Organisation faces negative media frenzy as intern quits after two weeks
An unpaid intern at the United Nations in Geneva has quit amid media uproar that he was sleeping in a tent outside the official residences.
The 22-year-old New Zealander had flown 11,000 miles to take up the internship but said the cost of rent in the Swiss city was “more expensive than [he’d] imagined”.
“I thought I could find a really budget way to live, but to be honest I've ended up living in a tent,” he said in a statement to the press.
David Hyde admitted that he lied during the interview when asked whether he’d be able to support himself during the internship, but said he had previously been turned down for positions when he had answered truthfully.
“The UN was clear about their intern policy from the start: no wage or stipend, no transport help, no food allowance, no health assistance. I understood this, and in that regard, I have to take responsibility for taking the internship in the first place,” he said.
Several members of the public offered Hyde accommodation when his position was picked up by one of the Geneva newspapers, Tribune de Geneve.
On Wednesday, 12th August, UN International Youth Day, Hyde read a statement to the press announcing his decision to quit after two weeks.
“I just want to make it clear that no person forced me to sleep in a tent, but rather my circumstances and the conditions for this internship made it the only real possibility that I could see,” he told reporters.
Ahmad Fawzi, head of the UN's information service in Geneva, told the BBC that:"Interns get a lot of experience.”
"First-hand knowledge about how the international system works: it's invaluable for them, and they have fun,” he added.
Fawzi also said that the decision to not pay interns was not UN mandated, but was decided by the General Assembly.
In the UK, equal rights groups have long campaigned for unpaid internships to be banned. In 2013, the names of 100 companies allegedly failing to pay their interns correctly were passed to HM Revenue & Customs by the then employment minister Jo Swinson.
But a feature in People Management magazine revealed that employers often fall foul of the law over the difference between an intern, employee or work experience.
However, Hyde said: “Call me young and idealistic but I don’t feel this is a fair system.” He has called for interns all over the world “to come together and push for the recognition of our value and our equal rights that we deserve”.
News of Hyde’s resignation comes as Acas, the employment relations service in the UK, launched a guide for employers to help prevent young workers from feeling exploited.
Commenting on the plight of young workers, an Acas spokesperson said: "Many employers offer internships and often assume the interns have no employment rights. This is not always the case and if an intern is classed as a worker then they are usually entitled to the national minimum wage in the UK.”
According to UK law, if an internship lasts less than 12 months or is part of a further or higher education course, generally the intern will not be entitled to the National Minimum Wage.
"At Acas we encourage all employers to treat all people working for them fairly, regardless of employment status,” the spokesman added.