Are interns employees?

When taking on an intern, it is important to understand their legal employment status. In the UK, someone carrying out an internship could legally be an employee, a worker or a genuine volunteer. Each category comes with different rights.

The word “intern” does not have a specific legal meaning in UK employment law. Simply calling someone an intern, volunteer or work-experience student does not decide their legal status. What matters is what actually happens in practice.

A genuine volunteer normally has the freedom to decide whether and when they help. They should not be under a legal obligation to attend work or complete particular tasks. Volunteers can usually be reimbursed for genuine expenses, such as travel costs, but payments should reflect their actual expenses rather than providing additional financial rewards or benefits.

An internship is also different from work shadowing or work experience. Someone who is work shadowing will generally spend their time watching and learning how an organisation operates, rather than carrying out productive work for the organisation.

If an intern is required to attend on particular days or at particular times, follow instructions, complete useful work and meet deadlines or expected standards, they may legally be considered a worker.

In some circumstances, they could be an employee. This becomes more likely when the intern is treated much like other members of staff, the organisation has significant control over their work, and there is an ongoing expectation that the organisation will provide work and the intern will carry it out.

The length of the arrangement can also matter. A longer internship involving regular work may be more difficult to describe as informal work experience or observation.

Getting an intern’s status right is important because it determines many of their legal rights. One of the biggest issues is pay. If an intern qualifies as a worker, they will generally be entitled to the applicable National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage.

This is not normally changed simply because the placement is short, the intern is gaining valuable experience, or they are a student or recent graduate. An agreement by the intern to work without pay does not necessarily remove their legal entitlement to minimum wage.

Workers also have a number of other employment protections. These can include paid annual leave, rest breaks, limits on working hours, protection against unlawful deductions from wages, whistleblowing protections, trade union rights and protection against unlawful discrimination and harassment.

Employees have additional rights. Depending on the circumstances and eligibility requirements, these can include sick pay, maternity and other family-related rights, notice periods, redundancy rights and protection against unfair dismissal.

Some responsibilities apply regardless of whether an intern is an employee, worker or volunteer:

Health and safety is an important example. Organisations have responsibilities towards people who may be affected by their activities, not just employees. Interns should therefore receive suitable information, training, supervision and equipment for the work they are doing. Organisations should also check that they have appropriate insurance in place.
Data protection should also be considered. An organisation will usually hold and use personal information about its interns, which means UK data protection rules will apply. Interns who have access to other people’s personal information should also be given appropriate guidance and training on handling that information safely.
Another issue is intellectual property (IP). Interns might create valuable work during their placement, such as software, designs, reports, databases or other original material.

There are circumstances where someone can gain workplace experience without being entitled to the National Minimum Wage, but these are relatively limited and depend on the facts. Examples can include genuine work shadowing, some placements involving school pupils, genuine voluntary work for certain organisations, and some higher-education placements that form part of a course or qualification.

Employers should therefore focus on what the person will actually be doing, rather than the title given to the arrangement.

If someone regularly carries out useful work for an organisation, has set hours or duties and is expected to follow instructions, there is a strong possibility that they will qualify as a worker and should be paid accordingly.

Before offering an unpaid internship, organisations should carefully consider how the arrangement will work in practice. Getting this wrong can lead to claims for unpaid wages and other employment rights, as well as financial, reputational and ethical problems. For further support, contact 121 HR Solutions on 0800 9995 121.

Are interns employees?

121 HR Solutions Ltd