According to Kayte Lawton, a research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, many volunteers working unpaid for employers, could be entitled to wages. Kayte spoke to BBC News’ employment correspondent Martin Shankleman, highlighting some key points.

The views expressed below are not those of RateMyPlacement, nor the BBC, but the original author. We have included some of the opinions, but the full article can be seen by clicking here.

“Q: What is the law on people working as unpaid volunteers?

The national minimum wage act is quite clear. Anybody doing work for a company needs to paid the minimum wage.

It doesn’t spell out what work is. But if you are doing pre-determined tasks, you’re expected to be in the office, you have deadlines and your work is monitored – things like that would all count as work.

Work experience, by contrast, is about shadowing, going to meetings with people, things where you are not contributing to the business of the organisation.”

“Have many employers been abusing internships and unpaid volunteers?

From our understanding, a lot of interns working at the moment would have quite a strong case if they went to tribunals.

It’s a question of whether someone wants to take that stand and take the risk.

We are calling on trade unions to seek out good test cases to support people in that process.”

What are your thoughts? Do you think interns are exposed or is it part of the process? Comment below!