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> While some nonprofits may be unable to pay their interns ... > then the intern must be paid at least minimum wage, there is no intern exception unless it is
by bpodgursky 10y ago
> While some nonprofits may be unable to pay their interns ...
> then the intern must be paid at least minimum wage, there is no intern exception unless it is literally work that is useless to the organization
What's the difference between an unpaid intern and a volunteer at a nonprofit?
Should nobody be allowed to volunteer skills at the Red Cross, or the Sierra Club, unless it is "useless to the organization" (which makes no sense, since you are... volunteering).
If you start enforcing this strictly, you're basically ruling that a whole class of NGOs does not have a right to exist powered by interest and volunteer labor.
- pitaa 10y ago> What's the difference between an unpaid intern and a volunteer at a nonprofit? Broadly speaking, I see it like this: Your intern brings you coffee, whereas you bring your volunteers coffee. An intern may start out doing low-skill, labor-intensive, and/or menial tasks with the expectation that they begin to learn the industry, gain skills and responsibilities, and possibly be offered a full time position. A volunteer may also be doing low-skill, labor-intensive, and/or menial tasks, but without the explicit expectation of personal growth or career advancement. The volunteer is there because they want to help advance the cause of the organization (or because the judge let them off with community service...). Of course in reality I have no doubt that there are situations that blur these lines.
- sidereal1 10y agoThere is a huge difference between an internship and that sort of volunteer work.