ABSTRACT
One of the pervasive legal questions surrounding unpaid internships is whether they are compliant with equality law. This speculation, however, has not yet faced judicial determination. This article analyses the merits of such a claim, focusing specifically on whether the EU recommendation that permits unpaid internships can be regarded as ‘invalid’ for discriminating based on social origin, age, and sex. Whilst the arc of the article suggests that a successful claim is plausible, the analysis goes further by providing new light on quintessential debates within equality law. This includes the scope of the largely untouched issue of class discrimination; whether treatment can be both unfavourable and favourable simultaneously; the use of ‘common-sense’ deductions over statistics in indirect discrimination; and the concept of ‘broad discretion’ within the proportionality test. With millions of young people completing unpaid internships, tackling the question of their compatibility with equality law is of paramount importance.
Helme, Jo, Do Unpaid Internships Breach Equality Law? (February 10, 2026), Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (forthcoming – accepted April 2026).
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