- Evidence will be collected to better protect younger workers
from being exploited by illegal unpaid internships.
- Tackling this issue would put money back into the pockets of
interns across the UK.
- This delivers on a commitment to stop employers flouting the
rules around unpaid internships, ensuring fair career pathways
are accessible to all, breaking down barriers to opportunity as
part of the Plan for Change.
Younger workers will be protected from employers flouting the
rules on the use exploitative unpaid internships, as government
takes a step closer on delivering its manifesto commitment to ban
the practice.
Today the government has launched its call for evidence on the
issue. This forms part of the Make Work Pay agenda, the biggest
upgrade to worker's rights in a generation which will directly
benefit over 15 million workers - half of all workers in the
UK.
Internships offer young people invaluable experience as they
build their careers. When these are unpaid or paid below the
National Minimum Wage, barriers to equal opportunity are created
based on where people live, how old they are, or their social
background.
Unpaid internships are already largely banned under current law,
when they are not part of an educational or training course. The
government is committed to strengthening these protections by
gathering more evidence on how unpaid internships affect young
people, and how businesses use them to assess
candidates.
Business Secretary said:
"Every young person deserves the chance to build their career
through quality work experience, but good employers are still
being undercut by those exploiting interns by illegally asking
them to work for free.
“Our Plan for Change seeks to break down barriers to opportunity,
which is why we will strengthen protections for younger workers
so that internships are accessible to everyone, ensuring they
have the foundations to build a strong and successful career."
Employment Rights Minister said:
“Internships provide a strong platform from which to build a
career, allowing young people to learn new skills and giving
employers a pipeline of future talent to hire from to grow their
business.
“Employers should not be taking advantage of the opportunities on
offer by not paying their interns. This move will help us crack
down on those not following the rules, so that the next
generation of interns are able to gain that crucial experience
whilst earning a fair wage.”
Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust,
said:
“Taking action on internships with low or no pay is absolutely
the right thing to do. We've found that 61% of internships
undertaken by recent graduates were ‘unpaid or underpaid',
effectively excluding those who can't rely on financial support
from family.
“Employers will benefit from the wider pool of talent available
to them, and three quarters of employers told us a ban wouldn't
impact the number of opportunities they provide. Today's
announcement marks a significant step in the right
direction.”
The Call for Evidence will run for [12 weeks, closing on 9
October 2025].
NOTES TO EDITORS:
· The Sutton Trust's report,
Unpaid and underpaid
internships, was published on 23rd January 2025.
· The Sutton Trust surveyed
1,232 recent graduates (aged between 21 and 29) were surveyed
between 10 and 11 December 2024 via Public First. 623 recent
graduates reported completing at least one internship. All
results are weighted using Iterative Proportional Fitting, or
‘Raking'. The results are weighted by age, gender and region to
census data proportions.
· For the Sutton Trust's
report, employers were surveyed with a sample of 1,009 senior HR
decision makers at businesses across Great Britain. Fieldwork was
conducted online, between 10 and 18 December 2024, via YouGov,
with quotas set by business size targeting 50% in small (10 to 49
employees), 25% in medium (50 to 249 employees) and 25% in large
(250+ employees) businesses, to give statistically robust
data.
