Unpaid Internships under attack

[rightwinger]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/b...or-interns-who-sued-fox-searchlight.html?_r=0

A Federal District Court judge in Manhattan ruled on Tuesday that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated federal and New York minimum wage laws by not paying production interns, a case that could upend the long-held practice of the film industry and other businesses that rely heavily on unpaid internships.

In the decision, Judge William H. Pauley III ruled that Fox Searchlight should have paid two interns on the movie “Black Swan,” because they were essentially regular employees.

The judge noted that these internships did not foster an educational environment and that the studio received the benefits of the work

Employment experts estimate that undergraduates work in more than one million internships a year, an estimated half of which are unpaid, according to Intern Bridge, a research firm.

“Employers have already started to take a hard look at their internship programs,” said Rachel Bien, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “I think this decision will go far to discourage private companies from having unpaid internship programs.”

 

[martybegan]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/b...or-interns-who-sued-fox-searchlight.html?_r=0

A Federal District Court judge in Manhattan ruled on Tuesday that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated federal and New York minimum wage laws by not paying production interns, a case that could upend the long-held practice of the film industry and other businesses that rely heavily on unpaid internships.

In the decision, Judge William H. Pauley III ruled that Fox Searchlight should have paid two interns on the movie “Black Swan,” because they were essentially regular employees.

The judge noted that these internships did not foster an educational environment and that the studio received the benefits of the work

Employment experts estimate that undergraduates work in more than one million internships a year, an estimated half of which are unpaid, according to Intern Bridge, a research firm.

“Employers have already started to take a hard look at their internship programs,” said Rachel Bien, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “I think this decision will go far to discourage private companies from having unpaid internship programs.”

The biggest unpaid internship scams are in the entertainment industry, a liberal progressive bastion of there ever was one.

Engineering internships are ALWAYS paid internships, because they expect us to do real work, not fetch coffee for the director.

 

[rightwinger]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/b...or-interns-who-sued-fox-searchlight.html?_r=0

A Federal District Court judge in Manhattan ruled on Tuesday that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated federal and New York minimum wage laws by not paying production interns, a case that could upend the long-held practice of the film industry and other businesses that rely heavily on unpaid internships.

In the decision, Judge William H. Pauley III ruled that Fox Searchlight should have paid two interns on the movie “Black Swan,” because they were essentially regular employees.

The judge noted that these internships did not foster an educational environment and that the studio received the benefits of the work

Employment experts estimate that undergraduates work in more than one million internships a year, an estimated half of which are unpaid, according to Intern Bridge, a research firm.

“Employers have already started to take a hard look at their internship programs,” said Rachel Bien, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “I think this decision will go far to discourage private companies from having unpaid internship programs.”

The biggest unpaid internship scams are in the entertainment industry, a liberal progressive bastion of there ever was one.

Engineering internships are ALWAYS paid internships, because they expect us to do real work, not fetch coffee for the director.

I worked in the government and we always paid our summer interns a fair wage

Beyond the entertainment industry, unpaid internships are popular in law and the financial sector

Dangle a carrot and get kids to work for free

 

[iamwhatiseem]

In the medical field, you are not paid during clinicals. My daughter puts in 3 to 4 12 hour days a week.
She is late in her training, so she does the same exact work as licensed respiratory therapist.
The hospital gets the benefit of her service at no cost, to which I bet my house they bill for.
Unfair?
Hell no. The program my daughter is in has 100% graduation placement. 100%.
Her payment is a lifetime of solid wages based on the experience gained during clinicals.

 

[rightwinger]

In the medical field, you are not paid during clinicals. My daughter puts in 3 to 4 12 hour days a week.
She is late in her training, so she does the same exact work as licensed respiratory therapist.
The hospital gets the benefit of her service at no cost, to which I bet my house they bill for.
Unfair?
Hell no. The program my daughter is in has 100% graduation placement. 100%.
Her payment is a lifetime of solid wages based on the experience gained during clinicals.

I still think it is abusive to demand free labor even for a lucrative field

What I see many of these firms doing in a bad job environment is to bring in a flock of unpaid interns with a faint hope of future employment and leaving them with no more than an unenthusiastic job reference in the end

 

[squeeze berry]

if you are an education major, you do student teaching. That is unpaid.

In fact, the student teacher pays for it as a credit course.

are not some of the internships college credits?

What I see is businesses not having any interns at all.

 

[dilloduck]

What disgusts me is places that rely on interns to perform duties instead of actually hiring someone to do the job.

 

[Rozman]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/b...or-interns-who-sued-fox-searchlight.html?_r=0

A Federal District Court judge in Manhattan ruled on Tuesday that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated federal and New York minimum wage laws by not paying production interns, a case that could upend the long-held practice of the film industry and other businesses that rely heavily on unpaid internships.

In the decision, Judge William H. Pauley III ruled that Fox Searchlight should have paid two interns on the movie “Black Swan,” because they were essentially regular employees.

The judge noted that these internships did not foster an educational environment and that the studio received the benefits of the work

Employment experts estimate that undergraduates work in more than one million internships a year, an estimated half of which are unpaid, according to Intern Bridge, a research firm.

“Employers have already started to take a hard look at their internship programs,” said Rachel Bien, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “I think this decision will go far to discourage private companies from having unpaid internship programs.”

