An article in Friday’s New York Times caught my eye recently.
Due to an explosion of unpaid internships, state and federal officials are investigating unpaid internships in a number of U.S. states to see if they violate labour laws because they are using unpaid internships as a way to employ free labour.
And while the recent explosion can be blamed on the lack of available jobs to young adults entering the workforce, it is not a new problem and is difficult to enforce:
Many regulators say that violations are widespread, but that it is unusually hard to mount a major enforcement effort because interns are often afraid to file complaints. Many fear they will become known as troublemakers in their chosen field, endangering their chances with a potential future employer.
The Labor Department says it is cracking down on firms that fail to pay interns properly and expanding efforts to educate companies, colleges and students on the law regarding internships.
This story caught my eye for a couple of reasons: One, because unpaid internships are also a commonplace here in Canada; and two because my industry is filled with them.
I’d be willing to wager there are more unpaid journalism internships than paid (I can name a number of friends, including myself, who have done them). And this business is extremely hard to break into, so to cut your chops, you are willing to work for no pay if that’s what it comes down to.
There are some who argue that the unpaid internship favours those with money — after all, who else can afford to work for no pay? I never bought into that argument. Living in Toronto, unpaid internships are all around. Many only require a couple of days per week commitment (not a full 40 hours) and they usually will give an honorarium of some sort at the end of the internship.
Then there is the argument that if you are good at what you do, you should be compensated for it — whether that’s in an internship or in a profession. And you should, I don’t doubt that. But when you’re young and trying to cut your chops, do you really want to be demanding a salary because you think you’re worth it (the 20-something generation already has a reputation of being too full of themselves for their age as it is, a demand like that will not help that).
And then there are some that state the fact. To be in an industry like mine, you have to love what you do. You don’t do it for money, or for glory. And when you love what you do, you are willing to sacrifice yourself for your work — even if it means being underpaid or not paid at all. The truth is, my industry is very competitive and sometimes to get ahead, you have to make a sacrifice. And if that sacrifice is an unpaid internship — or two, or three — then it’s what you do.
Should we outlaw them and force all companies to pay their interns? I don’t think so. That won’t create more paid internships, I fear it will cause more companies to withdraw their internship programs because they can’t afford to pay their interns as much as their staff.
And that would be more detrimental than not paying interns at all.
Unpaid internships equals slave labour?
An article in Friday’s New York Times caught my eye recently.
Due to an explosion of unpaid internships, state and federal officials are investigating unpaid internships in a number of U.S. states to see if they violate labour laws because they are using unpaid internships as a way to employ free labour.
And while the recent explosion can be blamed on the lack of available jobs to young adults entering the workforce, it is not a new problem and is difficult to enforce:
This story caught my eye for a couple of reasons: One, because unpaid internships are also a commonplace here in Canada; and two because my industry is filled with them.
I’d be willing to wager there are more unpaid journalism internships than paid (I can name a number of friends, including myself, who have done them). And this business is extremely hard to break into, so to cut your chops, you are willing to work for no pay if that’s what it comes down to.
There are some who argue that the unpaid internship favours those with money — after all, who else can afford to work for no pay? I never bought into that argument. Living in Toronto, unpaid internships are all around. Many only require a couple of days per week commitment (not a full 40 hours) and they usually will give an honorarium of some sort at the end of the internship.
Then there is the argument that if you are good at what you do, you should be compensated for it — whether that’s in an internship or in a profession. And you should, I don’t doubt that. But when you’re young and trying to cut your chops, do you really want to be demanding a salary because you think you’re worth it (the 20-something generation already has a reputation of being too full of themselves for their age as it is, a demand like that will not help that).
And then there are some that state the fact. To be in an industry like mine, you have to love what you do. You don’t do it for money, or for glory. And when you love what you do, you are willing to sacrifice yourself for your work — even if it means being underpaid or not paid at all. The truth is, my industry is very competitive and sometimes to get ahead, you have to make a sacrifice. And if that sacrifice is an unpaid internship — or two, or three — then it’s what you do.
Should we outlaw them and force all companies to pay their interns? I don’t think so. That won’t create more paid internships, I fear it will cause more companies to withdraw their internship programs because they can’t afford to pay their interns as much as their staff.
And that would be more detrimental than not paying interns at all.