Should Your Internship Be Paid?

By Megan Lehman on April 14, 2013

Internships: Every college student has heard of this and every college student wants one. But what makes an internship so desirable? Experience: Experience is that one thing on your resume that sets you apart from other college students who are breaking into the work force and going after the same job that you have your heart set on. Whitehouse.gov states that an internship is “the opportunity of a lifetime.” But what does that opportunity mean? Work, lots and lots of work, and most likely for absolutely no pay. As the business owners operating the internships would tell us, experience is the payment you receive.

You may ask, what does an intern do anyways? Well, if you are an intern at the White House, your duties can “include conducting research, managing incoming inquiries, attending meetings, writing memos, and staffing events.” This would require 40-45 hours of work a week, the same amount of time as a full time citizen of the work force. Something seems wrong here, does it not?

We are not the only ones who feel unpaid internships should be a thing of the past. According to The New York Times, with job rates decreasing juxtaposed to the amount of unpaid internships taken within the recent years, Oregon, and California officials have begun investigating the possible illegal ways that employers could be using their unpaid employees.

Since in 2009, the Labor Department has continued to crack down on how employers use their unpaid interns by educating the companies, colleges, and students about the laws on internships. “If you’re a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren’t going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be paid and still be in compliance with the law,” said Nancy J. Leppink, the acting director of the department’s wage-and-hour division.

There are six federal legal criteria that an internship needs to follow in order to be unpaid:

First off, an unpaid internship must mirror the classroom or, in other words, the employer cannot use the unpaid intern for coffee runs.

Secondly, the experience must assist the intern in training towards the professional field.

Third, the intern cannot replace any current employee.

Fourth, the boss cannot immediately benefit from any of the work done by the intern. For example, if working for a newspaper, an employer cannot ask the unpaid intern to write a story and then run it, without compensation.

Fifth, the boss cannot guarantee a job once the internship is over.

Last but not least, the intern and supervisor must agree that the work done will not require any wages. To protect yourself as an employer or intern, get all the agreements down in writing.

Paid internships are out there. Take some time and search, or break out your negotiating skills, and see where an unpaid internship can get you. Anything is possible. We want paid internships! Make it happen.

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