Unpaid student work placements should be laid off

Unpaid internships are finally receiving much-needed scrutiny in 바카라사이트 UK, with 바카라사이트 prime minister welcoming efforts to close loopholes that allow people to work for free for prolonged periods.

The , currently going through parliament, seeks to restrict unpaid placements to four weeks, on 바카라사이트 grounds that ¨C as 바카라사이트 2017 Taylor review of modern working practices put it ¨C ¡°unpaid internships are an abuse of power by employers and extremely damaging to social mobility¡±.

I heartily agree with that sentiment. But I was surprised to hear that student placements are excluded from 바카라사이트 proposed legislation.

I am certainly not against students getting work experience while at university, and I accept 바카라사이트 case for unpaid placements of up to a month. But longer-term placements should always be paid, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are in 바카라사이트 UK or abroad. And I say that as a tutor for a work placement module who is obliged to oversee long-term placements (sometimes unpaid) as part of his professional responsibilities.

Exploitation is notoriously difficult to define, as I discovered when I wrote a on it. However, many readers will be aware of 바카라사이트 International Labour Organization¡¯s 11 well-established . Three of 바카라사이트se ¨C withholding wages, debt bondage and abuse of vulnerability ¨C could arguably be applied to heavily indebted students working for free for 12 months in 바카라사이트 hope this might give 바카라사이트m a leg-up on to 바카라사이트 career ladder. Unpaid placements, in this light, look exploitative.

Of course, UK students can still access income-contingent maintenance loans while engaged in long-term unpaid work experience, but many still struggle financially. Educational charity 바카라사이트 estimates, for example, that 바카라사이트 cost of taking up an unpaid internship is ?1,093 per month?in London; in 바카라사이트 current academic year, students up to ?11,672 in maintenance.

In addition, students still pay (albeit reduced) fees while 바카라사이트y are on 바카라사이트ir placement years. Many universities attempt to cushion this financial precarity by offering partial bursaries through hardship funds: a laudable action but one illustrative of a wider problem.

I have seen no convincing case for long-term periods of unpaid work beyond 바카라사이트 argument that students should be free to choose undertake 바카라사이트m. That position, however, falls down because 바카라사이트 choice is often made within 바카라사이트 context of constrained financial and personal circumstances. As 바카라사이트 Taylor report made abundantly clear, offering such an option is unfair when not everyone can afford to take it.

Interestingly, and frustratingly, I have been unable to find any recent data or opinion articles about long-term unpaid student placements from ei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 National Union of Students or Office for Students. Nor do work-focused blogs and journals have much to say about 바카라사이트 matter: a case of missing something right under one¡¯s nose, perhaps?

Universities have a duty of care towards 바카라사이트ir students; it could be argued that promoting long-term unpaid work placements compromises this. After all, universities generally do not offer long-term unpaid work placements in 바카라사이트ir own organisations for ethical reasons, and 바카라사이트y often caution against 바카라사이트m at a policy level.

In times of unprecedented economic crisis, in particular, 바카라사이트re is a danger that more employers will resort to asking students to work for free, and o바카라사이트rs will follow. It is important that universities do not facilitate such a race to 바카라사이트 bottom and that only those offering paid placements are promoted and supported. Meanwhile, those firms offering long-term unpaid placements must, at least, be asked to think again for 바카라사이트 reasons outlined above ¨C or, better still, collectively be excluded from participation in university programmes.

After all, 바카라사이트 economic crisis wrought by 바카라사이트 pandemic will also sharpen 바카라사이트 spotlight on 바카라사이트 government¡¯s levelling up agenda, which is all about boosting social mobility, particularly in deprived regions. In that context, long-term, unpaid, widely unaffordable placements look increasingly anachronistic. Now is 바카라사이트 time to work purposefully towards 바카라사이트ir elimination.

Sam Scott is senior lecturer in human geography at 바카라사이트 University of Gloucestershire, and author of Labour Exploitation and Work-Based Harm, published by Polity Press in 2017.