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The Department for Business and Trade has responded to a 2025 call for evidence on unpaid internships – and has, for now, decided against a legal ban.

In 2025 the DBT asked for views on banning unpaid internships. Its purpose was to build an understanding of current practices for unpaid work in the workplace. It also sought to gather views from stakeholders on unpaid internships and internships paid below the National Minimum Wage (NMW), unpaid work trials and work trials paid below the NMW, voluntary workers, volunteers, and work shadowing.

The response confirms that there will be, for now, no legislative changes.

Regarding illegal unpaid internships, the government will:

1. Review and expand its NMW guidance. It’s not ruling out legislative change where the evidence indicates that existing protections are insufficient. It is, however, mindful of the risks that employers might seek to find other ways to try and circumvent the law if a definition of an intern is tightly defined or leads to a two-tier system where interns are treated differently from workers.
2. Continue to crack down on unscrupulous employers through existing enforcement channels and via the Fair Work Agency.
3. Bolster existing communications campaigns from within and outside of government, to help young people understand their rights and what action they can take if they are not paid that to which they are legally entitled.

As regards work trials, the government commits to stamp out unfair practices through enforcement action. It will update the guidance on work trials and encourage individuals to report these where they may be being misused.

As regards voluntary work, such workers are already exempted from requiring to be paid the NMW where they meet the statutory definition and the government does not propose to change the law on this. Similarly with work shadowing where the government sees no need for any legislation.