Arts sector’s use of unpaid interns for some roles could be illegal, experts say

Concerns also raised that practice prevents young working-class people from finding paid work in creative industries

Arts employers could be breaking the law by relying on unpaid interns to perform roles that should be left to paid workers, preventing young people from working-class backgrounds from gaining a foothold, experts have said.

Institutions are getting away with exploiting carve-outs in employment legislation to keep interns working for free, they said, which stops working-class people from finding paid work in the industry.