Companies offering internships may have been following with interest the case of Keri Hudson, who recently won her legal battle with online review site My Village after working for six weeks without being paid.

She took on the role of an unpaid intern and despite claiming she was promised pay a number of times, the funds never emerged, reports the Guardian.

According to Ms Hudson, she was given a great deal of responsibility, including editing and uploading content and managing six other interns, yet was not reimbursed financially for her role.

She gave up the position after a month-and-a-half and took the company to court, where she was awarded five weeks' worth of pay at the national minimum wage.

Roy Mincoff, the National Union of Journalist's legal officer, commented: "This judgment says that if someone is taken on as intern and is doing a proper job rather than just being trained, then they will be regarded as a worker."

This comes after a survey by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment found that 97 per cent of financial services practitioners believe those with internships should be paid by their employers.

Posted by Chris Seel
 

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