ADVERTS FOR DOZENS OF WAGE-FREE ROLES APPEAR ONLINE, AIMED SQUARELY AT YOUNG APPLICANTS
* GRADUATE FOG EXCLUSIVE! *
* OOH! THIS STORY HAS BEEN PICKED UP BY POLITICS BLOG GUIDO FAWKES
Politicians are being warned not to use the general election to take advantage of young people desperate to start a career in politics, after a flurry adverts has appeared online recruiting dozens of ‘campaign volunteers’. But are these true volunteer roles — or just unpaid internships by another name?
The adverts — mainly from the Conservative Party – describe a variety of roles helping regional election hopefuls in the run-up to May’s general election, as well as at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters in Westminster.
First things first – Graduate Fog has no problem with genuine volunteering, and we understand that political campaigning is always powered by local people so passionate about their party that they donate their time for free.
However, we have five years’ experience of reading adverts like this — and alarm bells are ringing.
The Prime Minister outlines his vision for “A Britain that rewards work”, 17 February 2015. Unfortunately, this does not appear to include election interns.
In particular, we note that many of the adverts seem to be aimed squarely at young people, stressing the chance to ‘gain experience’ and ‘build your CV’. Why would a true volunteer care about either of those things?
All the positions advertised carry a footnote explaining that these are ‘voluntary’ roles with no set hours. But again, is this really true?
Are interns at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (see advert below) really free to saunter in and out as they wish? Having spoken to interns on previous political campaigns, that seems unlikely. (They all say they worked like dogs). Only ‘lunch and reasonable travel expenses’ are paid.
In another advert – for Westminster North Conservatives, below – they explicitly state that the role would suit “a student, recent graduate or an individual who is looking to learn more about how political campaigning works”. The salary for this one? ‘Travel expenses within London’.
The adverts jar with the Prime Minister’s recent rhetoric on pay and young workers. On Tuesday, he said that work “must always be rewarded” and last week he told businesses that they must pay their workers more:
The Times front page, 10 February 2015
These are not just work shadowing roles. Many of the adverts provide long lists of duties the volunteers will be expected to perform. Others list the requirements that applicants must demonstrate. Thankfully, not all recruiters are so demanding. The Wakefield Conservative Association is just looking for someone with “a good grasp of the three r’s”, who likes curry and beer:
Graduate Fog would like to remind those recruiting for these roles that it doesn’t matter what you call a role, or how carefully you word the advert (whatever was in that 2013 Conservative Party memo advising members to re-brand interns as ‘campaign volunteers’, to avoid the risk of ‘potential hostile questioning’). The only thing that matters is the reality of the position, once it starts.
In December 2013, a Conservative Party memo was published advising members to re-brand their interns as ‘campaign volunteers’ to reduce the risk of ‘potential hostile questioning’. This wasn’t the memo’s cover, but it should have been.
If it turns out that these ‘campaign volunteers’ DO in reality have set hours, and set responsibilities, can’t come and go as they wish and are doing real work, then it is likely that they will be considered a ‘worker’ under minimum wage law.
If that is the case, they must be paid. They can’t waive their rights to pay, even if they say they are happy to work for free. Anyone who allows someone to work for free can be made to award them back pay if they later decide to claim the wages they’re owed. The employers’ name will also be published by HMRC.
And finally, we have a message for all campaign volunteers and parliamentary interns. If you signed up for a ‘volunteer’ role and it suddenly starts to feel like a proper job (with set hours and set responsibilities), get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you and all correspondence will be treated in the strictest confidence.
* WANT TO SEE MORE ADVERTS? HERE GOES…
And these were the Lib Dem adverts we found (none from Labour as yet):
I’m a Politics & International Relations graduate and this has been endemic in the main political parties for donkeys years, advertisers on W4MP just changed the word “intern” for “volunteer” a year or two back and put an often meaningless disclaimer on.
This is part of why I never got involved in a political party until recently (I’ve been doing a little bit of genuine volunteering of the no set hours and responsibilities kind for the Green Party for about a month).
I’d never have been able to move to London and worked for nothing, and even full time “interning” or “volunteering” for a local MP wasn’t something I wanted to do even if I could.
And by having such lengthy descriptions and criteria, the advertisers really don’t have a leg to stand on when claiming it’s genuine volunteering rather than something they should pay at least minimum wage (or more, given the list of required attributes) for.
Charles Glover (of Lib Dem John Leech fame) was right. Many don’t even advertise for these positions. THAT is the real scandal.
For instance my MP does not advertise on W4MP but when I’ve dealt with his office a couple of years ago I received an e-mail from an intern. So how was that role filled? Hidden jobs market? Was it a case of belonging to the constituency association and getting a tap on the shoulder?
Campaigning on this issue has just driven the problem underground and made it even more unfair.
In the office I worked in (doing a paid internship!) 2 of the 4 permanent staff had got in through doing unpaid internships for London based Labour MPs. One woman now works in Ed Miliband’s office as part of his entourage. She wouldn’t have got that position without all the unpaid work first. It is a scandal.
However having done an internship I’d argue there are wider issues than whether these opportunities are paid.
A standard 3-6 month internship advertised on W4MP does not allow you to get the 1 year experience that many researcher positions on W4MP demand. There is a glass ceiling for interns trying to get that first “real” job afterwards.
My internship was in many ways not all that useful as I felt that the staff simply couldn’t be bothered to train me up given I was going to be out of the door in a couple of months’ time. I was told I couldn’t access training courses as an intern and training was the major reason for doing an internship!
In many ways I would have preferred an unpaid internship with a genuine focus on training/development.
Has there been any progress on the Leech HMRC story?
I loved the naivety of the poor intern (@ahwmyleg) who said he would rather the money go to helping constituents.
That isn’t the job. The job is promote the interests of your employer in this case John Leech MP. To gain Leech votes.
Often that may mean *not* pushing too hard to help a constituent on an issue.
If the following applies to people working as unpaid interns for the Conservative party, surely it also applies to people who have been mandated to do unpaid work placements by the Jobcentre?
“The role being advertised is a voluntary one. As such, there are no set hours and responsibilities and you should be free to come and go as you wish. If the post demands set hours and/or has a specific job description you may be deemed to be a ‘worker’ and be covered by National Wage legislation.”
Any jobseekers sent on CWP etc should demand that they are paid at least the minimum wage.
“Any jobseekers sent on CWP etc should demand that they are paid at least the minimum wage.”
Unless the critical mass was there, a jobseeker on workfare doing that would just risk getting sanctioned though surely for doing that?
The threat of destitution (which means rough sleeping for some people) is very effective, which is why they use it.