Union victory for intern pay

The NUJ journalists’ union has won a significant victory at the employment tribunal in its campaign to ensure interns are paid.

The union represented 21-year-old member Keri Hudson who was employed as an unpaid intern at website My Village for several weeks in 2010.

Hudson told the tribunal that she worked each day from 10am to 6pm and had been personally responsible for and in charge of a team of writers, for training and delegating tasks, collecting briefs, scheduling articles and even for hiring new interns.

However, despite that, the company had told her she was not eligible for any pay because they considered her an intern. She received no training and no induction.

The tribunal found that Hudson was a worker in law, despite the lack of a written contract, and awarded her a total of £1,024.98 made up of £913.22 in national minimum wage back pay and £111.76 in holiday pay.

NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: “Today’s judgment sends a clear warning to all employers to pay their interns, abide by the law or face the consequences.” And the union’s legal officer, Roy Mincoff, said: “If in reality interns are workers, they are entitled to national minimum wage and holiday pay and NUJ will fight for these rights to be enforced.” The NUJ has appealed to other interns who believe they should have been paid to contact the union at [email protected].