Arts Group

The full report is here…this is what it has to say on “Interns and Internships”:

4.76 Evidence from stakeholders continues to indicate that labels such as

‘volunteer’, ‘intern’ or ‘work experience’ were sometimes applied to

activities that are clearly work and for which at least the minimum wage should be paid.

In its evidence, Equity said that there was an ongoing

problem of unpaid work, particularly with walk-on roles that offer no pay.

Interns Anonymous claimed that interns were being used by employers

to cut the cost of basic administration and entry level jobs. In his

evidence, Mark Watson submitted 140 adverts for unpaid interns and

work experience that appeared to break minimum wage rules. In its oral

evidence, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said that many people

who were undertaking work experience were actually doing jobs that

employers relied on, particularly in television and consumer magazines.

It said that there was an over-supply of people desperate to work in the

media industry and employers have built unpaid work placements into

their business model. In its oral evidence BECTU said that some well

established companies used the terms ‘volunteer’, ‘intern’, ‘trainee’ or

‘work experience’ in the entertainment industry to encourage people to

undertake unpaid roles which included basic office work, digitising

material and writing up transcripts.

4.77 It is becoming increasingly commonplace in certain sectors, particularly

the media, entertainment industry and in politics, for employers to

demand a period of unpaid work experience as a means of getting into

the industry. The Government’s Fair Access to the Professions report

highlighted the issue of unpaid internships and how they serve to limit

career choices to those who can afford to work unpaid and those who

live near London. We received evidence from several individuals and

organisations that confirmed this finding. Interns Anonymous claimed

that it was difficult to gain employment with MPs or political parties

without intern experience in parliament. In its oral evidence the NUJ said

that it was hard to get a job in journalism without having previous work

experience but despite people undertaking internships, there was often

no prospect of a permanent job for interns. It estimated that only 30 per

cent of unpaid journalist positions resulted in permanent jobs. In his

evidence Mark Watson said that a period of unpaid work was now

regarded as an unofficial price of entry into many industries, resulting in

large numbers of young people failing to be paid the minimum wage

where it was due. The TUC said it did not believe that employers should

be able to demand a toll of unpaid work before awarding jobs as this

puts those people without parental financial support at a disadvantage.

4.78 We recognise the benefit to young people undertaking work experience

and do not want to stop individuals undertaking genuine work experience placements or discourage employers from offering good quality opportunities. Our view has always been that unpaid work experience is an area where wider dissemination of guidance and more

effective enforcement is needed, rather than any change to the rules

themselves. However, we are concerned about the increasing number

of organisations that are relying on interns, often for several months, to

perform work for no pay. The evidence we received on unpaid work

experience indicates that there is systematic abuse of interns, with a

growing number of people undertaking ‘work’ but excluded from the

minimum wage.

4.79 We have expressed our concerns about unpaid internships to BIS

throughout the year and it has responded positively. In its evidence to

us, BIS said that it recognised the concern that was expressed in the

media about the inappropriate use of internships. It said that it would

consider whether there was anything further it could do to make its

guidance on work experience clearer for employers and interns and

increase awareness of the guidance. We further encourage BIS as part

of this work to engage directly with the sectors in which lengthy unpaid

internships have become the norm. We invite BIS to present its

proposed strategy to us by the summer.

4.80 We have also raised our concerns about unpaid internships and effective

enforcement with HMRC. HMRC responded that in none of the

complaint cases it had received in 2009 concerning interns was there

sufficient evidence to suggest that the individuals were ‘workers’. It

reported that it cannot get reliable figures on the number of interns who

complain because it does not record whether a worker regards

themselves as an intern when they ring the helpline. Stakeholders

confirmed that there was a reluctance on the part of some people

undertaking work experience, who believed they were a ‘worker’, to

report complaints to HMRC.

4.81 We understand that in some cases it is not clear or easy to define

whether a person is a ‘worker’ or on a period of unpaid work experience.