The biggest unpaid internship scams are in the entertainment industry, a liberal progressive bastion of there ever was one.

Engineering internships are ALWAYS paid internships, because they expect us to do real work, not fetch coffee for the director.

I worked in the government and we always paid our summer interns a fair wage

Beyond the entertainment industry, unpaid internships are popular in law and the financial sector

Dangle a carrot and get kids to work for free

Now interns are supposed to be paid....

 

[rightwinger]

if you are an education major, you do student teaching. That is unpaid.

In fact, the student teacher pays for it as a credit course.

are not some of the internships college credits?

What I see is businesses not having any interns at all.

I don't think that is as bad. When I was in college I did an 8 hour a week unpaid internship but I received college credit for it. I also only worked on one project and was not given menial tasks

 

[Mr. H.]

Well, it is how my kid got his start after graduating from USC. He paid his "dues" initially as an intern. Four years later he's doing quite well.

 

[dblack]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/b...or-interns-who-sued-fox-searchlight.html?_r=0

A Federal District Court judge in Manhattan ruled on Tuesday that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated federal and New York minimum wage laws by not paying production interns, a case that could upend the long-held practice of the film industry and other businesses that rely heavily on unpaid internships.

In the decision, Judge William H. Pauley III ruled that Fox Searchlight should have paid two interns on the movie “Black Swan,” because they were essentially regular employees.

The judge noted that these internships did not foster an educational environment and that the studio received the benefits of the work

Employment experts estimate that undergraduates work in more than one million internships a year, an estimated half of which are unpaid, according to Intern Bridge, a research firm.

“Employers have already started to take a hard look at their internship programs,” said Rachel Bien, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “I think this decision will go far to discourage private companies from having unpaid internship programs.”

The biggest unpaid internship scams are in the entertainment industry, a liberal progressive bastion of there ever was one.

Engineering internships are ALWAYS paid internships, because they expect us to do real work, not fetch coffee for the director.

I worked in the government and we always paid our summer interns a fair wage

According to whom?

 

[ScienceRocks]

I think Internship is a really good idea. Some people just hate common sense.

 

[rightwinger]

The biggest unpaid internship scams are in the entertainment industry, a liberal progressive bastion of there ever was one.

Engineering internships are ALWAYS paid internships, because they expect us to do real work, not fetch coffee for the director.

I worked in the government and we always paid our summer interns a fair wage

According to whom?

The interns.....we paid $12-16 an hour

 

[rightwinger]

I think Internship is a really good idea. Some people just hate common sense.

What is the common sense?

 

[ScienceRocks]

I think Internship is a really good idea. Some people just hate common sense.

What is the common sense?

It gives the kids work experience. That's important.

 

[Cuyo]

In the medical field, you are not paid during clinicals. My daughter puts in 3 to 4 12 hour days a week.
She is late in her training, so she does the same exact work as licensed respiratory therapist.
The hospital gets the benefit of her service at no cost, to which I bet my house they bill for.
Unfair?
Hell no. The program my daughter is in has 100% graduation placement. 100%.
Her payment is a lifetime of solid wages based on the experience gained during clinicals.

I'm not trying to be a prick here... But look into that placement claim. I've seen instances where such-and-such program has such-and-such "Job Placement," but a lot of the "Placements" were actually minimum wage jobs.

I don't believe those instances were in the medical field, though.

 

[rightwinger]

I think Internship is a really good idea. Some people just hate common sense.

What is the common sense?

It gives the kids work experience. That's important.

You are getting a College educated workforce at no cost to you. That work experience should be paid fair market value

 

[percysunshine]

"In the decision, Judge William H. Pauley III ruled that Fox Searchlight should have paid two interns on the movie “Black Swan,” because they were essentially regular employees.

The judge noted that these internships did not foster an educational environment and that the studio received the benefits of the work."

Absent the details, let's take the Judges' words at face value. From the perspective of the intern, why do it if there is no pay AND no education? Seems dumb. In any case, it seems silly to spend the money necessary to sue the company. Why not just walk away? Also, since they did not walk away, they were getting something out of it. Maybe these are just groupies that like to hang around celebrities or something.

So....celeb groupie, or idiot. Any other options?

 

[dblack]

Absent the details, let's take the Judges' words at face value. From the perspective of the intern, why do it if there is no pay AND no education? Seems dumb. In any case, it seems silly to spend the money necessary to sue the company. Why not just walk away? Also, since they did not walk away, they were getting something out of it.

Exactly. That's why the idea of a third party deciding if employees are getting treated fairly is nonsense. It's a private matter between the employer and the worker. Government has no business dictating wages (or prices).

 

[Pop23]

In the medical field, you are not paid during clinicals. My daughter puts in 3 to 4 12 hour days a week.
She is late in her training, so she does the same exact work as licensed respiratory therapist.
The hospital gets the benefit of her service at no cost, to which I bet my house they bill for.
Unfair?
Hell no. The program my daughter is in has 100% graduation placement. 100%.
Her payment is a lifetime of solid wages based on the experience gained during clinicals.

I still think it is abusive to demand free labor even for a lucrative field

What I see many of these firms doing in a bad job environment is to bring in a flock of unpaid interns with a faint hope of future employment and leaving them with no more than an unenthusiastic job reference in the end

I have to agree, no one that works should EVER be paid ZERO.