A lack of clarity around the law on engaging interns means that many companies are exploiting loopholes or are unaware of the legal requirements to pay interns.
Many interns fall under the definition of ‘worker’ and are legally entitled to by paid the national minimum/living wage. However, this is not being effectively enforced, claimed the Social Mobility Commission.
A YouGov poll of 5,000 people found that 72% support a change in the law, with 42% strongly supporting a ban on unpaid internships that last for more than four weeks.
‘Internships are the new rung on the career ladder, said the Rt Hon Alan Milburn, Chair of the Social Mobility Commission. ‘They have become a route to a good professional job. But access to them tends to depend on who, not what you know and young people from low-income backgrounds are excluded because they are unpaid.’
The survey also found that 80% of people want companies to be required to openly advertise internships and work experience opportunities, rather than organise them informally.
Lord Holmes of Richmond added: ‘Unpaid internships leave young people in a catch-22 situation; unable to get a job because they haven’t got experience and unable to get experience because they can’t afford to work for free. The practice is clearly discriminatory, crushes creativity and competitiveness and holds individuals and our country back.’
The release of the survey findings come ahead of the second reading of Lord Holmes of Richmond’s Private Members’ Bill in the House of Lords on Friday 27 October, which proposes a ban on unpaid work experience or internships lasting more than four weeks.