However, while it is not illegal to advertise jobs which do not pay at least

the minimum wage, we believe that HMRC should adopt a more proactive

approach to investigating cases and sectors where the term

‘intern’, ‘volunteer’ or ‘work experience’ is being applied, particularly

when work is clearly being advertised. HMRC has indicated that it may

be implementing a new enforcement approach in relation to interns.

We judge this is likely to be appropriate and have asked HMRC to keep

us aware of any developments. We will monitor these carefully.

________________________________________

Here’s what it says on actors and the creative sector in particular…

4.47 Equity highlighted the problem of work being offered for no pay, giving aspiring performers an opportunity to work in the industry. Our Secretariat also met two actors who raised the issue of the complex nature of the law in relation to the entertainment industry and of roles in TV and film being advertised as unpaid when they were clearly work. They wanted it to be made illegal to advertise work for no pay. The actors, along with Equity, had passed details of adverts offering work for no pay to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and felt that some sort of sector specific guidance for employers and agencies in the entertainment industry would be beneficial.

4.48 During a visit to London we met a group of actors who told us of the problems those in the entertainment sector faced. These included: agencies taking their fees from a day’s pay, leaving the worker with less than the minimum wage, and offering no subsequent work to the actor; work being advertised for no pay (but sometimes with expenses); and the complex nature of the regulations in this sector. They told us that those in the industry were reluctant to report abuse for fear that they would subsequently find it difficult to obtain work.

4.49 In November 2009, an Employment Tribunal ruled that workers engaged on an expenses-only basis were entitled to payment at least in line with the National Minimum Wage. The case was brought by a department assistant against a film company and was supported by the Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU).

4.50 We have again heard this year about a number of problems faced by those working in the entertainment industry. We understand that the issues are not always as straightforward as they may appear and that two enforcement bodies, HMRC and the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate, have an involvement in this sector. While more may need to be done in relation to enforcement of existing regulations, we believe the production and publication of guidance specifically for the entertainment industry would go some way to highlighting the rights and obligations of employers, agencies and workers in the sector.

We therefore recommend that the Government produces, in conjunction with interested parties, sector specific guidance on the National Minimum Wage for the entertainment sector. We will monitor the situation with regard to this group of workers carefully and, following publication of the sector specific guidance, review the effect of its publication.

More information on the Low Pay Commission is available on their website at www.lowpay.gov.uk

Words by Lemma Shehadi

The increase of the creative industry’s numbers and economic activity is a recent development. To account for this, the Creative Graduates Creative Futures published a report on the career patterns of creative graduates. Undertaken between 2008 and 2010 and involving 3,500 creative graduates from the last six years, here we outline the CGCF executive summary, released in September 2009, of which a full report is to be published this spring.

What is particular to graduates in creative degrees, is that in pursuing their careers, they tend to engage in a multitude of activities. The CGCF highlights  that these activities combine a pattern of portfolio work and learning. This stems from the practice-led research emphasised in the curriculum of creative degrees. Graduates seem to combine this skill of applying their learning to work, whilst always learning and working throughout their creative careers

What this tends to encourage is a combination of self-employment and employment, and also a perfect ease with self-employment as a means of self-led learning. The summary reports that 45% of the graduates interviewed had worked on a freelance basis.

Creative graduates find the transition from higher education to the work place quite smooth. Their creative curriculum requires them to apply their learning through live projects. In the course of their degree, they are asked to set up exhibitions, they may receive commissions, and they work amongst teachers who are also practising artists.  Practice-led research becomes an important factor that creative Higher Education institutions want to maintain and enhance for the future.

Whilst portfolio careers are more desirable to creative graduates, they are financially less sustainable. As the summary states, creative careers are not always very well paid. It emerges then that graduates working one steady job earn more than those engaged in three or more paid occupations. The latter, rely on these combined income streams to make a living.

