Internships 'exploiting' graduates - graduate jobs

More and more unscrupulous employers are exploiting graduates by offering unpaid internships instead of paid work experience, the TUC has claimed.

The union said thousands of young people were so desperate for experience that they had even offered to pay to work for nothing.

TUC official Paul Sellers said the practice had long been common in the arts and media, but was now becoming increasingly commonplace in IT and engineering.

He added that some employers were unaware of minimum wage legislation that meant companies were legally-obliged to pay people for services, but that "Others are just ripping people off".

Tom Richmond, from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, added: "If employees are contributing to the workplace, if they are doing work for you, you have to pay them the minimum wage."