Call for interns to be paid

Personnel professionals’ body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has called for a £2.50 an hour “training wage” to be introduced for interns. This is the current minimum rate of pay for apprentices. Its new policy paper, Internships: To Pay or not To Pay?, reveals that over a third (37%) of internships are currently unpaid and argues that the move would “help... promote social mobility through encouraging people from poorer backgrounds to apply.”

The TUC has previously warned that many employers have sought to take advantage of graduates’ desperation to find work in the economic downturn.

The TUC Worksmart website has a section dealing with interns’ rights at: www.worksmart.org.uk/rights/viewsubsection.php?sun=99