UK embassies pay no wage to interns

British embassies around the world are employing people to carry out full-time diplomatic work without paying them.

The Sunday Post has seen evidence that dozens of interns are working for free in UK diplomatic outposts in jobs ranging from translation to economic policy.

In the UK it is illegal to employ anyone on work experience with fixed hours and duties and not pay them the minimum wage.

But in Britain’s Brussels bureau someone worked a 36-hour week for six months in the human resources department for no pay.

And in Rome the economic section of the British embassy hired a series of interns, one for nine months working 35 hours a week but given just £6 a day for lunch and travel.

The disclosure comes a year after Prime Minister David Cameron said “exploiting interns is unacceptable”.

Critics last night slammed the practice. Chris Hares, campaigns manager of the unpaid worker pressure group Intern Aware, said: “It is disturbing that unpaid and unfair internships appear to be so prevalent in international embassies, including those for the UK Government. “Unpaid internships discriminate against the vast majority of young people who may have huge amounts of potential, but don’t have wealthy parents.

“It is also concerning that unpaid interns are seemingly propping up the system for international diplomacy, which is clearly wrong.”

The Sunday Post has obtained a document showing 71 people have been given internships with little or no pay across the UK’s 270 embassies over the last five years.

While the diplomatic service in Brazilian capital Brasilia pays twice the local minimum wage to interns, in Beijing and New Delhi get nothing and in Pretoria, South Africa, there’s a standard £43 per week payment to cover food and travel expenses.

The UK Government claims it’s impossible to pay interns in some countries without breaking local employment laws but Intern Aware described that as a “measly excuse”.