Steve Myers at the Chartered Management Institute posted a really interesting article yesterday about the impact that internships can have on young people’s career prospects. He flagged some stats from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, which revealed that just over a fifth of 2009 graduates that had secured a job within six months of gaining their degree had been employed by a company where they had done some kind of work experience.
That’s not surprising. Building relationships with employers and gaining experience working in your chosen industry can go a long way in getting you the job that you want. This is now so important that many students and graduates are willing to work for free. But clearly not everyone can afford to work without getting paid. And they shouldn’t have to according to a new report by The Institute for Public Policy Research and the campaign group Internocracy.
The two groups have claimed that offering unpaid internships is against the law. Apparently interns have the same rights as staff members on the company’s payroll and therefore they should receive the minimum wage. It makes sense if you think about it. But with many firms and PR agencies offering unpaid internships or just offering to pay for expenses, it’s clear that few employers are aware that this is the case.
The Institute for Public Policy Research and Internocracy are doing a good job of raising awareness about this law, but I seriously doubt that things are going to change any time soon. Are interns really going to put their fledgling career in danger by taking legal action against a company? I don’t think so. Are employers going to be as willing to take on interns if they’ve got to add them to the payroll and offer them the minimum wage? Probably not.
Sadly unpaid internships instantly put students and graduates from low income families at a disadvantage against those with families that can afford to help them out financially. For employers this means that they could be missing out on the chance to meet and employ some bright young sparks, purely because of money.
I don’t know what the solution to this is. Employers have got it hard enough at the moment, without having to pay an intern £4.83 – £5.80 an hour, depending on their age. Equally new graduates and students are faced with the massive challenge of finding employment, whilst the UK is still recovering from the recession, so many will be willing to do anything to get a job.
What are your thoughts on this? Were you aware that interns have a legal right to be paid the minimum wage? Are you currently doing unpaid work experience?
