Union Unite is writing to the HMRC to urge it to take action against charity employers which use unpaid interns.

While Unite will not name and shame the charities employing interns without pay, it will contact the HMRC asking it to carry out an investigation of the practice within the not-for-profit sector. The union has already given evidence to the Low Pay Commission that it believes one in three of the top 50 charity employers are using unpaid interns.

Unite argues that the practice is in violation of the national minimum wage, currently set at £6.31 for adult workers.

Sally Kosky, the union’s national officer for the sector, said: “Many of these charities are multimillion pound organisations that can well afford to pay. Writing to the HRMC is the next step in our campaign to stop these exploitative charities trading on the goodwill and compassionate nature of young people.”

Responding to the Unite campaign, Acevo chief executive Sir Stephen Bubb defended the place of unpaid internships in charities and career development. 

"Internships provide many young people with opportunities to gain valuable experience and skills in a sector where they can make a real difference," he said.

"Many of Acevo’s interns have subsequently gone on to exciting careers within the third sector. Realistically, the only way that Acevo and many other charities organisations can make these placements available is on an unpaid basis. Quite simply, we believe this is a far better option than closing off these opportunities altogether.”

Unite’s push on intern pay follows the report from another union, Unison, this week which found that one in four charity workers in housing, children, disability and advice services are paid less than the living wage, and 9 per cent are on zero hours contracts.

Unite’s figures on the prevalence of unpaid internships at top charities are gathered from a review of online job ads.