We used to call it work experience in my day; but over recent years the humble “work experience” has become the American “internship”.
Internship loosely translates as “work for free”. In theory, that is fine. The idea behind it being that if you perform well, there is the chance a paid job as the end of that particular rainbow.
An interesting article on the BBC website which discusses how intern positions have become the preserve of those elite who have the fortune of someone else’s fortune to support them. They can just work for fun.
http://www.ippr.org/members/download.asp?f=%2Fecomm%2Ffiles%2FWhy+interns+need+a+fair+wage%2Epdf
However, an even more interesting slant on this subject is the impact of the national Minimum Wage Act on UK interns.
The Institute of Public Policy Research published a report on 2nd August 2010. See it at http://www.ippr.org/members/download.asp?f=%2Fecomm%2Ffiles%2FWhy+interns+need+a+fair+wage%2Epdf
The report points out that within the private sector anyone deemed to be working is entitled to be paid, at least, the national minimum wage.
The concept of interns, as mentioned above, came from across the Atlantic. In UK law they are not defined. Instead, therefore we must ask whether they would meet the definition of “worker” within the National Minimum Wage Act.
A worker is defined as someone who “has entered into or works under a contract of employment or any other contract...........whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract......”
It would be impossible to give a categorical answer to the question of whether an intern is entitled to be paid national minimum wage or not. Each case would have to be judged upon its own facts in an employment tribunal. The reality is that any person (in particular someone fresh at university) who is hoping to secure their dream job with, for example a magazine, is going to take that magazine to a tribunal to test the point. Chances of them getting a job afterwards....erm.......nil.
The only way to resolve it is by legislation. Until then private companies can continue to exploit this free, and pretty endless, supply of free labour.
