Why are we putting the kibosh on unpaid internships?
Affording young people an opportunity to learn about an intended career field can benefit those aspirants far beyond a mere paycheck. Why limit employers’ ability to make that possible?
If you have managed people for a while, you probably know that there are three kinds of workplace issues:
I’ve dealt with all three, but for my money, it’s the loud and overblown issues that take up the most time and generate the greatest amount of heartburn.
It’s the ongoing flap over unpaid internships, one of the loudest and most overblown issues of all, that always makes me reach for the Maalox.
Are unpaid interns affecting the job market?
Recently, an unpaid intern sued fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar and Hearst Corp. claiming, according to The New York Times’ Media Decoder blog, that they had violated “federal and state wage and hour laws by not paying her even though she often worked there full time.”
It’s unusual for interns to sue, but the story came and went and that was that.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today
Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.
