living Wage – up until that point I was not able to apply to several dozens of otherwise appealing internship opportunities that may have benefited my career progression had they paid a salary. I didn’t apply for these jobs not because I lacked the will or ability, but because I couldn’t afford to work for free.

If i was unable to successfully find a paid internship, I would undoubtedly have had to reconsider my career path, despite all the investment I made in pursuing it (including a First-Class Honours and a Distinction at Master’s level in International Politics/Relations). With a lack of entry-level jobs in the sector, combined with the necessity of solid experience and the intense competition, it is unlikely that I would have been able to break in unless I resorted to unpaid internships. Indeed, because I went several months without finding a suitable job, I was already pursuing alternative career paths that my heart wasn’t set on – I was quite fortunate to find the RSA internship.

The RSA not only provided me with a living wage, it also structured the internship around my personal development. My line manager met with me regularly to discuss my progress, offer me additional support and resources, and connect me with other staff and professionals that are involved in work that I’m interested in, or could pursue in the future. Through this process I was also able to take part in work that wasn’t necessarily part of my job description – including exciting field research – but which still benefited me greatly. I worked across two programmes within the RSA, and received a terrific amount of support from all of my colleagues. Importantly, I was also doing meaningful work that was not only adding value to the RSA but also enhancing my skills set. Towards the end of my internship, my line manager, project directors and other colleagues were keen to offer support with future employment. I completed the internship with an offer for a further contract of work from one of my programme directors (which I accepted), and the potential for employment in a future project with another director.

The issue of internships is a highly controversial one, and it is only right that Intern Aware and others are exposing the injustice at the heart of unpaid labour. But it is also important to highlight cases of good practice – of organisations that commit to paying their staff despite financial squeezes and limited resources. These positive examples can encourage others to end dubious practices and demonstrate their commitment to building a fair and prosperous society.

Atif completed his internship with the RSA in late December 2011, and was offered and accepted a four month contract as a Research Assistant with one of the programmes within the organisation. He is hoping to carve out a career in social and political research and project management in a think tank environment.

28/06/2011.Ed Miliband – keep your pledge to Britain’s interns

Please email info@internaware.org to sign our open letter to Ed Miliband, urging him to keep his pledge and end unpaid internships in the Labour Party.

Dear Ed,

A Labour MP has hit the news for replacing a paid member of staff with an unpaid intern. Lyn Brown has acted wrongly. Unpaid internships exploit young people desperate to get work at a time of high graduate unemployment. And they cut out the vast majority who can’t afford to work for free.

You know this to be true. You speak of a “British promise” under threat because “the next generation will find it harder to get on than the last”. You highlight the difficulty young people have in finding jobs and criticise the way “the best off… buy their way to hand the best chances to get on to their children.”

We were delighted that you signed our pledge to campaign for the “Minimum Wage Act to be fully enforced so that employers must pay their interns.”

But it is difficult to talk about social mobility with a straight face while the only young people who can afford to work in Labour MPs’ offices are those who can afford to work for free.

You promised to end unpaid internships across Britain. Today, we ask you to keep your pledge in a very small way: end unpaid internships in the Labour Party and put the rhetoric of “the British promise” into action.

6/05/2011.Show politicians that interns matter

When: Wednesday 8 June | 12pm – 2pm
Where: Outside the House of Commons, London

In aid of the launch of Intern Nation, NUS and Intern Aware are organising a publicity stunt on the 8th June outside the House of Commons to bring press attention to the contribution interns make to the UK economy.

We want politicians to come face to face with the exploitation faced by young people working for free across the country, but to do so WE NEED YOUR HELP.

We anticipate high press attention for this action so we need lots of interns there to get maximum effect. Come along to the event from 12pm-2pm. If you are interested in attending please register your interest by emailing susan.nash@nus.org.uk with your name, contact details, postcode and stating if you are currently doing an internship.

Thank you.

6/05/2011.Guest post: How I persuaded a very good company to pay their interns

So why do employers use interns as unpaid workers? Do they not understand the law, or do they just not care?

Well mostly, in my experience, it’s the former. And that ignorance runs alongside an unexpressed and not entirely thought through feeling that interns just want the experience, and don’t mind not being paid. I’ve yet to meet an intern who would turn down the money if offered it however – interns are, after all, just like you and me; bread needed on the table, roof required over head etc etc.

