3 ms·

Yep - I agree, you should get yours. Maybe there should be a more robust culture of giving interns equity at early stage startups. VC's hate cluttered cap table

by philco 15y ago

Yep - I agree, you should get yours. Maybe there should be a more robust culture of giving interns equity at early stage startups. VC's hate cluttered cap tables...but it would be a fair way to compensate students for their work if the startup can't afford to pay them.

scott_s 15y ago
If you can't afford to pay someone for work [edit: in the US, can't speak for other countries], it's illegal for them to work for you. It doesn't matter if they're a student and you call it an internship, even if they get credit for it.
- UnFleshedOne 15y ago
  What's the purpose of this law? (I would normally expect opposite -- that it is illegal for you to hire them if you can't afford it.)
  - scott_s 15y ago
    Perhaps you misunderstood me, so let me state it another way: you must pay people who work for you, even if their title is "intern." To do otherwise circumvents the minimum wage laws.
    - wisty 15y ago
      There's often exceptions for interns. I don't know about the US though. It's a common dodge in Australia to put people on as "trainees". I think it can be illegal if they aren't really being trained, and there's lots of other rules (like it must be an educational course requirement).
      - scott_s 15y ago
        There is no exception in the US. The only way a company can have an unpaid intern in the US is if that intern does no productive work for the company - that is, they don't profit from the intern's labor. My understanding is that it's actually rare for tech companies to violate this law. But I have heard that it is common in the publishing industry. See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2412255 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2412255
        wisty 15y ago
        That is an exception - US interns just can't be "productive". FTA: "50 percent of graduating students had held internships". Face it, most of them will be doing unpaid clerical work. It will be "educational", in that they will gain valuable office skills, but it won't really be legal.
        scott_s 15y ago
        My point was that doing what you described is illegal.

by philco 15y ago

scott_s 15y ago

If you can't afford to pay someone for work [edit: in the US, can't speak for other countries], it's illegal for them to work for you. It doesn't matter if they're a student and you call it an internship, even if they get credit for it.

UnFleshedOne 15y ago
What's the purpose of this law? (I would normally expect opposite -- that it is illegal for you to hire them if you can't afford it.)
- scott_s 15y ago
  Perhaps you misunderstood me, so let me state it another way: you must pay people who work for you, even if their title is "intern." To do otherwise circumvents the minimum wage laws.
  - wisty 15y ago
    There's often exceptions for interns. I don't know about the US though. It's a common dodge in Australia to put people on as "trainees". I think it can be illegal if they aren't really being trained, and there's lots of other rules (like it must be an educational course requirement).
    - scott_s 15y ago
      There is no exception in the US. The only way a company can have an unpaid intern in the US is if that intern does no productive work for the company - that is, they don't profit from the intern's labor. My understanding is that it's actually rare for tech companies to violate this law. But I have heard that it is common in the publishing industry. See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2412255 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2412255
      - wisty 15y ago
        That is an exception - US interns just can't be "productive". FTA: "50 percent of graduating students had held internships". Face it, most of them will be doing unpaid clerical work. It will be "educational", in that they will gain valuable office skills, but it won't really be legal.
        scott_s 15y ago
        My point was that doing what you described is illegal.