Unpaid internships in jeopardy after court ruling

[SecularMotion]

Source: Masslive

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unpaid internships have long been a path of opportunity for students and recent grads looking to get a foot in the door in the entertainment, publishing and other prominent industries, even if it takes a generous subsidy from Mom and Dad.

But those days of working for free could be numbered after a federal judge in New York ruled this week that Fox Searchlight Pictures violated minimum wage and overtime laws by not paying interns who worked on production of the 2010 movie "Black Swan."

The decision by U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III may lead some companies to rethink whether it's worth the legal risk to hire interns to work without pay. For many young people struggling to find jobs in a tough economy, unpaid internships have become a rite of passage essential for padding resumes and gaining practical experience.

"I'm sure this is causing a lot of discussions to be held in human resource offices and internship programs across the country," said David Yamada, professor of law at Suffolk University in Boston.

Read more: http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2013/06/unpaid_internships_in_jeopardy_after_cou.html#incart_river_default

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Good.

When business can get this labor for free there's little reason to hire someone for pay.

These unpaid internships are just another privilege accorded middle and upper income kids and young adults. Equally intelligent and hard working kids and young adults who don't have a Bank of Mom and Dad account can't afford this.

[leftyohiolib]

2. "unpaid internships have become a rite of passage" this article paints this form of slavery as a

good thing.
"For many young people struggling to find jobs in a tough economy," yes for many young people trying to get jobs-yea why get paid when you dopes will work for free. this is what this country is trying to do to everyone, race to the bottom, and this writer paints this lose as a bad thing.
stupid fools "geez i'd like to get paid but in lieu of that i'll just work for free"

[L0oniX]

3. So you can't even work for free ...while jobs get sent over seas. hrmmm

[sikofit3]

13. It is crazy right?

I kid you not, I had to beg to get a free internship for my masters, I mean beg and you can't imagine how many people turned me down, to work for friggin free. Some said it was against their policy and some just weren't interested. It really boggled my mind and now I can believe why I can't now even get a paid job!!!!

[liberal N proud]

4. Unpaid is criminal

It is no less than being indentured to the master you are interned too. If you don't do the internship, you don't get a job. And most likely the company you do the internship with isn't going to hire you anyway. They just keep running interns though the mill for free.

I hope this stops!

[MountainLaurel]

9. For some, if you don't do an internship, you don't graduate

My brother's major requires a semester-long, full-time internship. It took him more than 3 years to find one; he absolutely had to have a paid internship within driving distance: He's in his mid-30s with 2 kids who are remarkably fond of eating and not living in a cardboard box. As it turns out, 2 hours after he started, his mentor was hospitalized for 6 weeks: He ended up doing the guy's job during that period.

[liberal N proud]

11. Then it becomes extortion

[lynne]

5. I've worked with several interns -

- all of whom were unpaid. All were college students and the internship was required for their degree although I'm sure it didn't have to be unpaid.

Each of them had part-time jobs and one had a full time job. The internship required a specific number of total hours but they worked with us only a handful of hours a week. They weren't privileged or rich or used as slave labor. Truthfully, we have volunteers who put in far more hours a week than the interns.

These individuals approached us asking to intern to fulfill the requirements of their degree. The truth is, if we had to pay them they wouldn't have been there. We would have used our own staff or volunteers to do the duties we assigned to them.

[csziggy]

6. Internships as part of a degree program are one thing

But many corporations have used internships outside that educational mantle as a way to recruit unpaid labor. That is a big difference.

That said, after my niece got her master's she could not find a paying job and worked as a congressional intern for Rep. John Dingell during the health care debate. Between the contacts she made in his office and the help of her university, she got a paying job. People could still take that kind of position but don't call it an internship - call it what it is, volunteering.

[Posteritatis]

7. That's very, very, very different from the sorts of things that court ruling's going after.

What you're talking about is fine; the ruling's about people who intern in non-educational contexts doing what is effectively full time regular employment or beyond. Some industries like film or finance are especially bad about that sort of thing; I've seen postings for six month internships that involve regular cross-country travel the intern has to pay for, for instance. Fuuuuuuuuck that.

[JoeyT]

8. Good.

Make them pay their employees like everyone else. If that gives them a sad they can go piss up a rope.

If paying minimum wage drives your company under, good riddance.

[Ash_F]

10. If unpaid internship is outlawed, they would start paying these people.

They do real work that people want done. The work isn't going to suddenly disappear.

[booley]

12. paying people for work. how novel

the fact is, whether or not there were legitimate reasons to have an unpaid internship, it' s been so abused to get free labor out of people, people who are unlikely to get a job out of it, that something had to be done.