Here’s a case in point. I recently wrote to a company that was advertising for an intern to do what was clearly a job of work. Why is this position not paid? Like many an employer before them they replied that they did not have the money. No attempt to address the legal question of why that person should not be receiving at least the Minimum Wage, they didn’t even dress it up; we don’t have the money, we can’t pay them.

And that’s the case with many employers – they don’t see the legal issue, don’t regard it as relevant (why should they when everyone else is using interns as unpaid workers without any comeback?) and so don’t answer that question in those terms. It’s an issue that HMRC have faced (or rather not faced) when asked to address the problem of unpaid interns by the Low Pay Commission – almost all employers are blindly unaware of their legal obligations and getting them to see what those are is very difficult, especially when their mindset and field of vision are not pointed in that direction.

Unusually though, the employer I wrote to this time did finally get the point. They market themselves as a company that likes to “do good”, and after some thought they could see that there really wasn’t much that was terribly “good” in not paying their workers their legal entitlement. It’s a small victory, and a small amount of money for that intern to do the bread on table/roof over head thing, but it’s not a bad thing for everyone to try. If an army of people ask that simple question of an army of employers who are advertising these unpaid jobs, it could be a war that can be won by gentle persuasion.

Guest post written by Louise Clifford.

8/04/2011.Low Pay Commission criticise HM Revenue and Customs for failing to enforce the minimum wage on interns

Today, the Low Pay Commission has criticised Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for failing to enforce minimum wage laws on interns.

In its annual report, the Commission stated:

“We are concerned [..] at the continued evidence of apparent breaches of the National Minimum Wage Regulations where opportunities, which on any reasonable test appear to be work, are unpaid. […]We believe that stronger action needs to be taken on enforcement.

“We recommend that the Government takes steps to raise awareness of the rules applying to payment of the National Minimum Wage for those undertaking internships […], we recommend that these rules are effectively enforced by HMRC using its investigative powers.”

The report added that there had been an increase in the number of internships since the recession.

Ben Lyons, Co-Director of Intern Aware and a contributor to the report said:

“We are delighted that the Low Pay Commission has spoken up for the lost generation of hard working young people being made to work for free. For too long employers, from politicians to fashion designers, have taken advantage of young people working for months without pay.

“If the government means what it says about social mobility it will listen to the Low Pay Commission and ensure that the minimum wage is being paid to interns.”

Rosy Rickett, spokesperson for Interns Anonymous, and a contributor to the report said:

“Every week we receive numerous emails of stories from interns who have to work long hours for no pay.

“Interns Anonymous and Intern Aware believe a day’s work demands a day’s pay and we call upon the Government to ensure that the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations are implemented in full.”

Notes to editors

1) The Low Pay Commission report can be read in full at: http://www.lowpay.gov.uk/lowpay/report/pdf/Revised_Report_PDF_with_April_date.PDF

2) Intern Aware (http://internaware.org) is a campaign group founded by two university students. On Tuesday, it exposed the news that Nick Clegg had employed an unpaid intern. Today, it exposed the news that Nick Clegg will allow the practice of unpaid internships to continue inside the Liberal Democrats. Interns Anonymous (http://internsanonymous.co.uk) is a campaigning blog, founded by two former interns.

7/04/2011. Lib Dem MPs exempt from Clegg’s new plans on social mobility

Under Nick Clegg’s new plans on social mobility, Liberal Democrat MPs will not be required to pay their interns. This comes despite assurances by Mr Clegg on 5 April that “proper remuneration” would now be provided to his party’s interns.

Emails revealed to Intern Aware make this clear. On 6 April, a potential applicant emailed the Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester Withington, John Leech, asking how much the base rate pay would be in light of Mr Clegg’s announcement.

James Hennigan, Mr Leech’s Diary and Research Assistant replied:

“Thank you for your email, the new internship scheme applies to posts at Liberal Democrat HQ and the Liberal Democrat Whips’ offices. Internships with MPs are organised through each individual office and must meet the requirements set out by IPSA.”

Intern Aware contacted Mr Leech’s office, which confirmed that there are “no plans” to ensure Liberal Democrat interns are paid a wage or even expenses.

Ben Lyons, Co-Director of Intern Aware, said:

“Nick Clegg has tried to gain political capital from giving the impression that he is ending unpaid internships in his party. As we have discovered, Liberal Democrat MPs will continue to be able to provide unpaid internships to their friends’ children. This is wrong and must be stopped.

