Hi Derek

If someone is doing a role that you would otherwise have to pay someone for, this person is entitled to be paid at least NMW. So the rules are really quite clear and simple, it's just that no one bothers to enforce them! Therefore they get abused, especially in supposedly "glamorous" occupations like magazine publishing or PR, or journalism.

Giving someone a decent work placement is actually quite hard work, I used to devise exercises for people to do, they used to shadow other people or might have been doing something for, at most, a few hours that we might normally have had to pay someone for, but we basically taught them how to do something and then left them to it for a couple of hours. It took time, work and effort to fill the week or two that they spent with us. So if an employer has someone in an unpaid "internship" for three months or longer, I can't imagine that they're not breaking the rules: I would not want someone hanging around for this length of time without them doing anything meaningful, ergo the interns are probably doing a job that they should be paid for, without constant supervision.

I used to come under pressure to accommodate people who "knew" someone. It could not be avoided, but I did limit placements to two weeks and actively tried also to accommodate individuals from the local rather deprived comp. I also prevented someone new in a very senior role from auctioning off a work experience placement at a private school they were connected with.

Basically, I think that in the absence of any meaningful enforcement in this area and the widespread social acceptability of this practice, it's up to us in HR to challenge the practices if they are blatantly unlawful. It might not do us much good though, so we might need to pick our battles carefully.

In reply to Anka:

Couldn't agree more. But particularly on the powerful/inspiring role that HR can have. Years ago I was working at a company that had brought on a couple of young uni grads on unpaid "internships". The project they were put on went well beyond what might have reasonably been classed as work experience, both in terms of time (spanned a couple of months) and the work itself — it was grunt work with little variety or coaching.

When the HRD found out about the situation, he was unequivocal in outing the practice as taking advantage of people who are in a weak and vulnerable position. What a great response from a leadership position. Never forgot that. Shout out to Mike Booth if you're reading!

Additional reading on this in the news today via BBC www.bbc.co.uk/.../business-42997400

In reply to Johanna:

At the same time, this was going on: www.theguardian.com/.../tory-minister-dominic-raab-ad-seeking-unpaid-intern
4-days a week for 4-6 months. Post will cover your travel, but nevermind what you are going to eat or how you're going to live.

In reply to Derek Tong:

The Government are also covering the issue in their Good Work plans