As a trainee solicitor I have done my fair share of unpaid internships and work experience. In fact, many of my friends have had to work for months, one for even a year, for little or no remuneration. This is particularly the case in the media, fashion and TV industries. In many instances interns work longer hours than paid staff as they are trying to prove themselves to employers in the hope that they might be considered for permanent paying roles.
In an ever competitive jobs market and with extremely high unemployment in the UK, many employers have managed to use interns as an invaluable recourse to further their output and generate income. Sometimes these internships provide genuine training and development to individuals and other times young people desperate to get their foot on the working ladder are being taken advantage of.
Following the recent publicity in the victory of Keri Hudson, an unpaid intern that worked for 2 months for the website My Village, businesses should be alive to the employment status of their unpaid interns. Hudson’s duties included editing, uploading content and managing and hiring a team of other unpaid interns. With the backing of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Hudson won her employment tribunal claim The Tribunal found that Hudson had “worker” status and was awarded £1024.98 (5 weeks pay at the national minimum wage rate and pro-rata holiday pay).
The national minimum wage (NMW) is payable to anyone that has “worker” status. An intern is likely to have such status if the following factors apply:
- Whether the individual is remunerated through money or benefits in kind, and
- Whether there is a contractual obligation (express or implied) on the individual to perform the work and in return an obligation on the business to provide the work.
The key question for businesses will be: Does your unpaid intern do “real work” or are they being trained? If the answer is “real work” then this could potentially open them up to claims for unpaid wages. However, it is understandable that all interns whether paid or unpaid will do work for the business, as well as be trained by the business. In fact, the same task may result in both situations having occurred. In light of this, a business should aim to strike a balance between work and training and avoid a more-work, less-training scenario from taking place.
The decision in the employment tribunal will not stop employers from offering unpaid internships and nor will there be a tidal wave of claims by unpaid interns; however, it is important for businesses to consider the risks associated with such arrangements and plan accordingly. In the first instance identifying the role of the individual and the level of supervision will assist in determining the amount of work versus the level of training on offer.
Preema Patel is a trainee solicitor with Bevans.
