There is a persistent myth in UK hiring that internships can be unpaid, and it is the first thing an honest internship agreement template UK employers use has to correct. In England and Wales, whether an intern must be paid depends on their employment status, not on the label "intern" or "work experience". If an intern counts as a worker, broadly, someone who has to turn up and do real work rather than merely shadow or observe, they are generally entitled to at least the National Minimum Wage (see Sources). That is why the 99 Data Rooms intern template is fixed-term and paid by default, with an honest note about the worker point built in rather than glossed over. This guide explains what a UK intern agreement should cover and how to draft one from vetted clauses. It is general information, not legal advice.
The people who need this are HR teams, startups and any business bringing in interns, often over the summer, often for the first time, and often unsure where they stand. Getting it wrong is not a small thing: an employer who treats a worker-status intern as unpaid can face National Minimum Wage enforcement and claims for arrears. A template that starts from "paid, fixed-term, and honest about status" keeps you on the right side of that, and it treats interns fairly, which is the point. Where a placement turns into something more permanent, a full employment agreement is the right next document; where the work is genuinely casual, a zero-hours contract may fit better.
What a UK intern agreement should cover
An intern agreement is essentially a fixed-term engagement, so it should state the start and end dates, the role and duties, the hours, and the pay. Because the honest default is that an intern doing real work is a worker entitled to the minimum wage, the agreement is built to be paid, at or above the applicable NMW rate for the intern's age, rather than leaving pay as an afterthought. It should set out how pay is calculated and when it is made, and it should cover holiday, since workers accrue paid statutory holiday too under the Working Time Regulations (see Sources). Being straightforward about all this from the start avoids the situation where an "unpaid" internship quietly turns into a wage-arrears problem months later, which is far more expensive and awkward to unwind than simply getting it right on day one.
The agreement should also define the nature of the internship clearly. Where the intention is genuine work experience, the duties and expectations should be described honestly, and the fixed term should reflect that it is a temporary, developmental engagement rather than a permanent job. Confidentiality clauses protect the business, interns often see internal information, and, because interns sometimes produce useful work, an IP clause confirming that work created during the internship belongs to the company is worth having (the same assignment logic covered in our IP assignment guide). The template also carries an honest note about worker status, so the employer understands why the internship is paid rather than treating it as an unexplained cost.
There is also a reputational angle worth naming. Interns talk, and they review employers online and among their university networks, so an internship that is well documented and fairly paid is not just a compliance matter but a recruitment one. A clear, professional agreement signals that you run things properly, which is exactly the impression you want to leave with someone who may become a full-time hire, or who may tell their cohort whether you were worth working for.
It is worth being candid about the grey areas. Status can be genuinely fact-sensitive: a student on a short observational placement that is a required part of their course may sit in a different position from someone doing a month of real project work (see Sources for gov.uk's guidance on interns). The safe and fair default for a working internship is to pay at least the minimum wage, and that is how the template is built, but a genuinely borderline arrangement is one to check. This is general information, not legal advice.
How to draft one in 99 Data Rooms
The 99 Data Rooms drafter, "Legal Drafting", carries the Intern Agreement in its "People & Founders" cluster, next to the employment and consultancy templates. It builds a document the same reliable way as the rest of the library: the assistant selects vetted England and Wales clauses by ID from your answers and fills the blanks, assembling from a maintained clause library rather than writing wording itself. Vetted clauses, assembled, and, in this case, clauses that reflect the honest NMW-worker position rather than a dodgy "unpaid intern" template scraped off the web.
You can open the template or describe the placement in plain words, "eight-week summer internship, full-time, paid at minimum wage", and the assistant asks the questions that shape it: the intern, the dates, the hours, the pay and the duties. It assembles the draft, including confidentiality and IP clauses and the worker-status note, and saves it free to keep. As always it is a starting point rather than the last word: general information, not legal advice, so an unusual placement, particularly one where status is genuinely unclear, is worth a professional check.
Draft it, share it, sign it, in one flow
Drafting the intern agreement in 99 Data Rooms keeps the paperwork in one controlled place instead of scattered across email. Once the draft is ready, you share it with the intern as a tracked, revocable link rather than an attachment, gated behind a verified email and a one-time code so you know the right person is opening it. Page-by-page analytics show whether they have read it and how long they spent, distinguishing a raw visit from a verified viewer who passed the gate, a reasonable thing to want for someone signing their first agreement.
When they are ready, you send it for signature in the browser. The intern signs without needing an account, you can send a reminder if the start date is close, and the executed PDF comes back with an audit certificate recording who signed, when, their IP, intent to sign, and a SHA-256 fingerprint, a clean, dated record for your files. Electronic signatures are admissible for most commercial documents in England and Wales, with exceptions such as deeds, wills, land transfers and lasting powers of attorney (see Sources), general information, not legal advice. The signed agreement files itself where HR can find it, and access is revocable in one click. Drafted, shared, tracked and signed, one document, never leaving your control.
Draft your intern agreement for free
Draft a fair, fixed-term internship agreement from vetted England and Wales clauses in 99 Data Rooms, keep the draft, and share or sign it in the same place, with the NMW-worker position handled honestly from the start. The free tier is genuine, not a trial: three rooms, twenty-five active links, forever, no card. Start for free: it is in beta and improving fast, and the path from "we're taking on a summer intern" to a signed agreement with an audit trail already runs end to end in one place.
Sources
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates ; employment rights for interns: https://www.gov.uk/employment-rights-for-interns
- Statutory holiday of 5.6 weeks (which workers, including interns, accrue): https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights ; Working Time Regulations 1998, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833
- Electronic signatures, validity and witnessing of deeds in England and Wales: Law Commission, Electronic execution of documents (2019), https://lawcom.gov.uk/project/electronic-execution-of-documents/ ; HM Land Registry Practice Guide 82, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electronic-signatures-accepted-by-hm-land-registry-pg82
Do interns have to be paid in the UK?
It depends on status. If an intern is a worker, broadly, someone required to do real work rather than only observe, they are generally entitled to at least the National Minimum Wage in England and Wales. The "unpaid internship" label does not override that. The vetted template is paid by default for this reason; this is general information, not legal advice.
What is the difference between an intern, a worker and an employee?
"Intern" is a label, not a legal status. The person may be a worker or an employee depending on the reality of the arrangement, how much real work they do, the degree of obligation and control, and so on. Worker status generally brings minimum wage and paid holiday rights. Because status is fact-sensitive, borderline cases are worth checking.
Can I run an unpaid internship legally?
Only in limited circumstances, for example some student placements that are a required part of a course, or genuine voluntary work for certain organisations, and even then the details matter. If an intern is doing real work as a worker, the safe and lawful default is to pay at least the minimum wage. Take advice if you are unsure; this is general information only.
Who owns work an intern produces?
An IP clause in the agreement assigns work created during the internship to the company, which is worth having because interns sometimes produce genuinely useful output. Without it, ownership can be unclear. The vetted template includes one, and our IP assignment guide explains why. General information, not legal advice.
Can the intern sign the agreement online?
Yes. Once drafted it flows into e-signature inside 99 Data Rooms, so the intern signs in the browser and you get an executed PDF with an audit certificate. E-signatures are admissible for most commercial documents in England and Wales, subject to the usual exceptions. General information, not legal advice.