“Does Mr Clegg honestly believe that interns from anything other than the most affluent backgrounds will be able to afford to work unpaid for months on end?”

Notes

1) On 5 April, speaking in the House of Commons Mr Clegg, said:

“[The government will be] tackling the long-standing problems caused by unpaid internships, dominated by those from the most affluent backgrounds.”

Answering a question from Hazel Blears, Labour MP for Salford on whether he agreed that “unpaid internships are exploitative and totally unacceptable”, Mr Clegg responded:

“Yes, of course I agree with her principle that internships should be not only advertised in a fair and transparent fashion so that there is meritocracy… but of course [they must be] properly remunerated as well… The way in which internships have been administered and received in the past… on all sides of the House [has] left a lot to be desired. Speaking… as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, I can confirm from today we are making sure that the advertisements for internships are done in a manner which are name and school blind… and of course that proper remuneration is provided to those that do secure internships.”

He later told BBC News: “From today all Liberal Democrat MPs will give real support to cover costs and to conform with minimum wage legislation as much as possible”.

2) Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live on 6 April, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West, Stephen Williams defended the Liberal Democrats’ use of interns, comparing it to voluntary charity work. He said:

“Have you ever volunteered in an Oxfam shop? I have. If you’ve ever volunteered in an Oxfam shop… that’s quite clearly different to a career path.”

Yet Mr Williams advertised for an unpaid intern for a period of at least three months in August 2010. He specified that it was essential that the intern could “work well under pressure”. In another unpaid internship advert, Mr Williams said that the experience would provide “highly marketable skills”. Clearly, Mr Williams’ internships are expected to improve the intern’s employability and are very different to volunteering now and then in an Oxfam shop.

http://www.w4mp.org/html/personnel/jobs/disp_job_text.asp?ref=26172

http://www.w4mp.org/html/personnel/jobs/disp_job.asp?ref=16151

3) This news follows the discovery that the Liberal Democrats will only be paying their interns at Party headquarters £5 a day in food expenses, in addition to a travel allowance. Furthermore, contrary to Nick Clegg’s statement in the House of Commons that paid Liberal Democrat internships would start “today”, the new scheme will not start this year.

4) Unite: the Union estimates that of the 450 interns in Parliament, 44% do not receive any form of remuneration – not even travel or food expenses. This amounts to 18,000 hours of unpaid labour every week. http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/2009_archived_press_releases/_unfair__working_conditions_of.aspx

5) In an investigation of 22 unpaid internships in Parliament which Intern Aware believed may be breaching employment law, half were being advertised by Liberal Democrat MPs.

http://www.internaware.org/mpsneedtopay

6) Intern Aware (http://internaware.org) is a campaign group founded by two university students.

Contact

Ben Lyons
ben@internaware.org
07814250038

Gus Baker
gus@internaware.org
07967584711

5/04/2011. Nick Clegg’s former unpaid intern exposes government hypocrisy

As part of the government’s social mobility strategy, Nick Clegg today announced a plan to reverse the culture of unpaid internships. Yet Intern Aware and Interns Anonymous can announce today that Nick Clegg himself has himself hired unpaid interns in the past and that his party is one of the worst offenders. As interns rights campaign groups, we support the government’s proposals but believe they must go further to tackle the hidden economy of unpaid internships.

Jonny Medland, a former unpaid intern for Nick Clegg, said:

“I worked on all sorts of projects – drafting articles to appear in the local/national press, researching policy announcements from the then Labour government and making notes for speeches in the Commons. It definitely wasn’t ‘work experience’ but was exactly the sort of work which the coalition is now, rightly, insisting you should be paid for. People get a lot out of these internships but if they’re not paid then you’ll always be blocking out people who don’t live around London and who need to earn money in holidays.”

Ben Lyons, Co-Director of Intern Aware said:

“It is encouraging that politicians have finally woken up to the scandal of Britain’s unpaid intern culture. But as part of any solution, Nick Clegg must address the widespread use of unpaid interns in his own party. When Intern Aware launched an investigation into the use of interns in Parliament, the majority of exploitative MPs were Liberal Democrats. There are currently seven Liberal Democrat MPs advertising for unpaid internships.

