Pay Your Interns

Do you like to work for free? I’m sure that you don’t. Yet, many people in a position of hiring think it’s perfectly ok to create jobs masked as internships to exploit interns for free labor. I run a web agency. If someone works for us, we pay them. It’s a no-brainer.

You may not realize this, but most businesses are breaking the law with their unpaid internships since many don’t meet the Department of Labor’s criteria.

1. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;

2. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;

3. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;

This issue gained national attention over the summer when Judge William H. Pauley III ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures violated U.S. and New York minimum wage laws by not paying two production interns for work done on the movie set “Black Swan.”

Even with 20 lawsuits being filed with the courts for exploiting interns for free labor — there are still numerous internships being posted and asking people with specific skill sets and experience to work for free for a for profit or nonprofit organization.

Here are some excerpts from a couple recent internship postings.

Do you have experience in HTML, CSS, PHP, data analysis and marketing, video editing and production, and a whole lot more?

The company offered a $500 a month stipend for 6 to 12 months. That $500 stipend comes to a pitiful — wait for it — $3.12 an hour, less than half of the minimum wage.

Here’s another example of the requirements for an unpaid internship in San Francisco, one of the most expensive U.S. cities to live in.

● Analyzing interventions that are most likely to create measurable financial savings;

● Developing specific recommendations for programs and interventions to improve outcomes;

● Experience conducting financial analysis and building models in Excel;

● Experience in creating content for an executive audience;

These are not internships. These are FT paid jobs for seasoned professionals who have real job experience doing similar work. How can leadership at organizations have the audacity to ask people (many of whom also face incredible student loan debt) to work for free, but then turn around and preach how much they are advocating to make a difference in this world?

Unpaid internships also impact the pool of candidates. Those who can’t afford to take unpaid internships don’t have a chance at gaining experience in the sector they want to work in, because they need to find other jobs that can pay the bills. So to put it bluntly - only the people who come from wealth can actually “afford” to do unpaid internships because their parents are paying their bills.

I think it boils down to this. If you want your company or organization to make a difference in this world (whether that be putting out an awesome product or fighting for social change) then you need to hire and invest in talented people who can help you meet your mission. It does not come free.