Prevent exploitation: Pay for internships in firms becoming a standard in the EU?

They are often seen as nothing more than cheap labor, but that could soon change. The European Commission wants people doing internships in a company to be paid and for it to become a standard in the European Union (EU). However, there will be exceptions.

The European Commission wants to improve the salaries of interns.

"An internship can be an excellent first work experience for young people, but these internships must be of high quality, with a clear learning component, and they must also be paid," said European Labor Commissioner Nicolas Schmidt. The commission presented the corresponding draft law.

The law should prevent the exploitation of trainees as cheap labor. Brussels also wants to deal with the lack of qualified workers. According to the Commission's data, there were more than three million trainees in the EU in 2019, about half of which were unpaid. More recent data is not available.

Exceptions depending on liability

Exceptions should be possible if there are "objective reasons" for trainees to be paid differently from other employees. According to the information, this may be the case if the trainee's tasks involve less responsibility or less work intensity.

Also, it should be ensured that internships are not substitutes for regular jobs. Companies should also actively inform how many vacancies they have, how long internships last and what the working conditions are.

This is not enough for the unions

For the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the proposed directive is not strict enough. Unpaid internships would exclude talented young working-class people from many occupations, as they would not be able to afford to work for free.

"The proposed directive does little to resolve that scandal," said Tea Jarc of the ETUC.

EU member states and the European Parliament must now find common ground on the proposals and negotiate a compromise together. After that, the planned law can enter into force.