The number of students who are not paid while doing a work experience placements doubled in 2013 to one in five of the total, according to placement agency StudentenBureau.

Those who were paid saw the amount drop to an average €265, down €15 on a year earlier.

‘In general, companies are pleased with students, who are more enthusiastic than their full-time colleagues,’ Hanneke Versteege of StudentenBureau told the Nos. ‘They deserve a decent financial reward.’

Versteege wants to see a statutory minimum wage of €275 per month for students on work experience placements. However, the CNV trade union for youngsters thinks €150.

Disadvantage

The two organisations do agree that students are at a negotiating disadvantage, particularly at a time when there are decreasing numbers of work experience places and no money to pay them.

With work experience often demanded before a course can be finished, the CNV Jongeren wants schools to be involved in talks between student and company.

StudentenBureau says it is the responsibility of the companies to recognise that students, who often do a lot of work, should be paid for what they do.