“The government’s proposals are promising but must go further. Companies should not be allowed to offer “reasonable expenses”. Five pounds a day for food and drink is not enough to support anyone for two months in London. Crucially, the government should be working to end the proliferation of unpaid internships across all sectors of the economy, not just in the civil service. “

Rosy Rickett, Co-Founder of Interns Anonymous, said:

“We obviously welcome this news, but the devil will be in the detail. We will be holding Nick Clegg to account in the coming weeks and months to make sure this is not just a PR exercise. Will government MPs abide by National Minimum Wage legislation as Clegg is encouraging? Putting his own house in order will be a real marker of success. Let’s also finally put paid to the myth that expenses are enough to live on.”

–
- Intern Aware (http://internaware.org) is a campaign group founded by two university students, both former interns. Interns Anonymous (http://internsanonymous.co.uk) is a campaigning blog, founded by two former interns.

- The CIPD estimates that there were around 128,000 interns paid less than the minimum wage in Britain during the summer months of 2010, with many interning full time for several months on end.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D9A7378B-4364-4575-8083-D58BAD9D9785/0/5221_Labour_Market_Outlook_Spring_2010.pdf

- Unite: the Union estimates that of the 450 interns in Parliament, 44% do not receive any form of remuneration – not even travel or food expenses. This amounts to 18,000 hours of unpaid labour every week. http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/2009_archived_press_releases/_unfair__working_conditions_of.aspx

- The former intern worked for Nick Clegg while he was Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman. He is willing to speak to journalists on the coniditon of anonymity. Please enquire through Ben Lyons at Intern Aware.

Contact

Ben Lyons
ben@internaware.org
07814250038

Alex Try
Internsanonymous@gmail.com

14/02/2011. Cash for internships: read our letter to the Tory Party

The Mail on Sunday has revealed that internships for children of Tory party donors are being sold at  an exclusive fundraising gala. At Intern Aware, we think that work experience opportunities should be for everyone, not just those whose parents are able to spend thousands of pounds to buy them the privilege.

Our letter to the Conservative Party’s Co-Chairmen is below. We will publish their response.

Dear Mr Feldman and Lady Warsi,

I am writing to you to ask the Conservative Party to clarify its position on internships. We are concerned at reports in The Mail on Sunday that the Conservative Party auctioned at least eight internships at the Black and White party for several thousand pounds each.

Wealthy party donors are willing to pay sums of up to £3,500 for the children to do internships for a reason: they know it will improve their employability. It was on these terms that the internships were sold. Amanda Wakeley’s fashion business in Chelsea, (Lot 2, selling for £2000) advertised as “an unmissable opportunity to add this highly-respected brand to a CV” while CMC Markets (Lot 4, £3000), offered a “much-sought-after experience [which] will furnish the interns’ CV with a financial brand that is recognised the world over”.

In a time of where there are 70 applications for every graduate job, it is irresponsible for the Conservative Party to assist in the buying of jobs at the most prestigious companies. David Cameron says that the Conservatives are now the party of class mobility – so why allow that party’s funds to be raised by mechanisms which will improve the chances of the most connected and wealthy, rather than the most talented?

Intern Aware campaigns for an end to unpaid internships, because asking young people to work for free is exploitative and corrosive for social mobility. In a tough graduate employment market, completing internships are an essential rung on many career ladders. Where these jobs are unpaid they are inaccessible for those who cannot afford to work without a wage. David Willetts rightly recognises the value of work experience for young people and has promised that the government will stamp out this “unacceptable… exploitation of interns”. There are hundreds of thousands of recent graduates struggling to find work, most of whom cannot afford to work for free. Certainly they cannot pay to work and the Conservative Party needs to recognise that young people who cannot afford to buy work experience at Britain’s top companies find the idea of internship auctions to be deeply distasteful.

We call on you on fundraise responsibly by committing to end this practice of internship auctions at all future Conservative Party events. Furthermore, we call on the Conservative Party to issue clear policy against unpaid internships, ensuring that opportunities for work experience are available to all.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Lyons

Co-Director, Intern Aware

24/01/2011 Do you want fries with that? Why we reject the idea of young people working for free.

The government today announced that unemployed young people will soon be matched with multinational companies to undertake work experience. Young people with ‘no direct experience of work’ will be allowed to remain on Jobseeker’s Allowance while working for free.

The Daily Mail has reported that:
Under the new initiative, young people between 18 and 21 will be matched by Jobcentre Plus with employers looking for people to do work experience.

