Conversely, internships often require young people to work long hours for free, which is akin to free labour (and illegal). Many churches and Christian organisations have followed the trend when it comes to internships, offering unpaid placements and gap year schemes, some of which cost money to be part of. But what exactly are the legalities surrounding internships that churches and Christian organisations need to be aware of? Are some churches breaking the law when it comes to their internship schemes?
THE LAW
The law regarding internships, and whether or not individuals are entitled to employee rights and the national minimum wage, depends on the intern’s employment status. The scenarios when interns aren’t due the minimum wage are:
STUDENT INTERNSHIPS
Students required to do an internship for less than one year as part of a UK-based further or higher education course.
SCHOOL WORK EXPERIENCE PLACEMENTS
Work experience students of compulsory school age, i.e. under 16, aren’t entitled to the minimum wage.
VOLUNTARY WORKERS
Workers aren’t entitled to the minimum wage if both of the following apply:
- They’re working for a charity, voluntary organisation, associated fundraising body or a statutory body.
- They don’t get paid, except for limited benefits (e.g. reasonable travel or lunch expenses).
Given the above legalities around internships, how can churches ensure that they aren’t breaking the law when taking on interns? Andy Walton, who works for the Centre for Theology and Community, which helps churches campaign for the living wage, believes that paying people a fair wage is fundamental. He says: ‘The living wage is something all churches should be aspiring to pay all staff. While training and opportunities are great, they really shouldn’t count towards someone’s wage because young people need to eat, pay rent and cover other essentials. The living wage is calculated according to what it actually costs to live. Do we as churches really want to be paying less than that?’
Similarly, the Bishop of London’s Mission Fund has just launched an apprentice scheme, paying the London living wage to locally sourced youth work apprentices. Sam Donoghue, children’s and youth work coordinator for the Diocese of London, explains that the apprentice scheme was launched in response to research into the effectiveness of locally sourced youth workers. ‘We wanted a scheme that would invest in the lives of young people as leaders, so we pay for all their training, and we pay them the London living wage. We needed our scheme to be open to people with the potential to fulfil the role and not just those who could raise the necessary support,’ he said.
Even if paying interns or volunteers is not possible, there are other ways of investing in the individuals and ensuring that your church or organisation is not breaking the law. Youthscape has just launched a yearlong graduate volunteer programme. Martin Saunders, deputy CEO, said: ‘When we set up our year-long graduate volunteer scheme this year, we wanted to make sure that while we couldn’t afford to pay our volunteers, as far as possible they wouldn’t be left out of pocket. For that reason we made the scheme a four-day-a-week placement to allow them to do some part-time work alongside, and we also organised free accommodation and food for them for the year. We also developed a programme of training throughout the year - including participation in our accredited schools’ work training course - which will mean they’re continuing their professional development while also gaining hands-on youth work experience.’
If you or your church are considering taking on an intern, or are already running an internship scheme, here is some advice from the team at Stewardship:
'Often church internships come with the offer of food, accommodation and a small payment of “pocket money” to make ends meet. While this may be appealing to the intern, the church may have created an employment situation in which the intern gains all the rights of an employee and the church all the obligations of an employer including the requirement to pay the national minimum wage. These obligations can’t be avoided even if the church and the intern want to. So what should churches do? Here are some examples:
- Only pay expenses that have actually been incurred and are reasonable in the context of the voluntary activity.
- Don’t make payments that might be construed as a reward for the volunteer’s time.
- Don’t place an obligation on an intern to complete a specific task.
- Consider putting in place a volunteer arrangement.
- If appropriate, consider employment and then plan accordingly.’
