Her Majesty\u2019s Government promote equal access to intern opportunities through a series of communications strands such as:<\/p>
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· The rising awareness of Disability Confident Britain and it\u2019s media profile will help increase awareness of the Access to Work (AtW) support available;<\/p>
· Continually improving and developing Advisory knowledge and skills in supporting Disabled People into work and remaining in work, and;<\/p>
· Marketing the Jobcentre Plus offer directly to employers and other organisations and institutions.<\/p>
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Moreover, Access to Work gives practical support and help to meet additional costs to overcome barriers. AtW can usually support people only in paid internships, however we have extended Access to Work to cover the Supported internships scheme for young people with special educational needs and for young people undertaking Traineeships. DWP does not have a robust means of reporting programme volumes for internships.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3893", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Freud"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Freud"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-02-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-02-10T17:36:41.257Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-01-27", "_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\u2019s Government what action they are taking to promote equal access to intern opportunities for all; and how many disabled people have received help from the Access to Work Fund in order to participate fully in internship programmes.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4304", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Allen of Kensington"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Allen of Kensington"} ], "uin" : "HL4481"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/170270", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/170270/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The term \u201cintern\u201d is not defined in any legislation: entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether or not an individual is a worker. If an internship meets the legal definition of a worker, then they must be paid at least the minimum wage from the start. Given the dependency on employment status, it is vital that employers and workers understand how this is determined.<\/p>
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Last November, the Minister for Employment Relations launched a series of posters and an information video alongside 200 letters to employers to increase awareness of employers and interns rights and responsibilities in relation to the National Minimum Wage. This was followed by a Facebook campaign. The Facebook messages reached 160,000 young people and HMRC are currently evaluating the impact of the letters sent to employers.<\/p>
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In addition, complaints from interns about non-payment of the minimum wage are prioritised by HMRC for investigation and HMRC will investigate every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368.<\/p>
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Determining an individual\u2019s employment status can be complicated; this is why the Business Secretary announced a review of employment status in October this year, to help ensure an employment status framework in the UK that meets the needs of everyone. This is an internal review and will present findings to ministers early next year.<\/p>
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<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1816", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Wallace of Saltaire"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-12-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-12-23T12:48:32.783Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-12-15", "_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\u2019s Government what plans they have to encourage and support the remuneration of internships.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4238", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Storey"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Storey"} ], "uin" : "HL3766"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/100004", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/100004/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
This Government is absolutely clear: exploitation of interns is unacceptable and we don\u2019t hesitate to act where we find that employment law has been broken and someone who is entitled to the minimum wage hasn\u2019t been paid it.<\/p>
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Complaints from interns about non-payment of the minimum wage are prioritised by HMRC for investigation and HMRC will investigate every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.<\/p>
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Research shows that internships and work experience programmes can be valuable opportunities for young people taking their first steps in the labour market. Our work on interns and the National Minimum Wage aims to achieve the right balance between ensuring that opportunities for young people are not cut off and minimising the risk of exploitation.<\/p>
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Our concern, if we were to prohibit unpaid internships, is that this may lead to employers recruiting interns through informal and privileged networks with adverse effects on social mobility or have adverse consequences on the number of available opportunities.<\/p>
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There is no definition of an internship in minimum wage legislation and interns are considered in the same way as everyone else with regards to whether the minimum wage is due. The key issue is whether or not they are workers as defined by minimum wage legislation. If they are, then they are eligible for the minimum wage unless a specific exemption applies. Volunteers are not workers and are not eligible for the minimum wage.<\/p>
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<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4284", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Neville-Rolfe"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-10-29", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-10-29T16:15:22.2220144Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-10-20", "_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\u2019s Government what is their assessment of the recent proposal by the Child Poverty and Social Justice Commission that unpaid internships should be illegal.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4218", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Berridge"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Berridge"} ], "uin" : "HL2219"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }