EXCLUSIVE

Legal experts have queried whether a pharmacy can offer a manager role as an unpaid six-month internship.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) branded the role, advertised on the Pharmaceutical Journal's careers website on May 9, "unlawful". And employment lawyers told C+D that The Mounts Pharmacy, in Northampton, may be obliged to pay the minimum wage.

The advert offers a contracted, unpaid position for a "trainee pharmacy manager intern", working a minimum 35-hour week, "ideally suited to EU pharmacists on the GPhC register looking to gain experience".

The advert raises legal and ethical issues, says PDA director John Murphy because the role would inevitably involve responsibility	More on pharmacist salaries Boots staff to get ‘goodwill' payment instead of bonus Falling locum rates ‘tantamount to slave labour' – PDA C+D Salary Survey 2013
	Tabssum Rehan Nawaz, director of the Pharmasurge Partnerships group that owns The Mounts Pharmacy, told C+D that the role would be "purely observational" and the intern would not be replacing another member of staff.

The intern would have their travel costs and other expenses paid and, if they performed to the company's satisfaction, they would be offered a full-time position at one of its 13 branches, Mr Nawaz said last month (May 23).

Mr Nawaz told C+D he already employed two pharmacists who were trained while they were unpaid interns.

"Both are EU pharmacists who were having difficulty finding positions in the UK. They are extremely appreciative of the initial training provided to them by my company," he said.

Mr Nawaz said it was "ridiculous" to assume that the intern would be given responsibility in the pharmacy at any point during their six-month observational role.

But PDA director John Murphy argued they would "inevitably" be given responsibility at some point, even if it was "inadvertently" covering for the responsible pharmacist's break.

Mr Murphy branded the role "opportunism" in the current job market and said it raised legal and ethical issues. The PDA had not seen "anything like it before," he added.

"We believe that advertising an unpaid position for a pharmacy manager is unlawful. It is governed by an employment contract and therefore at least the minimum wage would apply," Mr Murphy told C+D.

"If there is an opening within the company then it should recruit and apply the probationary period criteria," Mr Murphy added.

Employment lawyers also said it was possible the intern should be paid the minimum wage.

Karen Fletcher, employment lawyer at legal firm Shoosmiths LLP, said there was a "risk" the pharmacy would need to pay the minimum wage, because the advert referred to 35 hours' "work" and did not make it clear the role was observational.

"The employer does not have to pay the minimum wage if they are only observing [but] the advert suggests a work situation rather than shadowing," she told C+D.

Jean Sapeta, head of London employment at law firm Hempsons, said there was case law to support an individual's entitlement to the minimum wage if they entered into an "expenses only" agreement.

Mr Nawaz said there was no "job offering" at the pharmacy the intern would be based at.

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