Striking a balance: training and pay
Martina Weitsch talks about a Quaker testimony in practice
George Fox called us to ‘Be patterns, be examples’ and, without wishing to sound like a public relations agency for Quakers, I think sometimes we have examples of good practice in our midst that are worth highlighting and even celebrating.
At a time when a generation of young people is fast becoming the ‘internship’ generation (the Fox report, 11 February), it is good to note that the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA), based in Brussels, has been employing interns (under the name of programme assistants) for over thirty years. There have been well over sixty placements, usually for a year at a time. Aimed at young people who – having finished their first or second degree and who want some experience of working in a non-governmental organisation doing political work – QCEA provides work experience with a broad range of tasks: language training for those who want it and, what is more, payment at a rate that has allowed them to live without recourse to independent (or parental) income. Indeed, and because the package includes accommodation, some have even managed to save a little.
Incidentally, the two QUNOs (Quaker United Nations Offices in Geneva and New York) and the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, DC, offer such internships too and, as far as I know, all three also pay.
It has been a matter of principle for us at QCEA to employ programme assistants on a basis that does not exclude people without independent means. If equality means anything, then we must find ways of ensuring that all young people have access to such opportunities and that the selection is based on merit and not on wealth.
Last year, we undertook a survey of past programme assistants to find out where they have gone, what they have done, and how they feel about their experience of working for QCEA; looking at the aspects of the experience which they rated as important, all of the ‘selling points’ of unpaid internships were mentioned, such as networking, learning useful skills and experiencing the professional context of their choice – in this case the European Institutions and European NGOs.
QCEA operates on a shoestring and without any government or other subsidy. This could lead us to think that having free labour might be justifiable; but the means are the ends in the making and we therefore believe that if work is useful and necessary, then it should be paid. As it happens, Belgium – with its still relatively socially responsible employment protection regulations – offers a way of doing this which is affordable all round: it offers employers the option of employing trainees on a contract referred to as ‘professional immersion’. The pay is much lower than the national minimum wage; but there are no taxes to pay and the employers’ contribution to the social security pot is also very low. It is restricted to twelve months maximum duration and to people who are under thirty at the start of the contract; so there are some safeguards against abuse.
QCEA was one of the first NGOs to start paying interns. We were one of the first NGOs to use this model and many of our NGO colleagues have begun to follow suit.
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