The Low Pay Commission mention “work experience” in their annual report on the operation of the Minimum Wage, published today:
“4.80 We again received evidence on this topic this year from a number of stakeholders.
The National Council for Work Experience (NCWE) stated that employers in the media industry continue to exploit students through unpaid work experience, and it believed there was some inconsistency and confusion with the existing guidance and advice by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). It was concerned that unpaid work experience could lead to the exclusion of less wealthy students and reported little policing of the minimum wage as it applied to this group.
NCWE believes that if there were more publicity of those cases where employers had breached the law this would help clarify the minimum wage requirements.
Evidence from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) suggested that, particularly in the television industry and consumer magazines, people were taken on for months of unpaid work experience to fill staff shortages. The union advised that few individuals were willing to stand up and complain and called for third party enforcement procedures to allow them to act without having to name individuals.
Mark Watson has again produced examples of adverts which appear to breach minimum wage rules, and which he has passed on to HMRC. Equity also reported a continuing problem with unpaid work in the performance industry.
4.81 There continues to be concern from a number of stakeholders regarding people being exploited through unpaid work experience. These concerns echo what we were told last year. We continue to believe that concerns will be addressed through better guidance and enforcement of the existing law. We will monitor the impact of the updated guidance.“
They keep saying this, and unpaid work masquerading as “work experience” keeps being reported to them. At some point someone will do something about it…
Mark Watson reporting on updates from the Low Pay Commission
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