However such a statistic-led research, though it can bring to light certain key patterns amongst creative graduates, does nothing to illustrate how such dynamics are achieved. Neither can it account for the concerns or the exceptions that it highlights. Why graduates choose portfolio careers over having one job with higher pay is not a question that can be answered by the executive summary. And whilst it gives a positive and dynamic portrayal of the ever growing cultural sectors, it merely glosses over a concern that creative roles tend to have a low pay.

Arts Group Chair, Kit Friend, appeared on the BBC last weekend to defend the rights of interns to proper pay and treatment, highlighting specifically the issues with equality and diversity that the current lack of enforcement encourages.

To see the Arts Group’s recommendations on internships read the Emerging Workers Report here

The Donal MacIntyre show on graduate schemes last week highlighted the following problem: that graduates looking for work experience get caught up in unpaid placements that can last over three months. The discussion was  geared towards the Graduate Talent Pool, a government scheme set up in 2009 to help graduates find work experience in their relevant fields. The project serves as a kick start for recent graduates facing unemployment because of the recession. However, it emerges that a large portion of the internships advertised on the GTP are unpaid and have an extensive period of over 6 months.

Words by Lemma Shehadi

Graduates fresh out of uni and looking for employment enter a vicious cycle: for though they have the qualifications, they do not have the experience required. Without this, they are unable to get a job, and are furthermore barred from gaining experience. Internships, paid or unpaid, help to resolve this problem.

There is a flexibility as to what qualifies as an internship, which leads some people to see it as “volunteered” work and others as exploitation of labour. The problem of definition begins with the distinct lack of grants available for interns, which make the opportunity exclusive to those who can afford to work without pay. Unpaid interships cover expenses only, and the Job Seeker’s Allowance is only legible to those who have been claiming it 6 months prior to their internship. This likens internships to indefinite unemployment.

In contrast, interns in Wales can claim a minimum of £240 for 10 weeks. What the Go Wales Work Placement does, in limiting the allowance  to 10 weeks, is also restrict the length of internships to that time. This makes the shorter placements more appealing and  reduces the risk of exploitation.

Consider the classic nightmare intern scenario. This is the one where the intern, hoping she will be offered employment by the company, or unable to find a placement elsewhere, works unpaid for over 6 months, during which she is asked to make coffee or squeeze oranges. What is clear in such cases is the following: a six month placement is no longer an internship, and neither do running jobs count as work experience for qualified graduates.

The fear is that in such cases, internships are breaking the minimum wage law, whereby anyone over the age of 22, working full hours should be paid a minimum of £5.80 an hour. A philosophy student argued that a worker’s relation with a company are purely financial, and his work contributes to an economic system of gain. To not receive monetary rewards in return is exploitation. Another student however points to a loop hole whereby because interns volunteer to work, they can do so without pay.

However interns have reported very positive unpaid experiences, many of which would no longer be available should pay become a requisite. Small businesses, online magazines, underground record labels cannot afford to pay their interns, but can provide them with great experience and the possibility of a job. A consultant at Chatham House in Picadilly told me about an intern for whom a solid position was actually created in order to make her an employee. When she left that job, the position was offered to another intern. Chatham House’s internships pay expenses and are restricted to three months.

It is not the pay, but the length of an internship that should be monitored, as well as the company’s work ethic. It is clear that this ethic will not change even if paid internships were enforced. This may, in the end, justify exploitation of employees, by becoming a disguise for what is really an underpaid job. To restrict the length is to reduce the time given for exploitation to become possible. This works on a number of levels, namely that it highlights the “temporariness” of an internship to both the intern and the employer. The former is less likely to feel trapped in an unpaid job with no financial or intellectual benefits.

See the article on jotta

SourceThatJob.com’s recent decision to remove unpaid positions in order to protect its audience from companies exploiting interns has attracted the strong support of many journalists and people working in the industry.

www.dwpubsporadic.com/2010/01/sourcethatjob-takes-a-stand-over-exploitation.html

The recruitment site for media professionals, which is a sister site of Daryl Willcox Publishing, now no longer accepts advertising from companies looking to recruit people for unpaid internships because it has become difficult to distinguish genuine work experience opportunities from free labour.