Leading employers like Homebase, Hilton Hotels, McDonalds, De Vere Hotels, Carillion, Coyle Personnel and Punch Taverns are cooperating with the scheme.

At Intern Aware, we’re pleased that the government is looking at the twin issues of work experience and youth unemployment. However we believe that it is not up to taxpayers to subsidise employers who don’t wish to pay the National Minimum Wage. While it’s great that big companies want more young people working for them, £5.93 per hour, (or £4.92 if the employee is 20 or under) is not a big ask. Young people should not face the humiliation of having to work without pay. More than this, the costs associated with working (e.g. transport and lunch) may make it impossible for people to afford to take up these opportunities.

Huge multinationals like McDonalds should not be making a quick buck out of Britain’s chronic levels of graduate unemployment by getting enthusiastic young workers for free.

16/08/2010 In praise of the government’s appointment of Alan Milburn

It was last summer that the unjust effects of internships first received serious political and media attention. In July 2009, the former Cabinet Minister Alan Milburn published a major report looking into the factors preventing social mobility. Amongst the areas Unleashing Aspiration considered were schools, universities, recruitment and internships. This was the first major examination of the issue and it received a lot of press. Milburn’s Report demonstrated the true extent of the problem, and prompted us to set up Intern Aware.

So we are encouraged by the news that Alan Milburn has been appointed by the government to lead a taskforce aimed at improving social mobility. We hope that he will use the position to develop informed and far-reaching policy on fairer access to the professions. But he must go beyond the limited proposals in the Milburn Report and demand the proper enforcement of the employment law for interns. With proper government regulation, there is the possibility that internships could play a positive role in the labour market.

29/07/2010 PRESS RELEASE: All Labour Leadership Contenders Back Fairer Internships

Intern Aware announces today that all five candidates for the leadership of the Labour Party have signed up to back a fair deal for interns. The candidates have pledged to campaign to end the situation in which many interns are denied rights as short-term workers, including being paid the minimum wage.

Unpaid internships are becoming more common and their social effects are getting worse in post-recession Britain. With an average of seventy applicants for every graduate job, potential employees who have interned are placed at a crucial advantage. However, because of the high costs associated with living and working in cities like London, people without significant financial support are unable to apply for these positions. This has the effect of entrenching inequality. Issues around social mobility have become important in the Labour leadership campaign and the success of Intern Aware’s campaign should only increase their prominence.

Welcoming this announcement, Co-Director of Intern Aware, Ben Lyons, said:

“It can cost up to £500 to intern for two weeks in London. In this time of high graduate unemployment we risk a lost generation of people who cannot afford to work for free. Too often, internships simply amount to graduates doing the same work their elder siblings would have received a salary for as an entry-level job. Unpaid internships are not just unjust; many of them could be illegal. Employment law confers rights on employees based on their conditions of work, not the label attached to their work by their employer. Anyone who contributes to an organisation is entitled to be paid.

“Whoever is the next leader of the opposition, we can expect Labour to campaign for fairer internships. We have reached a milestone in creating an internship system which encourages, rather than hinders, social mobility.”

Notes

• The wording of the pledge is “I pledge that if I am elected leader of the Labour Party I will campaign for Labour’s Minimum Wage Act to be fully enforced so that employers must pay their interns what they are due.”

07/06/2010. Think-tank, the IPPR, calls for an end to unpaid internships

We were really pleased to hear that the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has criticised the practice of unpaid internships as “unfair”. The IPPR are a model provider of internships in that sector, and one of the few think-tanks who pay the minimum wage to their interns.

Kayte Lawton, from the IPPR, gets the problem bang on:

We have a culture where lots of sectors are relying on unpaid work and that is just not fair, both for those who have to do the work and those who do not get the opportunities…

It is encouraging that the government minister David Willetts has commented on the damage unpaid internships do to social mobility and that he has promised to look into revising government guidelines. We will keep the pressure up and await progress!

09/04/2010.Obama moves to end unpaid internships-British politicians must follow his lead.

Intern Aware welcomes the move by the Obama administration to end the exploitation of unpaid internships and calls on British politicians to recognise the issue in their manifestos.

The U.S. department of Labor announced this week that it would be cracking down on unpaid internships and calling for the minimum wage to be paid to interns. Nancy J. Leppink, acting director of the Department of Labor’s wage and hour division has said: ‘‘If you’re a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren’t going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be paid and still be in compliance with the law.”

