4 ms·

Really? I didn't know that. Reference? Not an issue for me, but seems odd to me somehow....

by modoc 17y ago

imp 17y ago
I think Mark Cuban wrote a blog post complaining about how he wanted to hire a bunch of people for cheap, but if they added value to the Mavericks then he would have to pay them minimum wage.
- qeorge 17y ago
  That's where I first heard of this as well. Here's the link: http://blogmaverick.com/2009/09/05/want-an-unpaid-internship-so-you-can-get-valuable-experience-screw-you/ http://blogmaverick.com/2009/09/05/want-an-unpaid-internship...
jessriedel 17y ago
This was a real surprise to me too. Here's some discussion I found: http://www.onedayoneinternship.com/blog/are-unpaid-internships-illegal/ http://www.onedayoneinternship.com/blog/are-unpaid-internshi... I figured that if you were getting paid nothing while working on something profitable for a company, it was assumed you were being compensated with experience. But apparently, all the company can do is train you while deriving zero benefit from your training. This seems like a stupid law.
- akeefer 17y ago
  I believe that the law is there to prevent companies from calling ordinary employees "interns" for the sake of getting around minimum wage laws.
  - dpatru 17y ago
    Turning the perspective around, minimum-wage laws can be seen as having the purpose of preventing low skilled people from learning on the job. One of the best ways to learn is take a job is the field you want to learn in. You get paid to learn. This is better than having to pay to learn. Unfortunately minimum-wage laws make this option available only to people who already have enough skills that they can produce at least minimum-wage value while learning. So an MBA-level person can take a manager's job in a restaurant for low pay to learn restaurant-managing skills, but a high-schooler may not be able to take a cook's job to learn basic job skills like showing up on time, being diligent, following directions, etc. because the high-schooler may not be producing enough net value to justify even minimum wage.
  - jessriedel 17y ago
    But the idea behind minimum wage (as I understand it) is to ensure a living wage to people who are supporting themselves with the job. If you aren't getting paid anything, then you clearly aren't supporting yourself with the job; you're investing in yourself, just like going to school. That's why I assumed it would be legal to pay people zero but illegal to pay people less than minimum wage.
- WillyF 17y ago
  I wrote that! :)
japherwocky 17y ago
http://www.google.com/search?q=intern+labor+laws http://www.google.com/search?q=intern+labor+laws is what i'm going off of

Really? I didn't know that. Reference? Not an issue for me, but seems odd to me somehow....

by modoc 17y ago

Really? I didn't know that. Reference? Not an issue for me, but seems odd to me somehow....

imp 17y ago

I think Mark Cuban wrote a blog post complaining about how he wanted to hire a bunch of people for cheap, but if they added value to the Mavericks then he would have to pay them minimum wage.

qeorge 17y ago
That's where I first heard of this as well. Here's the link: http://blogmaverick.com/2009/09/05/want-an-unpaid-internship-so-you-can-get-valuable-experience-screw-you/ http://blogmaverick.com/2009/09/05/want-an-unpaid-internship...

jessriedel 17y ago

This was a real surprise to me too. Here's some discussion I found: http://www.onedayoneinternship.com/blog/are-unpaid-internships-illegal/ http://www.onedayoneinternship.com/blog/are-unpaid-internshi... I figured that if you were getting paid nothing while working on something profitable for a company, it was assumed you were being compensated with experience. But apparently, all the company can do is train you while deriving zero benefit from your training. This seems like a stupid law.

akeefer 17y ago
I believe that the law is there to prevent companies from calling ordinary employees "interns" for the sake of getting around minimum wage laws.
- dpatru 17y ago
  Turning the perspective around, minimum-wage laws can be seen as having the purpose of preventing low skilled people from learning on the job. One of the best ways to learn is take a job is the field you want to learn in. You get paid to learn. This is better than having to pay to learn. Unfortunately minimum-wage laws make this option available only to people who already have enough skills that they can produce at least minimum-wage value while learning. So an MBA-level person can take a manager's job in a restaurant for low pay to learn restaurant-managing skills, but a high-schooler may not be able to take a cook's job to learn basic job skills like showing up on time, being diligent, following directions, etc. because the high-schooler may not be producing enough net value to justify even minimum wage.
- jessriedel 17y ago
  But the idea behind minimum wage (as I understand it) is to ensure a living wage to people who are supporting themselves with the job. If you aren't getting paid anything, then you clearly aren't supporting yourself with the job; you're investing in yourself, just like going to school. That's why I assumed it would be legal to pay people zero but illegal to pay people less than minimum wage.
WillyF 17y ago
I wrote that! :)

japherwocky 17y ago

http://www.google.com/search?q=intern+labor+laws http://www.google.com/search?q=intern+labor+laws is what i'm going off of