Thursday 20 June 2013

Just Fancy That - or "compare and contrast"

To be found at the personal web site of Hazel Blears MP

Item 1: Name and shame firms which use unpaid interns says Hazel

Hazel is calling on treasury chiefs to name and shame companies found to be employing unpaid interns.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has revealed that during 2012/13 it ordered nine firms to pay £200,000 to people who had worked for them as unpaid interns. But it has refused to identify any of the companies involved.

Under the law, anyone with set hours and responsibilities should be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.

Hazel called for Treasury officials to do more to enforce the law when she met with Treasury officials and employment minister Jo Swinson about the problem in January...


Item 2: Kids Without Connections was launched by Salford and Eccles MP Hazel Blears last year when young people did placements with local firms.

Ms Blears began the scheme after becoming increasingly concerned by the number of young people who told her they had missed out on jobs because they did not have the experience, but they could not get the experience because they had not had a job.

But within a couple of months of celebrating their involvement in the first Kids Without Connection at a special Parliament reception, around half of the 23 young people involved had found meaningful jobs.

Ms Blears is now inviting companies interested in offering a young person up to four weeks of unpaid work experience during the second Kids Without Connections scheme to learn more about what is involved...


Obviously some types of "unemployed people" deserve to be paid at least national minimum wage whilst gaining all important work experience and some - those from poorer backgrounds, whose families may not have connections among relatives, friends and colleagues to help them get work experience, it would appear - don't.

No doubt Hazel can explain why the distinction?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Under the new traffic light system for flaggin up bullshit, taken in isolation, either of those statements taken individually would have got an amber rating ("to be taken with a pinch of salt but worthy of consideration - even if we'll probably decide against it").

Taken together, the two get a joint red ("this person has just totally contradicted him or herself and is either totally stupid or a total hypocrite").

Lola said...

I am not a violent man, but Blears face demonstrates the most irritating smug, perky cockiness (born of almost total ignorance) that make you want to slap it every time you see it.

Bayard said...

"No doubt Hazel can explain why the distinction."

That's easy: As pointed out by George Orwell, under Socialism, everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others. Generally this means the very rich (the ruling class) and the very poor (their socialist human shield). This is why socialists don't like things that affect everyone equally, like citizens' income or the poll tax.

Ralph Musgrave said...

I'm baffled by these unpaid interns. Do we have a minimum wage law in this country or don't we? And if we do, how do those employing interns get round the law?

Answers please - I'm puzzled.

Bob E said...

RM - from the Horse Mouth ..

[https://www.gov.uk/employment-rights-for-interns]

Home : Employing people: Recruiting and hiring

Quick answer

Employment rights and pay for interns

An intern’s rights depend on their employment status. If an intern is classed as a worker, then they’re normally due the National Minimum Wage.

Internships are sometimes called work placements or work experience. These terms have no legal status on their own. The rights they have depend on their employment status and whether they’re classed as:

a worker
a volunteer
an employee

If an intern does regular paid work for an employer, they may qualify as an employee and be eligible for employment rights.
Rights to the National Minimum Wage

An intern is entitled to the National Minimum Wage if they count as a worker.

Employers can’t avoid paying the National Minimum Wage if it’s due by:

saying or stating that it doesn’t apply
making a written agreement saying someone isn’t a worker or that they’re a volunteer

Promise of future work

An intern is classed as a worker and is due the National Minimum Wage if they’re promised a contract of future work.

When interns aren’t due the National Minimum Wage

Student internships

Students required to do an internship for less than 1 year as part of a UK-based further or higher education course aren’t entitled to the National Minimum Wage.

School work experience placements

Work experience students of compulsory school age, ie under 16, aren’t entitled to the minimum wage.

Voluntary workers

Workers aren’t entitled to the minimum wage if both of the following apply:

they’re working for a charity, voluntary organisation, associated fund raising body or a statutory body
they don’t get paid, except for limited benefits (eg reasonable travel or lunch expenses)

Work shadowing

The employer doesn’t have to pay the minimum wage if an internship only involves shadowing an employee, ie no work is carried out by the intern and they are only observing.