In the UK pressure is mounting for similar action to be taken to combat the growing trend of employers asking interns to work for free. The Low Pay Commission reported in March that “growing evidence of abuse” exists with a “growing number of people undertaking ‘work’ but excluded from the minimum wage.” Findings by Skillset in March showed that 44% of media workers did unpaid work to get into their industry, with similar exploitation seen in many other different sectors of employment.

Co-Director of the campaign, Ben Lyons, commented:
“Intern Aware has had support of MPs from all parties. British politicians love to compare their campaign strategies or economic policies to Barack Obama’s: now they have a real chance to follow American leadership. We call on British parties to join Obama in pledging to wipe out unpaid internships in their election manifestos.

“Currently interns are being treated as employees, without their rights or even pay. We risk a ghost generation of journalists, documentary producers and fashion designers. There are tens of thousands of people with the talent to become leaders in these fields. However, their chances of success are limited because they can’t afford to work for free.

“The Reading employment tribunal ruled in November 2009 that expenses-only internships are illegal. Any employer that fails to pay its interns is in breach of law.”

29/03/2010.Very disappointing ruling from MPs expenses watchdog

Way back in October 2009 the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), looking for solutions to the expenses scandal, supported the Speaker John Bercow’s statement that the minimum wage should apply to parliamentary interns. Yet in their final proposals, released today, they abandoned the simple notion that work should be paid.

Today’s ruling will be very bad news for young people who want to contribute to political life and who can’t afford to work for free. Headline measures about an end to first class travel for MPs are all well and good but do they really change parliament? If IPSA had had the guts to support real change today, we’d be looking at a very different House of Commons in 20 years time.

Our press release is below:

PRESS RELEASE: FOR PUBLICATION

29.03.2010
INTERN AWARE VOICES DISAPPOINTMENT AT IPSA RULING

Intern Aware is deeply disappointed by today’s ruling by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) which backtracks on their proposal to make the payment of interns mandatory. We are also worried that with the reduced staffing budget of the new scheme taken into account, unpaid labour will become an even greater problem in Parliament.

We note that IPSA is out of step with the changing political climate. Last October, the Speaker, John Bercow, acknowledged that if interns were doing regular work and regular hours, then minimum-wage legislation should apply.The Reading employment tribunal ruled in November 2009 that expenses-only internships are illegal. Intern Aware will be writing to all new Members of Parliament reminding them that they may be in breach of the law if they do not pay their interns.

Co-Director of the campaign, Ben Lyons, commented:

“The IPSA ruling is deeply disappointing. These reforms were supposed to be about cleaning up our politics, but they will have the effect of making our political class even more unrepresentative.

“Internships are an often crucial first step on the ladder in modern politics. Our politicians spend a lot of time talking about the importance of having a representative parliament. This will not be achieved if the only people who are able to enter politics have to work for free.

“Currently interns are being treated as employees, without their rights or, crucially, their wages. We risk a ghost generation of political leaders. Our democracy will be severely weakened if only those who can afford to work for free can gain the necessary experience for to enter public life.

“The report by former Cabinet Minister Alan Milburn, Fair Access to the Professions, found that the living costs associated with interning in London for two weeks amounts to £500. Over a standard three month internship, that amounts the cost of a term at private school. The current system entrenches inequality.”

Ends

07/03/2010.The BBC reports that unpaid internships are ‘breaking minimum wage law’… but how many interns do they refuse to pay?

It’s great to see that the BBC are picking up the issue of unfair internships, highlighted by The Donal MacIntyre Show on Sunday. A really interesting discussion was had, with important questions being asked about organisations dependency on interns and the legal position of internships.

However the program did leave us at Intern Aware wondering how many unpaid interns does the BBC ‘employ’? A quick search of the organisations website seems to show hundreds of placements (here), but no mention of pay.

We thought we’d ask them:

Dear BBC,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 we appreciate an answer to the following question.

Of the 101 internships commencing on May 10th 2010 as advertised on jobs.bbc.co.uk, how many placements are paid and how many unpaid?

As you reported on Sunday 7th of March, there is a growing consensus that unpaid internships may be illegal. We would therefore be grateful for clarification of your policy regarding remuneration for interns and those on work experience placements.

With regards,

Gus Baker
Co-Director, Intern Aware.

We await their reply!