In the period since the economic downturn, SourceThatJob.com found there had been a significant increase in the number of internships being offered – yet at the same time the number of genuine media jobs was diminishing.

Unpaid internships are a widely acknowledged part of the media industry and are considered to provide the experience and ‘foot-in-the-door’ necessary to get on the career ladder. However some companies have used this to their advantage, taking on interns in unpaid positions which are usually three to six months long but can be on-going.

“There is a need for young, inexperienced journalists to gain experience, but there is also a risk that employers may exploit their interns for their own gain,” said Daryl Willcox, founder of SourceThatJob.com. “It’s a two way street really, but I think there is a real risk that one side of that street could be wider than the other. Employers that have work experience opportunities with the prospect of a real job at the end often contact colleges and universities directly. We’ve attracted many positive comments supporting our stand – obviously people have differing views, but it’s reignited an important issue.”

A recent survey from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), of which Daryl Willcox is a member, found that of those who did post-qualification work experience one out of five undertook a placement for three months or more, with some working for over six months unpaid. Further results showed that more than 80% of those on a placement had their work published or broadcast during their work experience. However, 82% of these students did not receive any payment for their work.

In November last year The Employment Tribunals – judicial bodies which determine disputes over employment rights – ruled that workers engaged on an expenses-only basis are entitled to payment at least in line with the national minimum wage, in addition to payment for the holiday they accrue.

Daryl Willcox continued: “Despite this issue receiving a lot of attention, rising unemployment and increased competition for places in the media means it is unlikely that unpaid internships will disappear any time soon. However, a recent Government ‘kitemark’ initiative to highlight quality internships may go some way in helping to identify genuine opportunities.”

More information on the Government’s kitemark initiative can be found here: http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/unleashingaspiration/

Daryl’s internship exploitation podcast can be heard here: http://www.dwpubsporadic.com/2010/03/sourcethatjob-strikes-a-chord-over-media-internship-exploitation.html

The Draft Programme for our National Arts Student Summit follows. Please register your attendance here

Weds 7^th April 2010.

12.00 – 12.30  Coffee and registration

 An Arts Education, Policies and Innovation 

1.30 – 1.45   Kit Friend Chair of The Arts Group, 

Welcome and introduction to the

1.45 – 2.15 Professor Maureen Wayman OBE “Delivering the Dream”



2.15 – 2.45 Ian Thompson 
Sorrel Foundation, 
”Design and Innovation where do we start?”

2.45 – 3.00 Questions from the floor to the speakers



3.00 – 3.15 Coffee

3.15  -– 4.4 5  Facilitated Group Discussions

6pm onwards – Dinner and Evening activities

Thurs 8th April 2010.

Creative Industries and University Collaboration Opportunities, Barriers and Solutions

             9.30– 10.00  Coffee and registration

10.00 – 10.30 Steve Besley Head of Education Policy Edexcel, speaks on the wider education landscape and what we should prepare for.

10.30 – 11. 00  Marcus Mason, Development Officer, ‘New Deal of the Mind’ 

11.00 – 11.30  coffee

11.30 – 12.45  Workshops

12.45 – 1.45  lunch

1.45 – 2.00 Mark Crawley, National Arts Learning Network “Response and Responsibility”

2.00 – 2.20  Leanne Manfredi, Victoria & Albert Museum

2.20 – 3.00  Facilitators – report back and discussion

3.00 – 3.20  Tea Break

3.20   Plenary and ways forward

3.45    Closing remarks

Coffee

Working from the original wattson design template, applicants’ designs will be judged by a high-profile judging panel, including the Head of Creative at Selfridges, and Wallpaper Magazine’s Art and Design Editor, jotta Editor Millie Ross and Max Fraser of the London Design Guide.

The competition will give applicants a platform for their work to be seen by influential figures from the art and design world, and the winning design will be made into a limited edition version of the Wattson, which will be stocked in Wattson’s retail outlets nationwide.

