A recent report published by the Institute for Public Policy Research shows that employers who offer graduates unpaid internships are breaking the law. Many students who take internships to get industry experience or boost their employability, are legally defined as workers under minimum wage legislation. Internships are scene as a stepping stone towards getting into the graduate job market and for some industries such as media and journalism they are essential. Graduates who have taken internships in the past could launch tribunal claims to collect past wages.
The publication of this research was supported by the campaign group Internocracy who seek a fairer internship culture in the UK. Many students who take internships will be from privileged backgrounds and may not depend on being paid. The allocation of internships is for the most part meritocratic, but it would seem that they are also exclusive to those who can afford it. In the UK if work is undertaken that is not directly liked to an academic course or to a charitable organisation, it should be paid. A case of an unpaid internship has never been through a UK court, with the publication of this report it seems increasingly likely that one will.
