SIX-MONTH ROLE IN LONDON PAYS JUST £5 PER DAY FOR LUNCH
* GRADUATE FOG EXCLUSIVE! *
>> Ooh! This story has picked up by London’s Evening Standard, the Guardian and the Independent
A six-month, unpaid London Zoo internship has angered science graduates after the zoo made clear it expects applications from people with a Master’s degree. The “exciting opportunity” pays just £5 per day for lunch plus travel expenses (for interns living in London).
Despite offering no salary, London Zoo makes clear that only highly-qualified graduates will be considered for the project, which concerns the threatened pangolin, a species of scaly anteater. “Candidates should ideally have excellent written communication skills and attention to detail, and an undergraduate or Masters level degree in biology, conservation or a related subject,” the advert states. Here is the advert in full, for a ‘IUCN Species Survival Commission Pangolin Specialist Group Intern’:
Graduate Fog shares graduates’ disappointment that such a long internship requiring specific qualifications and knowledge is unpaid.
While the London Zoo’s dedication to animal welfare is commendable, the same cannot be said for its commitment to the welfare of its own junior staff. Unless they have significant financial support from their family, interns taking up this opportunity will find themselves working seven-day weeks (including evenings) to have a hope of covering even their basic living costs.
This is what happened when we contacted ZSL – the people who run London Zoo – to ask them to explain why the role is unpaid…
The pangolin: Blissfully untroubled by the need to pay rent in London (Picture by Piekfrosch)
To: ZSL London Zoo
From: Graduate FogI run the graduate careers website Graduate Fog. One of our readers has just alerted me to your advert for a six month IUCN Species Survival Commission Pangolin Specialist Group Internship at London Zoo.
Please can you explain how you can justify that this position being unpaid? As you’re no doubt aware, London is a very expensive city, and it is surely unreasonable to ask anybody to work for free when the cost of living is so high. In not paying wages for this role, you are also ensuring that it is out of reach to all but those whose family have the financial means to support them living in London for six months without earning.
While ZSL’s commitment to the survival of endangered species – including the pangolin – is admirable, it would be good to see a similar commitment to the welfare of your own junior staff, who need money to survive.
I will be blogging about this tomorrow so I look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Many thanks,
Tanya
ZSL London Zoo replied:
To: Graduate Fog
From: London ZooHi Tanya
ZSL London Zoo is the base for international conservation charity the Zoological Society of London. Like others in the charity sector, we value the time donated by volunteers willing to help us achieve our mission. We ensure that voluntary opportunities offer valuable experience and personal development, with many former placements leading to conservation careers at ZSL or other leading NGOs. We cover travel expenses within the Greater London area and provide a daily lunch allowance.
Kind regards
Human Resources
We weren’t very impressed, so we wrote back:
To: ZSL London Zoo
From: Graduate FogDear Human Resources,
Thanks for your email but I’m afraid I found it rather dismissive and I expect Graduate Fog’s readers will too.
Is ZSL aware that in making this an unpaid role, it can only be taken by a candidate who has significant financial backing from their family and / or somewhere to live in London rent-free? Do you feel this is a fair and open recruitment policy?
Also, I would like to challenge whether this truly is a ‘volunteer role’, as you state it is 4 or 5 days a week, and presumably this person will have regular hours?
If you are expecting them to work in their days ‘off’ from this internship, they will be working up to 7 days a week, perhaps days and evenings in order to make anywhere close to the necessary money to fund their living costs during this internship.
I appreciate that ZSL is committed to doing a great deal of excellent work for the welfare of animals. However, I urge you to remember that the welfare of your young staff is also extremely important.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Tanya
This time a named Media Manager replied, still failing to explain how this was a fair and accessible opportunity to candidates from all backgrounds:
To: Graduate Fog
From: London ZooDear Tanya,
The advertisement for the volunteer internship at the Zoological Society of London is to support our conservation efforts to save the pangolin, a project in partnership with the IUCN Species Survival Commission.
As an international conservation charity with limited grant funding for this project, we are grateful for the donation of time from our dedicated volunteers and are appreciative of whatever availability they have. This role is flexible to suit the candidate — it does not have fixed hours or working days, and we cover travel expenses within the Greater London area and provide a daily lunch allowance.
The role is not exclusive to undergraduates or Masters students, and will provide fantastic experience in a global conservation organisation and unparalleled networking opportunities for those interested in pursuing a career in this field.
