Intern exploitation: The policy vacuum Kenya needs to seal

Another one holds a diploma in civil engineering. He is a supervisor at a reputable firm. His pay is less than that of a bricklayer because he is an intern. This is the story of thousands of young Kenyans who are overworked, poorly paid or not paid and losing hope.

“I wake up at 5am every day, spend money on transport, and work like a full-time employee—yet my boss says I should be grateful for the ‘experience,’ this isn’t training; it’s exploitation.”

Kenya is grappling with a youth unemployment crisis, with millions of young people, including graduates, struggling to secure meaningful employment.

Some employers are increasingly taking advantage of desperate job seekers by hiring them as unpaid or underpaid interns, even demanding experience for internships and assigning them full-time workloads without fair compensation.

This practice not only violates Kenyan labour laws but also perpetuates a cycle of poverty and frustration among the youth.

What does the Kenyan law say about employment and internships? Why should corporates adhere to ethical hiring practices that respect the dignity of young workers?

The Employment Act, the National Industrial Training Act, and the National Employment Authority provide key distinctions between an employee and an intern.

An employee is any person performing work for wages, including temporary and casual workers. An apprentice/indentured learner is a worker in a formal skills-training programme with a contract and stipend. An intern/attachment student is a learner placed temporarily for hands-on experience, ideally with some allowance.

The Working Paper No. 240 of 2018, ILO Employment Policy Department stipulates that wages should be based on the nature of the intern’s responsibilities, duties and paid minimum wage.

Universities, technical and vocational colleges and professional institutions have legislation and guidelines that require students to undertake attachments before graduating or being licensed to practice.

The NITA Act provides for payment of indentured (apprentice) persons, because if a person performs work that benefits an organisation, they should be compensated fairly.

Internships are meant for skill development, not free labour. There must be a structure for gaining the skills. An internship is a process of gaining practical skills—not a replacement for paid labour.

Unpaid or underpaid internships

From the employment and industrial training laws, there is no provision for unpaid or underpaid internships.

Some Kenyan employers, especially in the private sector, exploit graduates by offering unpaid internships or paying far below the minimum wage. Some justify this by claiming they are “helping” the youth gain experience, yet they assign them full workloads without remuneration. Some are assigned mundane jobs like running errands, making tea, and performing unpleasant tasks.

A disturbing trend is employers requiring years of experience for internship positions—a contradiction since internships are meant for skill acquisition. Some human resource professionals are often complicit. They design unfair internship programmes.

Lawful and ethical internships should align with fair compensation, learning, and a limited duration, and experience should not be required to be hired as an intern.

Gaps and how to close them

Currently, there are no laws guiding stipends, and existing regulations are scattered. Where there are guidelines, enforcement is weak. An internship culture has no laws that clearly indicate whether an intern is an employee, entitled to wages, leave and fair treatment.

Political goodwill is required to address the issue of unemployment and the utilisation of interns for national development. The government, HR professionals, and industry leaders must collaborate to end this exploitation.

Unemployment is not an excuse to exploit—it is a reason to invest in the next generation. Strengthening enforcement, conducting public awareness campaigns and educating employers and the graduates on their rights and obligations, penalising offenders, efficient processing of applications, offering tax incentives to employers are measures the different agencies involved can leverage on to create a culture of ethical internships, a vehicle of national development.

The development of national policy and legislation on internships will help harmonise internship learning and allowances in the public and private sectors. This will stop the exploitation of youth and the emerging modern-day slavery disguised as internships.

Kenya’s youth are its greatest asset, yet systemic exploitation is crushing their potential. Employers must recognise that fair treatment of interns is not just a legal obligation but a moral one.

Attachment/internship is not slavery; it’s skill development. If a student contributes value, they deserve fair treatment."

Employers should follow the laws, stop using interns as cheap or free labour, provide meaningful learning, and stop giving interns tasks that demean them.

The writer is a HR Strategist and Career and Leadership Coach.