The New York Times has an interesting story on unpaid internships potentially violating US minimum wage laws.
Convinced that many unpaid internships violate minimum wage laws, officials in Oregon, California and other states have begun investigations and fined employers. Last year, M. Patricia Smith, then New York’s labor commissioner, ordered investigations into several firms’ internships. Now, as the federal Labor Department’s top law enforcement official, she and the wage and hour division are stepping up enforcement nationwide.
Many regulators say that violations are widespread, but that it is unusually hard to mount a major enforcement effort because interns are often afraid to file complaints. Many fear they will become known as troublemakers in their chosen field, endangering their chances with a potential future employer.
This is a hard one; kids need experience and volunteering to work for nothing gets a foot in the door, on the other hand there are minimum wage laws. The solution is to repeal the minimum wage laws, but that’s not going to happen. So how to reconcile conflicting interests becomes a problem.
The solution to that problen should not be discrimination against so-called ‘for-profit’ firms.
“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.
…
The rules for unpaid interns are less strict for non-profit groups like charities because people are allowed to do volunteer work for non-profits.
So-called ‘non-profits’ don’t try to run at a loss, they also maximise their surplus in order to reinvest.
(HT: Mankiw)
This just shows the idiocy of mimimum wage laws. If businesses have to pay interns, then they won’t take on any. And work experience will be denied to a whole generation of wannabe journos, media types and PR people. On the other hand…
Rococo Liberal
6 Apr 10 at 5:24 pm
And it seems that in the UK you can’t help kids down from trees.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/24/boy-school-tree-wiltshire-police
Please read right through to the end – that’s the best part.
ken n
6 Apr 10 at 5:52 pm
I think Nancy Pelosi will need to apply for an exemption: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pFC3LKMIQo
Greego
6 Apr 10 at 8:37 pm
What about the White House internship? They are unpaid positions. What’s good for the goose …
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/Internships
Paul
7 Apr 10 at 2:57 pm
I always assumed unpaid internships were a system used by US politicians and some corporations to ensure that only truly exceptional poor people, or any village idiot that came from a rich family, would be able to have a successful career. The rich could afford to support their kids through an unpaid internship, but a poor kid would need to work at least 40 hours a week in addition to the internship to make it through.
Robert
25 Apr 10 at 9:35 pm