Unpaid Internships – Common but Illegal
(via soupsoup)
The scenario is fairly typical: a company offers an opportunity to ‘break into the business’ in exchange for the intern working for free. You see many examples of this in the entertainment industry. […]
In order to qualify as an unpaid internship, the requirement is simple: no work can be performed that is of any benefit at all to the company. That is, you can not deliver mail, sort files, file papers, organize a person’s calendar, conduct market research, write reports, watch television shows and report on them, read scripts, schedule interviews, or any other job that assists the employer in any way in running their business.
New York’s entertainment industry runs on unpaid (or severely underpaid) interns. It’s embarrassing, and it disgusts me — it effectively limits jobs in the business to people who already have enough money (or, more commonly, whose parents do) to afford to live in New York at a loss for a long time.
And once you get past the internship stage, it doesn’t get much better. I’ve never seen the disconnect between starting salaries and cost of living be as grossly and unnecessarily out of proportion as the entry-level jobs in the New York entertainment industry.
About a year ago my lawyers and HR director politely told me that technically ALL internships needed to be paid. I was SHOCKED. Unpaid internships are so rampant it was mind-boggling to me it was, basically, illegal (I am simplifying a BIT because we work in 3 states and have to comply with the laws of all three). So, we started paying our interns. You should too!
sure, NOW you pay your interns. :P
-
bubaleh liked this
-
p90x-workout liked this
-
collectedwisdom liked this
-
annicka liked this
-
luap liked this
-
bestiesonice liked this
-
mindymae liked this
-
blueluna4jam reblogged this from poobah
-
blueluna4jam liked this
-
heavysigh liked this
-
leeshiebean liked this
-
sds liked this
-
robot-heart-politics reblogged this from smoketest and added:
themattsmith:24isthenew25:themattsmith:24isthenew25:themattsmith:inkyeagle:...I have to...
-
smoketest reblogged this from themattsmith and added:
As an engineering student I am expected to have at least two, maybe three internships under my belt before I graduate....
-
wildoink reblogged this from poobah
-
girlcyborg reblogged this from themattsmith and added:
full time student, part time job, two unpaid internships. i’m a busy girl. but i know that i’ve got a job in...
-
tesslynch liked this
-
themattsmith reblogged this from megankcollins and added:
themattsmith:24isthenew25:themattsmith:inkyeagle:...Not a throwdown, by any means. Maybe a...
-
iammiki reblogged this from themattsmith and added:
I agree 100% with themattsmith. I’ve had both paid internships and unpaid internships. I was lucky that my parents paid...
-
saraplainandtall liked this
-
megankcollins reblogged this from themattsmith and added:
Oh snap - my first Tumblr throwdown! Okay, better now screw this up… I originally stated my argument with themattsmith...
-
johnlempka liked this
-
themattsmith liked this
-
robot-heart liked this
-
kateoplis liked this
-
kratlee liked this
-
figuremeout liked this
-
mcdavis liked this
-
apoplecticskeptic reblogged this from themattsmith and added:
Matt’s willingness to come in and show Burst his work ethic, attitude, problem-solving skills and and creative abilities...
-
jamieelizabeth liked this
-
idontgetrunnershigh reblogged this from themattsmith and added:
In my project management class final we “hired” interns to get around a budget problem. We said if we had slaves it...
-
poobah reblogged this from themattsmith
-
chels liked this
-
librarianpirate liked this
-
inkyeagle reblogged this from soupsoup
-
parisasays reblogged this from soupsoup
-
soupsoup posted this