EU Commission aims to make paid internships the norm with new directive

Around half of all interns in the EU were not paid in 2019 (at the time of the last survey). In Germany, for example, mandatory internships do not have to be paid; only internships lasting longer than three months are subject to the minimum wage. The European Commission now wants to change this situation and is making a new push to establish paid internships as a European standard: Last week, a draft of a new directive was presented.

Its central concept is the basic rule that interns should be paid the same as regular employees. This is intended to achieve two goals: On the one hand, it is intended to prevent young people from being exploited while performing their internships. On the other hand, the Commission wants to counteract the shortage of skilled workers by making internships more attractive.

At the same time, however, this directive also contains exceptions: if interns perform different tasks than regular employees or work fewer hours overall, their pay may also differ. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) therefore believes that the Commission's proposal does not go far enough: according to a spokeswoman for the confederation, the directive does little to remedy the “scandal” of unpaid internships. However, it will be several months before the directive is implemented: it will only be negotiated after the European elections and the reconstitution of the European Parliament.

We were also interested in the following topics:

• Collective bargaining: Much to the delight of all commuters and travelers, Deutsche Bahn and the train drivers' union GDL announced an agreement in the collective bargaining dispute at the beginning of the week, the details of which are known to the RND. Less media-effective, but nevertheless successful, the Marburger Bund doctors' union was also able to negotiate a new collective agreement with the collective bargaining association of German states. However, the committees of both contracting parties have yet to give their approval.

• Cannabis legalization: Since being waved through by the Bundesrat, the (partial) legalization of cannabis has been a done deal. What consequences will this have for the workplace? t3n asked an expert in labor law.

• Four-day week: The Left Party is calling for an “offensive to reduce working hours” and sees the public sector playing a pioneering role in this. Die Zeit summarizes exactly what the party's newly presented concept entails.

Are you interested in political consulting? Take part in our CHECKPOINT Political Consulting event on May 16. There you can get to know political consultancies such as 365 Sherpas – Corporate Affairs & Policy Advice, ADVERB – Agency for NGO and Association Communication, Hill & Knowlton, Miller & Meier Consulting, FleishmanHillard Germany, Brunswick Group and many more live.

Are you interested in effective and clever corporate communications? Come to our CHECKPOINT Corporate Communications in Frankfurt/Main on June 6, 2024, and meet consultancies and companies that are looking for you to join their communications team! You can find all the information you need at ckpt.org.

This text first appeared as an editorial in the weekly politjobs newsletter. If you would like to receive this newsletter with the latest jobs in politics directly by email every Wednesday, you can subscribe to it here.

Spread the word: Do you have friends or acquaintances who are also interested in political jobs? Feel free to forward the registration form for our newsletter.