The Government is committed to cracking down on worker exploitation in the labour market. This includes the exploitative use of unpaid interns.<\/p>
<\/p>
We continue to invest heavily in minimum wage enforcement, increasing the budget to £26.3 million for 2018/19, up from £13 million in 2015/16. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) follow-up every worker complaint it receives and takes enforcement action against employers underpaying the National Minimum Wage (NMW).<\/p>
<\/p>
HMRC also conducts proactive, targeted enforcement in sectors or areas where there is a higher risk of workers not being paid the legal minimum wage. HMRC is prioritising employers of unpaid interns as part of this work. For example, HMRC routinely contacts employers who advertise unpaid internships, signposting them to NMW guidance to help ensure they are compliant. HMRC has contacted over 1,000 employers in this way since last year.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government discusses NMW obligations with employers and worker groups frequently. This includes the issue of exploitative unpaid internships. In line with the commitments made in the Taylor review of modern working practices, the Government will hold a roundtable with employers and leaders from sectors that commonly use interns, to increase awareness of existing legislation. This is scheduled to take place before summer recess.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government also committed to updating public guidance for employers and workers on the rules for paying interns. I can confirm that changes will be published over the summer alongside other updates to NMW guidance.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government continually assesses the effectiveness of its approach to NMW enforcement, including the approach taken with respect unpaid internships. We will continue to monitor the use of unpaid internships through our regular stakeholder engagement and will publish further details on progress made in enforcement of the NMW over the summer.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2616", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Henley"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Henley"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-05-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "HL7805"} , {"_value" : "HL7806"} , {"_value" : "HL7807"} , {"_value" : "HL7808"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-05-17T15:21:25.127Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-05-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Unpaid Work"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish a list of their (1) meetings held in the past year, and (2) forthcoming meetings with sector bodies or employers to discuss the use of unpaid internships, as pledged in their response to the Taylor review of modern working practices.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4286", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Mendelsohn"} ], "uin" : "HL7809"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }