Charities warned over intern exploitation

The Unite union has warned top charities exploiting unpaid interns that it will report them to HM Customs & Revenue (HMRC).

The union has provided evidence to the Low Pay Commission indicating that more than a third of the UK’s top 50 charity employers are signing up unpaid interns.

It also published a joint report with the Intern Aware organisation earlier this year, Interns in the voluntary sector: time to end exploitation.

This warns that not paying interns the national minimum wage (NMW) will make working for voluntary organisations the preserve of a wealthy elite.

Sally Kosky, Unite national officer for the not-for-profit sector, said: “The HMRC is charged with enforcing the NMW and we would urge them to take action where it is clear that young people doing an unpaid intern role are actually doing a proper job of work and should be paid accordingly.”

www.unitetheunion.org/news/hmrc-urged-to-probe-charities-exploiting-unpaid-interns/

www.unitetheunion.org/uploaded/documents/UniteInternAware11-10685.pdf