Employment law considerations for internships and work experience

The Labour government has recently published a ‘call for evidence’ on internships, work experience schemes, work trials, voluntary work and work shadowing. There is some suggestion these programmes may be banned during the course of this Parliament, as part of Labour’s employment reform.

With the ‘call for evidence’ and the school/university summer holidays often being the time when many organisations carry out their internship and work experience schemes, it seemed like a good time to explore the legal and practical employment law issues relevant to these schemes. We look at the legal status of interns and work experience people, whether they can be unpaid and what considerations there are to be aware of.

Volunteering, internships, and work experience placements can provide valuable pathways for individuals to gain skills and for organisations to identify potential talent. However, organisations must beware when offering these opportunities, as the legal framework surrounding them can be complex. Failing to comply with employment law, even unintentionally, can result in expensive legal claims and reputational damage.

What are internships and work experience?

Work experience is described by the Department of Business and Trade as “a specified period of time that a person spends with your business, during which they have an opportunity to learn directly about working life and the working environment”.

Whereas an internship is described as: “work experience can be called a ‘placement’ or an ‘internship’. Internships are sometimes understood to be positions requiring a higher level of qualification than other forms of work experience, and are associated with gaining experience for a professional career.”

Legal status of an intern

The first legal issue in any work experience arrangement is determining the intern’s legal status. Under English law, individuals can be classified as employees, workers, or volunteers, and each status carries distinct rights and obligations.

• Employees who work under a contract of employment are entitled to the full suite of statutory rights, including redundancy pay, notice periods, and protection from unfair dismissal
• Workers (colloquially known as limb b workers) have fewer rights than employees but because they contract with their work provider to personally undertake work, they are still entitled some statutory protections, such as the National Living and Minimum Wage (NL/MW), paid holiday, and protection under the Working Time Regulations 1998
• Volunteers are not entitled to these protections as they do not have a contract or receive remuneration but are still entitled to protection from some forms of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

Interns are often described as volunteers or students, but terminology is not determinative. The key consideration is the reality of the working relationship. If an intern is required to perform work, adhere to schedules, and contribute to the organisation’s outputs, they may be defined as a “worker” under the Employment Rights Act 1996, and therefore entitled to legal protections including NL/MW.

Payment for internships or work experience

Entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether a person is a worker under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. If the intern qualifies as a “worker,” they must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage. As of April 2025, this is £12.21 per hour for those 21 and over.

Voluntary workers are specifically excluded from the NL/MW. As we have seen, they will not be seen as workers if they have no form of contract of employment or contract to perform work or provide services.

Interns are covered by specific exclusions from the NL/MW. The exclusions include work experience placements not exceeding one year undertaken by students, students undertaking work placements who are of compulsory school age, participants in government schemes or programmes, trial work periods and traineeships.

Employers should however be cautious. Offering unpaid internships where interns are expected to perform real work risks breaching such NL/MW  legislation. Organisations should avoid making payments to volunteers or interns which could be seen as wages. Payments to cover expenses should be identified as such and accompanied by receipts.

Nature of the internship or work experience

There is no statutory limit on the duration of internships, but long-term arrangements without pay can raise ethical and reputational concerns, particularly where the intern is carrying out systematic work similar to that of a paid employee. Additionally, lengthy unpaid placements may be scrutinised by HMRC or result in claims in the Employment Tribunal for unpaid wages.

The nature of the tasks performed is also critical. Shadowing roles, where interns observe rather than perform tasks, are unlikely to create worker status. However, once an intern is producing work of commercial value – drafting reports, managing communications,  undertaking client work or managing employees – they may qualify as employees or workers and must be paid.

Insurance, health and safety, and welfare for internships and work experience

Organisations have common law and statutory duties to protect the health and safety of employees, contractors and members of the public. This includes an obligation to ensure that people not in their employment who may be affected by their actions are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. Organisations must therefore ensure that interns and those on work experience are considered in terms of health and safety provisions. Additionally, organisations should ensure their employers’ liability insurance covers interns and work experience people even if they are unpaid, to protect against potential injuries.

Discrimination and equality considerations for interns and those on work experience

Although not protected under the employment sections of the Equality Act 2010, interns may be able to bring claims against organisations on the basis that they are providing a service and entitled to protection from discrimination under part 3 of the Equality Act 2010. Work experience programmes should therefore be designed and implemented in a way that is fair and inclusive. For example, relying solely on unpaid internships may disadvantage individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds, potentially giving rise to indirect discrimination claims.

Data protection

Interns who are not workers or employees still qualify as data subjects under the UK General Data Protections Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018. Interns will have personal data processed and they will therefore need to be given a privacy notice. Interns may also require training on UK GDPR if they themselves will be handling the personal data of others.

Intellectual property

Organisations will gain the ownership of patents, copyrights, database rights and designs created by employees automatically if these are created in the course of employment or work. IP created by interns however will not automatically be assigned and organisations may therefore consider requiring interns to sign IP rights agreements.

Practical recommendations for organisations running internships

To mitigate legal risks and ensure fairness, organisations should:

• Adopt fair recruitment practices are far as possible
• Background checks including enhanced DBS will be required if the volunteering or internship involves working with children or vulnerable adults
• There is no legal obligation to have an internship agreement in place but these can be useful to clarify the intern or volunteer’s status in writing before the placement begins
• Avoid unpaid placements if the intern is performing real substantive work
• Ensure compliance with applicable health and safety at work legislation and UK GDPR
• Pay the National Minimum Wage and/or expenses where applicable
• Develop structured internship programmes, including learning objectives, mentorship, and feedback mechanisms.

If you require legal advice about internships or work experience, our experienced Employment team can assist.