Plumbing boss Charlie Mullins believes employers not paying interns is tantamount to slavery, and offending companies should be named and shamed for exploiting young people. Charlie, the founder of plumbing company Pimlico Plumbers, has expressed his views ahead of Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke introducing a private members bill in Parliament this Friday (4 November), calling for a ban on unpaid internships.
According to a recent YouGov poll, 43% of 18 to 24 year olds believe unpaid internships act or have acted as a major barrier to get a job. Charlie says that not paying interns puts young people from less well-off backgrounds at a disadvantage. He says:
“I’m pretty old fashioned when it comes to employing people to do something in my business. If I ask them to come and do a job of work for me then I expect to pay them, anything else is tantamount to slavery. Companies that take advantage of young people’s sometimes-desperate need to gain experience in my view are despicable and should be publicly shamed for such abuse of power.
“Unpaid internships put poorer candidates at a disadvantage because they just cannot afford not to work, compared to their richer peers, and this is a huge blockage to the Government’s social mobility agenda, which I wholeheartedly support. But for me it’s even more basic in that there is no excuse whatsoever for allowing someone to toil on your behalf and not pay them just because you can. This kind of behaviour must be made as unacceptable as not paying the national minimum wage to employees, no excuses or exceptions! This is why I’m 100% behind Alec’s bill,” concludes Charlie Mullins.
