Intern wins right to national minimum wage

Keri Hudson, 21, has become one of the first interns to take her employer to an Employment Tribunal and win the right to receive the national minimum wage.

Keri Hudson was employed by the online review site My Village for six weeks before she quit after not receiving a penny from them. Although she applied for the position as an unpaid intern, it soon became clear to her that she was doing far more than ‘training’ and was in fact doing a real job for free.

She said: “I’d done ridiculous amounts of work them. I’d practically run the site.” Keri Hudson worked form 10am till 6 pm writing and uploading content to the My Village site, and eventually managing six other unpaid interns.

Her experience mirrors that of thousands of other unpaid interns in the country, pushed by necessity into accepting a position that does not pay. Traditionally interns were taken on to provide a level of support in exchange for valuable experience of the industry and working life. Internships can transform a CV and provide an inexperienced graduate with an edge over their competitors.

However, many internships are unpaid. This means interns, like Keri Hudson, have to rely on credit cards and parents to survive during long stretches of full-time unpaid work. For some it pays off; they may be offered a full-time paid position with their employer. For others; it simply adds to their already existing debt.

Keri Hudson has been awarded £1,025 for five weeks’ work at the national minimum wage by the Employment Tribunal.

She was helped by the National Union of Journalist’s Cashback for Interns campaign. The NUJ has set up the campaign to help interns who have worked for nothing in the past six years claim the national minimum wage for their time as an intern.

The result of Keri Hudson’s award means that if an intern is doing ‘real work’ for an employer, they are entitled to the national minimum wage, regardless of whether or not they agreed to work for free.

Roy Mincoff, the legal officer for the NUJ, said: “If someone is taken on as an intern, and is doing a proper job rather than just being trained, then they will be recognised as a worker for the purposes of the national minimum wage.”

TPG Web Publishing, the owner of My Village, has indicated that it is going to appeal the judgement.

The company has, however, welcomed the opportunity for a debate on the issue. It maintains that interning is a valuable experience for people looking to get on the career ladder, and that if employers have to pay, fewer internships will be available.

Job Justice can connect employers and interns to local employment law solicitors to provide legal advice on this issue and any other surrounding employment rights.