NUJ wins first unpaid internship tribunal
Payment for interns looks likely to become a reality as the National Union of Journalists celebrates having successfully sued TPG Web Publishing to pay a member who had untaken an unpaid internship at the company.
The NUJ was successful in suing TPG on behalf of Kery Hudson at an employment tribunal in Central London yesterday (12 May) and proved that she had a right to be paid after several weeks of working on the My Village website last year.
The tribunal was told that Hudson had worked each day from 10am to 6pm for the site and had been given responsibility for a team of writers, as well as training, delegating, collating briefs and scheduling articles and hiring new interns.
Despite this, the company told her that she was not eligible for payment as she was considered an intern.
Hudson claimed that following the takeover of the website by TPG Web Publishing, she had been asked to continue to work for the new company and was assured she would be paid, but after five weeks was informed that she would not be paid, which led to her resignation.
The tribunal rules that Hudson was an employee and worker in law, despite the lack of a written contract, and that she was therefore entitled to be paid at least the National Minimum wage and holiday pay.
Roy Mincoff, legal officer for the NUJ said: "This sends a clear message to media companies that if they treat interns like cheap labour, the NUJ will take you through the courts. If in reality interns are workers, they are entitled to National Minimum Wage and holiday pay and NUJ will fight for these rights to be enforced".
Unpaid internships are growing under the coalition’s Big Society strategy which is encouraging people to gain experience without necessarily being paid for their work.