Unpaid interns not gonna take it anymore: former intern Xuedan Wang sues Hearst Corp.
February 14, 2012 6:52 PM Subscribe
I wonder if this will make any difference. "According to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, employers offering unpaid internships must meet six requirements that ensure the educational value of the experience for the interns, as well as guard against the displacement of regular workers. Unpaid internships are legal only if “the employer derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operation may actually be impeded,” the guidelines say. The internship must also be “for the benefit of the intern” and should not involve tasks that would otherwise be assigned to paid employees." Discuss.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Single link slate article with the "discuss" tagline not going over so well. -- jessamyn
Yeah it's well known that these internships are widely abused.
posted by delmoi at 6:59 PM on February 14, 2012
posted by delmoi at 6:59 PM on February 14, 2012
And well known here. (NOT a Double, just a topic we've DISCUSSED before)
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:06 PM on February 14, 2012
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:06 PM on February 14, 2012
As I said before, I'm surprised that this very nice lady hasn't been sued into oblivion for FLSA violations in every room of that nice fairy castle in the sky she's seemingly built for herself. Such easy, low-hanging fruit for some under-/un-employed eager-beaver new lawyer who needs to pay off some student loans and do an act of social justice at the same time.
posted by webhund at 7:42 PM on February 14, 2012
posted by webhund at 7:42 PM on February 14, 2012
Good for her. It's a shame the US Labor Department doesn't have the power/resources to enforce the law of the land proactively in the first place, instead of putting it on the victims of exploitative employers to assume the risks and challenges of initiating legal actions like this.
Maybe more people in similar positions will start to realize that economically productive work is actually a valuable good, and that being forced to work for free just to gain access to an industry is a form of economic exploitation.
Some employers like to complain that no one values work anymore. To the extent that's true, the reasons couldn't be more obvious: bosses often don't seem to value work anymore! So why should workers? The economic signals couldn't be clearer: Every year, work is worth less and less.
posted by saulgoodman at 7:42 PM on February 14, 2012
Maybe more people in similar positions will start to realize that economically productive work is actually a valuable good, and that being forced to work for free just to gain access to an industry is a form of economic exploitation.
Some employers like to complain that no one values work anymore. To the extent that's true, the reasons couldn't be more obvious: bosses often don't seem to value work anymore! So why should workers? The economic signals couldn't be clearer: Every year, work is worth less and less.
posted by saulgoodman at 7:42 PM on February 14, 2012
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posted by box at 6:54 PM on February 14, 2012 [4 favorites]