Internships
From the Good Practice BankInternships have been the focus of much debate in the news recently, with some arguing that they are either a form of job substitution or a way of exploiting cheap labour, and others that they are vital to both charities and those who want to work for them.
Key to the confusion is that the term 'intern' is not defined in UK law, so, depending on the situation, they may be workers or volunteers. We have therefore worked with a range of organisations to produce the following information sheet that aims to clarify the situation.
- Free Information Sheet: Internships explained
(204.7Kb) [PDF]
You may also be interested to read our policy blog post 'Internships - opportunity or exploitation?' which highlights some areas of debate.
Further information
- The Chartered Institute for Professional Development (CIPD) encourages organisations to adhere to the principles in its internship charter
- Skillset has produced a code of practice for graduate internships in the creative industries
- Internocracy offers accreditation for internships though the I.SIP (Internocracy Star Internship Programme) mark
- The Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum has produced a Common Best Practice Code for High-Quality Internships
If you are an intern and would like more information about your rights, see the following websites:
Volunteering England and the organisations that contribute example documents to the Good Practice Bank accept no responsibility for how they are used. They are presented as examples of good practice, but it is every volunteer-involving organisation's responsibility to ensure that their volunteers are safe, and that policies and procedures meet legal requirements.
