Some readers will have been alarmed by recent media stories questioning whether the use of unpaid interns in the arts might be breaking the law.
In principle, there is no reason why theatres should not utilise the services of unpaid interns and other voluntary workers. However, if they are effectively used to replace paid workers, with criteria such as dictated hours, days and duties, the likelihood is that they would fail to qualify under any of the exemptions in the National Minimum Wage Act. These exemptions include situations where a role forms part of someone’s studies, they are volunteers and short-term work experience.
In many cases, theatres rely heavily on voluntary workers in a number of roles. For example, most will have directors or trustees who wouldn’t even think about getting paid for their valuable input. It is also quite common, even for some relatively large theatres, to utilise the services of volunteers to work front of house.
In each of these cases, the typical individual is likely be of mature years and choosing to work in a theatre because they wish to support the organisation or merely just give something back to society. They might even relish the opportunity to be within touching distance of glamour.
At times, one might wonder about the good sense of some actors and other creative workers, who are so desperate for opportunities that they willingly enter into relatively long-term projects on a profit-sharing basis. While this makes perfect sense, in theory, the fact that there would not be a profit even if ticket sales achieved 100% occupancy means that there are guaranteed to be providing their services for no pay.
If that kind of thing happens week in, week out, it reaches a frenzied zenith during August in Edinburgh, when the Fringe attracts thousands of youngsters, many of whom will perform or operate behind the scenes without being paid, although they may be granted some rudimentary accommodation as part of the package.
The more serious problem is most likely to occur when someone is keen to enter the industry and can find no paid work. Instead, they will seek out opportunities for “internships”, which can be exploitative and involve working as an administrator or even providing manual labour without pay. This might be reasonable for a week or two as work experience, but there has to be a danger that far too many theatres come to rely on the goodwill of those who know no better.
It isn’t just our own cultural sub-sector that takes advantage of desperate young people. Apparently, museums and art galleries are renowned for this practice. It almost goes without saying that such practices help to perpetuate the bias against people from working class backgrounds entering the industry, since those who can afford to provide their services without pay must inevitably have independent means.
As this column has so often observed, the real problem is that the arts sector is criminally underfunded and it is only going to get worse, as the government seeks more ways to offset increasing expenditure on defence, not to mention health. There is only so much cutting that can be achieved before the aid budget disappears completely.
A couple of quotes from a recent Guardian article starkly illuminate the dilemma. Employment law partner Emma Gross from Spencer West notes that, “common tactics include misclassifying interns as volunteers, offering expenses-only roles while assigning real work responsibilities, or using unpaid internships or training as trial periods for future employment”.
Martin Wright of youth employment charity Creative Society noted that, “if any intern does anything that contributes to the bottom line of your company you need to pay them, otherwise slave labour”.
One thing we all know is that if any theatre was caught out, it would struggle to pay the legal fees, let alone any penalties resulting from breaches of the law. As such, those who might be at risk should take action now. In itself, this may not be easy, as the use of interns is part of the ecology of the industry and may have become baked into a theatre’s business model.