Green technology experts and independent design collective DIY Kyoto was established in 2005 by three RCA graduates: Greta Corke (Interaction Design), Jon Sawdon Smith (Industrial Design) and Richard Woods (Industrial Design). They presented the worldwide launch of their inaugural product at the Milan Salone del Mobile in 2006 and the first ever Wattson 01 previewed at the Milan Salone del Mobile 2007.

The Wattson is a designer energy monitor which has been proven to help households save up to 20% on their electricity bill, an average annual saving of approx. £280. It’s simple operation, smart design(“I Am Gorgeous” is his tagline), and renewable energy have garnered Wattson a huge amount of praise in the design and eco realms, helping people understand and control their personal impact on the environment.

The competition deadline is Friday 12 March find out more about how to enter here.

www.diykyoto.com

Arts Group Chair Kit Friend presented at the NALN/UKADIA Conference with Skillset’s Gini Stirling around the issue of unpaid internships and their effect on widening participation in the Arts, following on from the Arts Group’s Emerging Workers Report and subsequent discussion with Skillset and others.

Download the pdf of our presentation: “Internships: Counting the cost”

Download the full draft of the Skillset report here: http://www.skillset.org/uploads/pdf/asset_14315.pdf?1

The BBC have published a news feature on the exploitation of interns including a fantastic interview with friend-of-the-Arts-Group Alex Try of Interns Anonymous.

It’s great to see the BBC bringing the issue up. Let’s hope they’ll be paying attention to working practice on all their programmes and making sure to prevent embarrassments like James May’s gloating over the use of unpaid Arts students in his productions.

Full link to the news article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8518617.stm

A joint international symposium presented by Columbia College Chicago in partnership with the European League of Institutes of the Arts, Claiming Creativity: Art Education in Cultural Transition.

April 21-24, 2010, Chicago, USA

Online Registration closes 14 April, 2010

http://claimingcreativity.com/registration.php

Claiming Creativity seeks to re-position creativity as a driver not only for our economies, but also for art making, for transformational processes, and for social and cultural development and change. The working assumption is that the vitality of our common future is linked tightly to creative practice in many forms. This symposium will place artists, designers, architects and other active “creators,” and those who teach in the creative disciplines squarely at the center of these important conversations along with leaders in industry and commerce who share an interest in the life of the imagination and its value to society.

Educators and other leaders in the arts, business, science, commerce, industry, public policy, and environment are invited to attend.

Claiming Creativity also features an online forum, live and available now to all symposium registrants. Successful proposal abstracts are included on the forum and allow for pre-symposium discourse to begin shaping the Chicago symposium; the forum discussions will also provide additional ideas for special sessions at the Chicago symposium, making Claiming Creativity as interactive as possible for the symposium registrants. Additionally, a symposium “journal” will be published through Columbia College Chicago’s academic press.

Claiming Creativity keynote speakers include Sarat Maharaj (UK), Dany Jacobs (Netherlands), and Amina J. Dickerson (USA). Their vast cultural knowledge and influence will undoubtedly afford symposium attendees new perspectives on “Claiming Creativity” and “the life of imagination and its value to society.”

For details about the symposium, registration, and the keynote speakers, please visit: http://claimingcreativity.com

By Barnaby Tidman

In response to growing concerns over graduate employment (or lack thereof) David Lammy championed Internships and volunteering as access routes into jobs in a release from DBIS this morning just after midnight.

‘Of course students may be concerned, which is why we are working hard to show that real opportunities are available to them including work, further study, volunteering and Internships. Internships are great way for graduates to kick start their careers by gaining the valuable skills and work experience at a time when they face a more competitive job market.’

Yes David, ‘a great way’ for those who can afford to be exploited by organizations violating the National Minimum Wage. Thanks a bunch. Welcome to the only government who simultaneously claims to champion social mobility whilst also using unpaid work as a strategy for streaming graduates for recruitment.