Pay interns ‘at least’ the minimum wage, Labour tells bosses

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/02/28/labour-cracks-down-on-unpaid-internships/

Posted by Gentle_Snail

19 Comments

  1. sillysimon92 on

    Interns are such a dumb idea. The first thing you’re doing is only getting people who can already afford not to work.

  2. FornyHucker22 on

    They should get a free lunch and a slap on the arse from the boss of they do well

  3. This is dumb. Summer interns are usually paid enough to easily get by for 12 weeks but get an invaluable work experience for their CV (and the business gets very little in return because it takes about 8 weeks to make someone useful).

    Year in industry interns also have access to student loans IIRC.

  4. Efficient_Morning_11 on

    Make the tax free allowance equivalent to livable minimum wage, employees tell the government

  5. They cant. You’ve raked in any excess pennies that could have been used to pay them.

  6. I don’t believe that interns should be paid the minimum wage, but I do believe it should be mandatory to pay them the equivalent of the apprentice rate and to limit the duration of internships (perhaps to 3 months)

    Making the role paid (even if only nominally) would reduce (not prevent) internships being only available to those who can work for free.

  7. QuickZookeepergame93 on

    Internships entrench London privilege. If you’re lucky to live in London at home with mum and dad you’re far more likely to be able to afford to complete an internship. And I say this as someone who did exactly that. Rent would be an outrageous expense for those coming from other parts of the country.

  8. Only_Tip9560 on

    I agree, always have. An internship should be a fixed contract position where you bring someone on to gain experience for a defined period of time. Still a job, still should be paid.

    Unpaid internships ensure that advantage is handed to those from certain backgrounds and with certain connections. They keep industries insular.

  9. When I was 18 I emailed every insurance/brokerage/professional services company in my area offering to work for free. I got 3 opportunities to do in my summer before university, for money I worked at McDonalds. I had a stronger CV that some of my classmates and did get a graduate job.

    If you’re from an area with limited work you don’t have a choice but to work for free sometimes. They will not hire you.

  10. Of course the Torygraph would call this a bad idea. They want us to go back to the days of Victorian workhouses.

  11. wookiecock69 on

    Internships should be banned, they’ve already got the qualification, give them a starting salary and stop robbing them for free labour. A mate of mine applied for a job in a petrol station and they wanted to offer him the first 2 weeks as full time unpaid training, its criminal.

  12. rhecil-codes on

    That would be the end of most internships as many businesses could no longer justify the cost of paying unskilled interns an amount far exceeding the value they provide plus taxes, and additional investment in training and mentoring.

    Such a self own. These people are economically illiterate.

  13. Throooowaway2023 on

    Labour party then: we will mobilise all working people against the interests of capital so they can have a tolerable life.

    Labour today: please give workers the absolute legal minimum.

  14. Labour do a good thing for a change and everyone’s moaning. Sorry that they occasionally believe in workers rights and not just capitulating to dumbass anti-immigrant sentiment.