5 ms·
A few reasons: First, they're unionized. Understandably, the union is against unpaid labor of any kind. It sets a precedent that is more problematic than anyth
by caseysoftware 13y ago
A few reasons:
First, they're unionized. Understandably, the union is against unpaid labor of any kind. It sets a precedent that is more problematic than anything.
Second, we have a Federal minimum wage. You're not allowed to make less than that in a job. Therefore they would have to be paid something to still be in compliance with the law.
Finally, while one person can go into an office without incurring massive costs, if you have an entire office come in, then you need to make sure receptionists, janitors, kitchen staff, parking attendants, etc are on the job.
- eli 13y agoUnions have nothing to do with it. Neither do costs. It's the law.
- Willwhatley 13y agoHow do interns work? (In the general sense of compliance with the minimum wage statute.)
- freehunter 13y agoPaid internships are generally above minimum wage. My lowest paid internship was $10/hr, highest was $15/hr. Interns, however, are not legally supposed to be doing production work or run-the-business kind of work. They're there as a learning experience similar to a classroom. They can do project work and attend meetings. Interns generally aren't classified as workers. They're getting experience in exchange for their time. The employer can't immediately gain from an intern's work. As long as the employer follows the guidelines of the intern regulations, they don't have to follow minimum wage or pay the intern at all (similar to how students don't get paid by their university for attending class).
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- abtinf 13y agoUnpaid internships are illegal[1]. Unless you are the government, in which case you exempt yourself from the law. [1] http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm
- judk 13y agoIs there actually an exemption for government interns? You didn't cite that part of your post.
- dragonwriter 13y agoYour link says: There are some circumstances under which individuals who participate in “for-profit” private sector internships or training programs may do so without compensation. Which is directly contrary to the point you cite it to support.
- mikeash 13y agoUntil recently, interns slipped through the cracks somehow. A recent court decision determined that interns actually aren't magically exempt from the law just because they're interns, though, so expect a lot fewer unpaid internships from now on. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/unpaid-internships-jeopardy-after-court-ruling http://bigstory.ap.org/article/unpaid-internships-jeopardy-a...
- judk 13y agoThe determination wasn't new, that was just a high profile instance of a successful suit.
- pmorici 13y ago"First, they're unionized" Only about a quarter[0] of federal workers are unionized. It isn't even legal for many to do so. [0] http://www.federalnewsradio.com/204/3203888/Amid-widespread-decline-fed-membership-in-unions-down-slightly http://www.federalnewsradio.com/204/3203888/Amid-widespread-...
- rayiner 13y agoAlso, more than a third of that quarter is postal workers.