Unpaid Internships and the Law

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Introduction
Internships play an important role in the career development and recruitment process of young professionals and soon-to-be college graduates. Internships come in two forms: paid and unpaid. Paid internships are most commonly procured in the private sector or in organizations that have financial stability to pay students to gain experience and learn while they work. Unpaid internships are becoming increasingly common in the current workplace where some businesses are cutting costs and downsizing due to economic struggles. The following paper will show the negative effects of unpaid internships and how unpaid internships challenge ethical business practices.
Causes
Internships are becoming the norm in today’s ever changing society. Both paid and unpaid internships allow the intern to learn about a particular field or industry, gain experience in that particular field or industry, and build a network that can be leverage for future good. These benefits combined prove to be very useful and significant to the intern because it’s a differentiator from those individuals who did not have an internship. Given the very competitive job market for recent college graduates, the many benefits of internships have caused many interns to pass up pay in return for the aforementioned benefits. Internships have become so standard in the workplace that the National Association of Colleges and Employers recently reported that 75 percent of employers prefer job candidates with relevant work experience, while more than 90 percent prefer to hire interns who have worked for their organization (Bacon, 2011). When it comes to hiring full-time employees, 42% of graduates with internships who applied for a job received an job offer compared to...

... middle of paper ...

...interns need to continue to voice their feelings and stance on this situation to really see the climate change in terms of unpaid internships.

References
The Atlantic. How Washington Abandoned America’s Unpaid Interns, 12/5/13.

Bacon, Natalie (2011). Unpaid Internships: The History, Policy, and Future Implication of Fact Sheet #71. Ohio State Entrepreneurial Business Law Journal. Vol. 6 (1): 1-3.

BU Today. Unpaid Internships and the Law, 12/5/13

Insider Higher Ed. Protect Unpaid Internships, 12/5/13
Knouse, Tanner, Jr. and Harris, E. W. (1999). The Relation of College Internships, College Performance, and Subsequent Job Opportunity. Journal of Employment Counseling, 36: 35–43.

NPR. Real World or Just Free Labor?, 12/5/13.

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (2010). Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 12/513.

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