The law is clear: if a job demands set hours or has a specific job description you may be deemed to be a ‘worker’ and be covered by National Minimum Wage legislation. PoliticsHome’s new unpaid slave internship certainly seems to fulfil that criteria, not only must the successful candidate be a capable writer, good deadline keeper and with an eye for breaking news, he or she “also must be flexible on working hours which will include some early mornings and weekends”. Intern Aware have revealed that disgruntled interns are claiming they are required to get up in the early hours to help write the Waugh Room Memo:

“We have received complaints that PoliticsHome interns are expected to do a 4 a.m. shift from home, a weekend shift, and early shifts in the office. Ex-interns tell us that they have to get in before dawn to gather content for Paul Waugh’s daily “Waugh Room” memo. PoliticsHome appear to be building its multi-million pound business by asking young people to work for free. It should stop cheating the system and pay young journalists a wage that they can afford to live on. This will help it to attract the best talent – and may avoid a costly visit to an employment tribunal.”

It’s Waugh!

UPDATE:

For the avoidance of doubt, I research + write my Memo myself. Otherwise I wouldn't get up at 5am every day

— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) March 21, 2013