HR and Employment Practice advice and support

Hi Xanthe

Thanks for your comment on unpaid internships. NCVO takes a positive view of internships and their value to the sector and to people wanting to gain relevant experience to help get them into employment.

We developed some guidelines which include the following key points:

• Each internship will be created to provide the organisation with a short term resource to deliver meaningful work which is of value to the organisation and at the same time will provide the intern with a satisfying learning experience.
• In an ideal world it would be desirable to offer paid internships but an unpaid internship (with expenses) will be better than not at all and many internships in our sector are only viable if unpaid.
• If your organisation has a standard expenses policy for volunteers it would be best to use this for interns too. If you do not have one, usual practice is to adopt a maximum allowance for lunch (say £5 per day) and local travel – both only payable on production of receipts.
• The internship should be planned and structured with a clear brief, specific job content and a named line manager.
• The length of the internship, the content and whether it is paid or unpaid may vary according to needs of the organisation:
• Length of internship – long enough to be useful. The suggested minimum would be 8 weeks, maximum 12 months. If unpaid: suggested optimum time is 3 months. Part-time would allow other time for income earning and/or job seeking (suggest minimum 3 days per week to be a useful experience).

Unpaid interns are volunteers and unpaid internships are designed to help people find employment and should not affect their benefits provided that they are available for interview and sign on as required. Volunteering is viewed by DWP as a beneficial route to employment and there is clear guidance on the DWP website.