Recently I was informed of a story about a young woman who is suing Diddy and Bad Boy entertainment. She claimed that as an intern they took advantage of her, made her do the same work as their employees, and she feels that they should have paid her.
My first thoughts were, "Oh my Goddess! What a moron. The point of an internship is that it's unpaid. This woman is so entitled! Also, what a great way to ruin a relationship with a great company." However, I recently read an article that shed some light on the subject and gave me a different perspective.
First let's define internship, "Internships exist in a wide variety of industries and settings. An internship may be paid, unpaid or partially paid (in the form of a stipend)." Okay, so an internship does not =/= unpaid always.
I generally do not have a problem with unpaid internships, especially if it's really good experience and for college credit. However, a lot of companies are stretching what an "internship"is, and violating a lot of labor laws.
In the case of the woman who sued Bad Boy her claim was that the company had her doing the same work as their paid employees. Diddy certainly has the money to pay someone at least minimum wage, but it seems like they wanted to use her instead of spending the money to hire an actual employee.
Now, I am sure some of you are saying, "what did she expect? it's an unpaid internship! She should be happy she is getting experience." The problem here is a lot of unpaid internships will use clever wording to lure in young people. They will say it's good "experience" or will get their "foot in the door." Furthermore, sometimes it's the only option and young people think it will be the best way to lead to a job. Let's look at some statistics, shall we?
Percentage of 2013 grads who were offered a job after an unpaid internship was, 37%. The percentage of those who were offered a job that didn't work an internship at all was, 35%. Hmm. Most interesting is that 63% of those who worked paid internships were not only offered jobs, but jobs that paid better. Here's another little tidbit; In 1992 the number of college grads that took unpaid internships was 15%, today it is 50%.
It seems that the rise in unpaid internships is in correlation with our struggling economy. Employers do not want to spend the money to hire someone so they bring people on under the guise of "intern," and basically work them like a regular employee. Did you know it's illegal to make someone work under minimum wage, even if the person agrees to it? Basically what a lot of these companies are doing is getting free labor out of young people. Internships are basically replacing entry level jobs.
Unpaid internships are not illegal, but they do need to follow specific guidelines:
-The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
-The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern; The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff.
-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.
-The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
-There are a lot of unpaid internships that are violating these guidelines. For one, a lot of unpaid internships will advertise in such a way that makes a person think it will lead to a job.
According to the fair labor standards acts, an unpaid internship that does not meet this criteria would fall under "employment." It seems to me if you bring someone on, work them more than other interns, make them do the same stuff as paid employees then you are indeed violating these terms.
There are unpaid internships that give college credit, several fields require internship hours. For example; a lot of clinical psychology positions requite intern hours. If I were to take an unpaid internship at a therapist's office and basically work 40 hours a week seeing patients on my own, wouldn't you consider that a job and not an internship?
According to a source, "under these circumstances the intern does not perform the routine work of the business on a regular and recurring basis, and the business is not dependent upon the work of the intern. On the other hand, if the interns are engaged in the operations of the employer or are performing productive work (for example, filing, performing other clerical work, or assisting customers), then the fact that they may be receiving some benefits in the form of a new skill or improved work habits will not exclude them from the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime requirements because the employer benefits from the interns' work. " Furthermore, internship duties must be deemed educational.
The woman suing Diddy describes her duties as; answering telephones, getting lunch and coffee for paid employees, making deliveries, gift-wrapping and decorating the office during holidays.
Hmm, seems like these are things that benefit the employer, fall under clerical duties, and I'm not sure what's educational about gift-wrapping. The fact is, internships were a lot different 20 years ago versus today. Employers are using the struggling economy, and desperate workers (especially low class who can't afford to have mommy and daddy pay rent) to squeeze free labor out of young people.
(Sources: National Association of Colleges and Employers, internjustice.com, Department of Labor.)
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