100 companies investigated over interns and minimum wage

Employment minister Jo Swinson has referred 100 companies to HM Revenue & Customs for allegedly breaching minimum wage regulations by employing unpaid interns.

Internships, which encourage young people to work for nothing to gain experience, have become more common in recent years but they remain controversial.

Ms Swinson was given the names of the 100 companies by the campaign group, Intern Aware, which is opposed to internships. The companies now under investigation are from a number of sectors including fashion and design, media and marketing.

Ben Lyons, of Intern Aware, told the Times newspaper: “Despite the Government admitting that many unpaid internships break the National Minimum Wage Law, until today very little action had been promised to tackle the problem. This is extremely welcome.”

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