Who is eligible for the National Minimum Wage
[ch 4: page 94]All workers, including agency workers, homeworkers, casual workers, zero hours contract workers, trainee workers, agricultural workers, part-time workers, commission-based workers, migrant workers and seafarers working in UK waters are entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW). In summary, anyone legally obliged to do work for another person is entitled to the NMW, except for a small number of excluded groups listed on page 95.
Some interns will qualify for the NMW. This depends on whether they are “workers”. For more information, see pages 47-48.
In November 2009, a tribunal decided that Nicola Vetta, who had agreed to work as an intern for a London production company, London Dreams Motion Pictures Limited, for expenses only, was entitled to the NMW. With the support of broadcast, entertainment and cinema trade union BECTU (now part of Prospect), she recovered almost £2,000 in unpaid wages.
Vetta v London Dreams Motion Pictures Limited 2009, unreported
In 2011, unpaid intern Keri Hudson, supported by the National Union of Journalists, won a claim for the NMW against TPG Web Publishing Limited. The tribunal looked at the work she had to do and decided she was a worker, even though she had no written contract of employment.
Hudson v TPG Web Publishing Limited 2011, unreported
The TUC has an advice and campaigning website at: www.rightsforinterns.org.uk.