NCVO has warned charities against “inadvertently exploiting” young people by creating poor-quality, unpaid internship positions.

NCVO published new guidance today, entitled Volunteer Internships in the Voluntary Sector

One recommendation is that charities must be clear with interns whether or not the role is a voluntary one or a nine-to-five, five-day-a-week role. If the internship is one of the latter, the guidance says, charities should pay those individuals at least the minimum wage.

Justin Davis Smith, director of volunteering at NCVO, said: “There should be no such thing as an ‘unpaid internship’ in charities. The law here is quite clear. A role should either be a paid one, or a proper volunteer role.”

Alongside the recommendations on payment, the NCVO guidelines also call on charities to ensure that voluntary interns are given roles which "provide genuine scope for skill development".

"While many people who volunteer do so at least in part to gain new skills and experience, interns are often in a particularly vulnerable position at the start of their careers," said Davis Smith. "In the current job market, many feel that gaining experience this way is the only route to the career they want.

“Charities need to ensure that they are not inadvertently taking advantage of this by ensuring that these volunteers get the genuine skills development that they are hoping for."

“We’ve seen very positive examples of charities who invest seriously in creating internship schemes that offer volunteers substantial support and development.”

The guidance has been developed with charities including the RSPB, Marie Curie Cancer Care, and Cancer Research UK.