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According to a BBC article, almost half of the internships on offer on the government’s Graduate Talent Pool website recently were unpaid positions.

Of the 2,239 internships advertised on the day of the BBC article (27 May 2011) only 1,235 placements were opportunities with pay. That means that around 45 per cent of the internships advertised on the Graduate Talent Pool website were unpaid.

The statistics for the whole of this year so far showed that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ website has only advertised paid internships on 7 in 10 of the vacancies it has listed. Some of the advertised unpaid internships on offer were for periods of extended duration.

The issue of whether or not an intern should be paid is still controversial with some of the confusion down to the haziness of key terms used. The government website states that a student should be paid the National Minimum Wage in “most cases” if they are classed as a “worker”. Such vagueness has left wiggle-room for some employers to offer positions for interns on an unpaid basis.

A government spokesperson quoted in the BBC article said: “We encourage businesses to offer internships openly and transparently and to provide financial support to ensure fair access. Some interns don't qualify for the national minimum wage and we encourage employers to pay reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in these cases.”

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