An unpaid intern at Harper’s Bazaar magazine (a Hearst Corporation division) has filed a lawsuit alleging that federal and state wage and hour laws were broken during the internship, primarily due to not receiving compensation. Many companies in the fashion and entertainment industries utilize interns in an unpaid manner due to the allure and overwhelming interest students have in interning for a professional sports team, movie production company, fashion magazine, major recording label, etc. Pair this popularity with a competitive job market and entry level employees who are looking for every advantage to being offered a full-time position; and companies will have no problem finding droves of students willing to put in hours and workloads equal to what regular full-time employees contribute.
The question which is at hand is whether the internship positions and duties are replacing regular full-time workers, thereby violating the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s statement on internships as they relate to FLSA. Internships are supposed to be designed to compliment and benefit a student’s education first: not designed to benefit the company providing the internship.
In other industries (engineering and biotech/pharmaceutical to name a few) interns are typically managed and categorized as paid employees or co-ops (Cooperative Education). Some companies realize that the work (and job description) students perform contribute on some level the same as a full-time regular employee’s. Having consistent standards and procedures when engaging interns and co-ops will ultimately mitigate a company’s exposure to FLSA lawsuits and streamline the resources a company spends on program administration. Arguable one of the most popular methods of handling interns/co-ops is to treat them the same as any other contingent worker at the company. Either way it appears that the above lawsuit will open the door for many more just like it or persuade companies to provide compensation to their interns directly or through a third party.
Links to other news as it relates to unpaid internships:
I like the idea of internships duinrg the course year. In my PR class we had a mandatory internship from March-April, which is still a normal study period. This allowed people who were on OSAP and private loans (the students who normally couldn’t afford an unpaid internship) to have the opportunity to take an internship.Due to their public and private funds, they had the means to go to Toronto, Ottawa etc. and get the experience/connections from an internship.Otherwise, yes unpaid internships are a barrier to people who have the skills and want to move up in income or their careers. Unfortunately, I think some private industries prefer to have this barrier in place.Troy Stewart (@troyvstew)
good
I love this topic! I work in the education field so I deal with intnres annually. Students who are working towards their degree in education are required to spend some time in the classrooms. They are in our classrooms all day long, teaching lessons and interacting with the kids. During their final 2 intnreships, they completely take over the classroom while the supervising teacher sits back and gives them pointers at the end of the day.Many of these kids work their asses off planning out lessons and they are going broke while doing it. While they are doing this free labor, they still have rent to pay, cell phone bills and car notes. Most of them have to work a part time job just so they can buy groceries.There is a way to get around this, however (isn’t there almost always???) Here in the States, you can get another major and still teach in the classrooms. For instance, I am a Public Administration major. Anyone with a degree can take the teacher certification test and bypass the intnreships. In the ideal world, colleges and universities would provide housing or some kind of assistance to help students during this time.
Thanks for your feedback Hiam! As a former intern myself, I can see both sides of this argument. An internship can be a very valuable experience that students would otherwise not be able to have. The company (or school) providing the internship can give the student access to real world experience and facilities as well as help them receive a greater salary upon graduation. However, many interns simply do administration work that benefits the company far more than the student. We feel that whatever your view on the subject is, it is not worth the risk to leave your intern unpaid and jeopardize a potential lawsuit.