House of Commons set to debate plans to pay adults NMW, as MP blasts ‘exploitation of young workers’
Ministers are considering a ban on unpaid internships to give young people from lower-income families a “fair crack” at creating careers in competitive industries.
Damian Hinds, minister of state for the Department for Work and Pensions, confirmed that the government will be reviewing the workings of unpaid internships as part of prime minister Theresa May's pledge to “make Britain work for all, not just the rich”.
The proposed national minimum wage (workplace internships) bill would require companies to pay adult interns at least the minimum wage, but would exclude school-age children, apprentices and full-time university and college students who are completing work experience as part of their studies.
The review comes amid concerns that young people with poorer socioeconomic backgrounds cannot afford their living costs without being paid a wage, and are therefore put off applying for unpaid internships.
Hinds told ITV's Peston on Sunday that he believed it was “important” that young people have the opportunity to get work experience. He said: “One of the big barriers to getting a job is not having had employment experience and so there is a role for work experience. But I think particularly in the media, in fashion, in these very sought-after occupations, there is a concern… that unpaid internships aren’t actually accessible to everybody and I think it is right that we look at it.
“It is important for social mobility that everybody has a crack at getting into… the particularly competitive industries.”
Katerina Rudiger, chief community officer at the CIPD, supports the proposed ban. She said: “Unpaid internships aren’t good for social mobility – a lot of young people desperately need that work experience to kick-start their careers and are effectively locked out of the labour market because they can’t afford to work unpaid. Banning unpaid internships would create more opportunities for young people from different backgrounds.”
Hinds emphasised that the details of the ban needed to be worked out to ensure that work experience opportunities were still available.
Meanwhile, conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke will be introducing a private member’s bill in the House of Commons calling for a ban on unpaid work to end the “exploitation of young workers”.
Shelbrooke told the Mail on Sunday: “Unpaid internships are a scourge on social mobility. If we're serious about building a Britain that works for everyone and not just the privileged few, then it's time to end this exploitation of young workers. It's time to ban unpaid internships and make firms pay workers for their labour.
"There are a number of businesses, such as KPMG, EY and Pimlico Plumbers, that already offer paid internships, showing that there really is no excuse for profit-making companies not to pay their workforce.”
Tanya de Grunwald, founder of careers blog Graduate Fog, said it was about time that ministers addressed the topic. “Young people have been crying out for this issue to be addressed for years, and unpaid internships are flagged in pretty much every report on social mobility, as a barrier to good jobs,” she said.
“Campaigners regularly remind the government that we are perfectly placed to explain exactly what the problems are, and what could be done to improve the situation, but so far they have shown little appetite for this information. So if that is finally changing, we look forward to their call.”
MPs will debate plans to pay interns at least the minimum wage on Friday 4 November.