LRD guides and handbook May 2017

Law at Work 2017

Chapter 4

Who is eligible for the national minimum wage



[ch 4: pages 99-101]

All workers, including agency workers, homeworkers, casual workers, zero hours contract workers, trainee workers, agricultural workers, part-time workers, commission-based workers and migrant workers are entitled to the national minimum wage (NMW). Anyone who is legally obliged to do work for another person is entitled to the NMW, except for a small number of excluded groups listed on page 102. 



Some interns will qualify for the NMW. This will depend on whether they are “workers”. For more information on whether an intern is likely to be a worker, see Chapter 2, page 56:


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 national minimum wage. She was backed by broadcast, entertainment and cinema trade union BECTU and 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 national minimum wage against TPG Web Publishing Limited. The tribunal looked at the work she was required 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. The website of national campaigning charity InternAware at www.internaware.org is another good source of advice and information.