Kind regards,
As regular readers of Graduate Fog know, charity internships like this are perfectly legal in the UK. The minimum wage law states that while interns with regular hours and set responsibilities, doing proper work for private companies are classed as ‘workers’ (who must be paid at least the minimum wage), interns at charities can be classed as ‘voluntary workers’ — and these need not be paid.
ZSL claims this is a ‘volunteer’ role – but interns can’t survive in London on thin air
However, in recent years concerns have been raised that many charities — particularly the big ones — are taking advantage of this legal loophole and using it to secure unlimited free labour, usually from graduates desperate to gain experience in the charity sector.
As with all unpaid internships, not only does this create financial hardship for those who do them, it also excludes those who can’t afford to do them.
The young man who tipped us off about the advert is one of many qualified, talented graduates who would love to take up this opportunity — but says he simply can’t afford to. Speaking to us anonymously (as he still hopes to work for ZSL one day and doesn’t want to be seen as a troublemaker) he called the internship “disheartening” and “a sad state of affairs for ZSL.” He explained:
“Having seen first hand the majesty of a pangolin in its natural environment, and having the greatest respect for ZSL, I was about to jump at the chance of helping to save them. However, my need to preserve myself (through providing food and a roof over my head) outweighs my drive to help save this charismatic and endangered species. That is a sad state of affairs for ZSL.
“A volunteer position of this sort has the potential to provide valuable experience that will help resent graduates or people who have just completed an MSc or PhD transfer into the conservation sector. Unfortunately only those who are lucky enough to live at home with very understanding parents are able to take advantage of this opportunity. It is not possible to live in greater London for 6 months when your only income covers travel and £5 for lunch, unless you live as a homeless person outside Camden Town tube station.
“I understand that they don’t have much money but these sorts of positions are what stifle social mobility, not access to university. It’s access to experience that is crucial to get a foothold in the jobs market.”
A number of charities have been questioned about their ethics of their use of unpaid interns, including the National Trust, the British Institute of Human Rights and the Globe Theatre. In 2012, Labour MP Hazel Blears tried to close this loophole, but her attempts failed.
* SHOULD LONDON ZOO PAY THEIR INTERNS?
Is it fair that charities needn’t pay their interns – or should the legal loophole be closed so that young people receive a fair wage for their work, and valuable opportunities are open to all? Have you done an unpaid internship at London Zoo – or would you love to but you can’t afford it? Share your views below!
Just seen this story on The Guardian website – it is indeed madness. Just checked it out on the ZSL website and it’s advertised in the jobs section, not the volunteering section: if it’s a job then it requires at least LMW. They’ve got a position for a part-time catering assistant that pays over £8 per hour. Surely the pangolin saviour is worth at least that much!
They also make it clear that you need a postgrad degree – it’s not just a ‘nice-to-have’.
I’m (sadly) no longer ‘young’ by any definition of the word, but I’m sick of seeing young people being exploited like this.
Having been an intern at ZSL, I feel I am in a position to counteract this article/media criticism.
Interns are a vital part of the research and conservation work that happens at ZSL and there are simply not the funds available to pay them in money, but they definitely pay interns in experience. It IS possible to live in London based on their expenses without coming from a wealthy background – it just requires savings, careful budgeting and a passion for conservation (and no, I didn’t live with any family or friends – I paid rent, bills and council tax).
The experiences and networking opportunities I gained by being there have been invaluable to my career, and in turn I have helped contribute to research that may have been impossible without the help of interns.
Do I feel like I have been exploited? Not at all. Would it have been nice to have been paid? Of course, but I didn’t go into conservation to make money – I want to help reduce biodiversity decline and fix some of the damage that people have made. No one at ZSL is in it for the money, it’s about making a difference for the future of wildlife, not exploitation of young graduates.
Haven’t they rather left themselves without a leg to stand on by the including the word “job” in their description?
Oh I forgot, they’re a charity.
@E: They have the funds to pay a catering assistant £8 an hour, but not the funds to pay someone fitting the spec above at least the minimum wage?
‘London Zoo’ is one part of the umbrella of ‘ZSL’ and therefore there’s not just one big money pot serving the whole of ZSL. A large proportion of the research done at ZSL is not funded from the Zoo and some income from the Zoo is obviously used to maintain the Zoo by paying staff. There isn’t the same amount of money in research to do that. Perhaps if the government and the general public cared more about the damage we were doing to the planet, there would be more money for research internships within the conservation sector.
