Reference no: EM132299474

THINKING ETHICALL INTERNSHIPS: OPPORTUNITY OR EXPLOITATION?

For many college students, an important summer experience is completing an internship and seeing firsthand the career they hope to pursue. The pay might be somewhat below the entry-level rate for a full-time employee, but the interns get practice they hope will aid in their job search after graduation. Some employers, however, do not even pay a low wage; they expect their interns to work for free.

The idea of working for little or no pay has been justified on the grounds that the internship experience is valuable training. Schools that agree may provide course credit for an internship. However, some students and schools are questioning that argument. Survey data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers showed nearly the same rate of hiring for graduates with no internships and those with unpaid internships. (Students with paid internships on their résumés were hired at a higher rate.)

Employers that want to offer unpaid internships need to meet legal requirements. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, an unpaid internship must be educational and may not exist for the direct benefit of the employer. In addition, the company may not hire unpaid interns as replacements for paid employees. State laws may impose further requirements. In New York, for example, employers must sacrifice some productivity for the sake of providing training to the interns, and the training should cover skills that apply beyond the particular job at the particular company. For-profit companies that do not meet the requirements for an unpaid internship must pay at least minimum wage plus a higher rate for overtime. In some publicized cases, interns have filed lawsuits against companies they say did not meet those requirements.

At least until recently, unpaid internships were common in some industries, such as fashion, entertainment, and publishing. However, with the negative attention, some employers have pulled back from the practice—either ending their internships or beginning to pay for positions that had been unpaid. Nevertheless, especially in the case of employers that pay interns at least minimum wage, advocates of internship continue to say these programs provide valuable preparation for careers. One way to check whether internships can withstand legal scrutiny is to consider the organization’s purpose for creating these programs—whether it is to deliver training or to fill positions inexpensively.

Questions

1. Suppose a publishing company wants to hire an intern to help the company catch up with its paperwork over the summer. Who would be affected by this decision? What would be the benefits or harm to each person?

2. How could a well-designed training program help make this idea meet ethical as well as legal standards?