A SURGE of support has built up behind a move to protect interns from exploitation as a new report reveals most people back a change in the law to ban unpaid internships that last at least four weeks.
A study by the Social Mobility Commission found that four out of five members of the public believe firms should advertise work experience and internship placements rather than organise them through informal networks.
Unpaid interns: Nick Clegg and Alex Salmond were quizzed
A survey of almost 5,000 adults by the independent body on social mobility showed that three out of four supported a change in the law.
The poll was published ahead of the second reading of Lord Holmes of Richmond's Private Member's Bill in the House of Lords proposing a ban on unpaid work experience or internships lasting four weeks or more.
Above: Alan Milburn says internships are the new rung on the career ladder
It is claimed the move will help end exclusion of those who can't afford to work for free for months at a time and curb the exploitation of those who do.
Ben Lyons, chair of the pressure group Intern Aware, welcomed the latest findings and added: "The Government needs to show that it cares about the next generation, and crack down on long term unpaid internships which exclude young people who can't afford to work for free for months on end."
Unpaid interns: Nick Clegg and Alex Salmond were quizzed
Former Labour cabinet member Alan Milburn, who chairs the Social Mobility Commission, said: "Unpaid internships are a modern scandal which must end.
"Internships are the new rung on the career ladder.
"They have become a route to a good professional job, but access to them tends to depend on who not what you know and young people from low income backgrounds are excluded because they are unpaid.
"They miss out on a great career opportunity and employers miss out from a wider pool of talent. Unpaid internships are damaging for social mobility. It is time to consign them to history."
Unpaid interns: Nick Clegg and Alex Salmond were quizzed
Lord Holmes of Richmond said: "Unpaid internships leave young people in a Catch 22 situation; unable to get a job because they haven't got experience and unable to get experience because they can't afford to work for free.
"The practice is clearly discriminatory, crushes creativity and competitiveness and holds individuals and our country back. It's time we consigned them to the past, to the novels of Dickens."
Many interns fall under the definition of “worker” under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and so are already entitled legally to be paid. But it is claimed the law, as it stands, is not being enforced effectively and that the lack of clarity means that many companies exploit the loophole or are unaware of the legal requirement to pay interns.
Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust and of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: "Unpaid internships are a major obstacle to social mobility.
"Unpaid internships prevent young people from low and moderate income backgrounds from getting into some of the most competitive sectors like the media, the city and the arts.
“It is no surprises that a majority of the public want to see an end to them.
"We welcome the Commission’s call to ban unpaid internships that last for more than four weeks. There also needs to be greater transparency in recruiting for these positions, so that young people without professional networks are not at a disadvantage.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here