The Journal, put together by young journalists and catering to Scottish students, has an interesting article on the active campaign in the UK to ban unfair internships. Internocracy and Intern Aware get mentions. Nice to see that the unions also get a word in the debate.
Ian Tasker, assistant secretary of Scotland’s Trade Union Centre, is concerned at the lack of remuneration that young people see from these internships.
He said: “At the very least these positions should be treated in the same way as any other employment and paid accordingly, at least at the minimum wage rate applicable at any given time.
“To do anything else is just playing on the naivety of young people entering employment. The United Kingdom government and the Scottish Government should be looking at how we eradicate student hardship and not increase the amount of young people living below the poverty line.”
Since new entrants on the job market are not organized, it is important for unions to take a stand, as they realize that unfair internships are a source of cheap labor that competes with their members.
A reality check for someone who thought that for-profit companies could hire free labor because what they do is pleasant or quaint. I many ways (except for the tone of “I only wanted to do good!”) it is a very honest assessment.
It would be one thing if an intern hangs around the farm for a few hours a week, but it would be hard to argue an intern working every day from dawn ‘til dusk isn’t replacing an employee.
Interns Anonymous has a potential scoop that’s quite interesting: HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs – the British IRS, the Revenue Department) would be about to address directly internships as part of the wage regulations.
This is not about making unpaid internships illegal, or at least it does not seem to be. They are already illegal, if they do not meet certain criteria. But it may bring a clarity to the regulations that will make them harder to avoid.
Elizabeth Daley has this provocative article for her article in the Christian Science Monitor. Unfortunately, she does not explore the theme much further. It would have been nice to have some figures, somes estimates, some testimony of employers who have unpaid interns. Still, the intention is good and the points are relevant. And there’s this suggestion:
My philosophy is this: If you don’t pay me, I will not work. I encourage you to join me.
A spontaneous coordination of labor without organization except for an aricle in the Monitor may not be enough. Enforcing the existing laws would be a start.
Disappointing article in the New York Times about the rise of “low-paid internships.” It just goes to show, once more, how such a widespread, illegal and unfair practice is ignored by the media. Thankfully, most of the readers’ comments are right on. Popular awareness is increasing. This is an issue waiting to explode.
A revolution is coming. And it will not be funded. At least for now. Who’s going to revolt? Unpaid interns.
… you know it’s going to be good.
Juliette Dannas-Feeney gets it right more than once in the GW Hatchet. Some examples:
Unfortunately, there’s sometimes a fine line between unpaid internships and slave labor.
Unpaid internships like these are the elephants in the room.
While this blog has shown little interest in the issue of “boring internships”, Juliette brings a fair point about them:
In other words, the work I do at my internship cannot benefit the company or the way it runs its business in any way. According to these criteria, it’s essentially illegal for me to file papers, organize a co-worker’s calendar, or deliver mail.
Indeed, if the internship is unpaid, how can it be legal if it consists of administrative work?
Let’s hope that this article will light a spark at George Washington University.
The title of this article from TechRepublic is nothing new to this blog and shouldn’t surprise anyone who lives in a lawful society. Now, it may surprise people who live in countries that shall remain nameless.
Since we’ve covered the fact that the law does not allow for free labor a few times, here’s a selection of recommendations that on which we haven’t insisted yet.
Decide beforehand if the business has the time and personnel to closely supervise and mentor an unpaid intern.
Wait a second, some may say, an intern will take time and staff? Yes, and more than it will provide labor. An internship is a training that a company is offering, not free help that it is receiving. Now this:
When in doubt, businesses can avoid legal problems by paying interns at least minimum wage.
Isn’t it cool: minimum wage will get a company out of trouble! Quite cheap. But it’s really a minimum. If a company needs staff to do something productive that adds to the bottom line, why not offer a fair pay?
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Posted by exintern 