I should state that I’m no longer associated with ZSL and these are completely my own views – I don’t know, but will also be interested to see, how ZSL will respond to this backlash.
Companies can and will take advantage of the desperation of graduates. In a world where experience is everything and grades count for nothing I am surprised they haven’t started charging graduates for work experience.
@E – Thanks for commenting, as a former intern you are a very valuable source of information. I don’t think anybody is saying this isn’t a worthwhile or useful internship for the person who does it – it’s the fact that the majority of people couldn’t afford to do it that is the problem. All the things you gained from the experience were out of reach to everyone who can’t work for free.
I should also make the point that it’s common for interns not to feel exploited – but that doesn’t mean they aren’t exploited. It’s all about how desperate that person is for what is on offer, and if they’re grateful enough they don’t feel exploited. But the fact is that when everybody else working full-time jobs at the zoo is paid (and some of your bosses will have been very well paid), it is unfair to pay interns so little, or suggest it is entirely reasonable that they should work for free (which you now clearly believe – something that upsets me, if I’m being really honest!)
Can you tell us a bit more about when you did your internship and how long it lasted? What were you paid and how exactly did you fund yourself during that time? I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s impressed / amazed that you survived in London without an income!
Also, on the funding issue, we hear the ‘there’s no money’ defence a lot on Graduate Fog – and I’m afraid it just doesn’t wash. It’s up to any organisation – including charities – to secure the funding they need to run themselves properly. At the moment I don’t have the funds to pay an intern to work for me at Graduate Fog, so should I just get one anyway and expect them to work for free, telling them I don’t have the money? After all, it would be a great experience for them and we’re doing important work here… I can’t help feeling that big organisations – and charities particularly – somehow manage to trick themselves into thinking it’s okay to have unpaid staff, because the responsibility for getting them in is dispersed. Whereas if I had an intern working for me unpaid, it would be as plain as day to me that I was taking advantage of their desperation for experience, and using it to get something for nothing for my own website.
It has been common pratice for Third Sector Organisations to rely on Group Think, where staff initially volunteer in the expectation that they will secure paid employment, and to allocate its Staff Budget to Senior Staffs who are then paid an extrenely generous salary and expense allowance.
Lets not demean our integrity, therefore, by presuming that a Third Sector Business may not have sufficient finance to pay its staff.
If employers wish to play this game, fine, We look forward to HMRC being appraised of the attempt by employers to contavene National Minimum Wage Legislation.
Hi Tanya,
I just want to say a big thank you for following up on this and blogging about it. I saw this position advertised…it’s basically my dream job! I am very qualified for it – I have a Masters degree and have worked on pangolin conservation campaigns before (with a MUCH smaller NGO in a developing country, which still managed to pay me!). It was very upsetting to see that it was unpaid, and thus there was no way I could even apply. It’s very disheartening to feel like I put in all the years of study and volunteering just to be taken advantage of. A lot of people seeking jobs in conservation are generous and doing it to help animals. Thus they find it easy to justify working for free, as they are doing it for the animals they care about. I did it for a long time. Unfortunately, we all get to the point where we just need (and deserve!) an income! Big organisations such as ZSL should be setting an example. It’s truly disappointing.
Thanks again for highlighting this issue!
A
The fact that former interns are defending this just shows the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ mindset that can develop after a while. You start to think ‘maybe an unpaid internship isn’t too bad. I’m getting experience and you can’t put a price on that’. It is an odd psychological phenomenon. Siding with the very people exploiting you.
I think it’s acceptable for charities to hire unpaid interns but only if they are a) short, like a couple of weeks, no more than a month or b) only one or at most two days per week. A full-time 6-month unpaid internship is in my opinion inexcusable, however good the cause is.
SIX-MONTH ROLE IN LONDON PAYS JUST £5 PER DAY FOR LUNCH
It’s important to use the correct words when describing matters of employment law.
The £5 is not pay, any payment or benefit in kind that is not permissible would render the NMW to be due.
Payment for food is a lawful expense.
I think it is totally ridiculous and unfair for graduate employers to expect prospective employees to have relevant direct experience and it is an unfair barrier to entering the job market which I think needs to removed along with a shift in attitude towards the experience graduates may have. I think it is unfair because some graduates and students simply do not have the ways and means to access work experience regardless of it being paid or not and even if they are able to get experience – the quality and value of placements must vary greatly. Surely if employers stopped making demands that graduates have relevant work experience, then the demand for unpaid internships can be snuffed out as well.