I'm the PP - I never had an unpaid internship because I always took paid ones. And worked. I landed jobs in the legislative and executive branch just fine without unpaid internships.

Students/recent grads in unpaid internships skew towards having their parents supporting them. Ever spent a summer on Capitol Hill? It's a sea of homogeneity. Usually improperly dressed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

uh...no. Unpaid internships allow people who are generally supported by their parents, who can afford to still support them, get absolutely no useful experience other than the reality hitting them that many people they will work with and/or for are assholes.

I never did an unpaid internship. I have a huge problem with how so many people feel they HAVE to do them. Lower income students can't afford to have them so they have to actually work for a job that pays them, often not in their ideal field, in order to have money for school. Then they get punished later for not having experience in said field because they couldn't afford unpaid internships.

It's ridiculous.

Slave labor it's not, but thinking it's totally fine to not pay someone - anyone - for work done is ignorant of reality.

Well, then you should tell the DOJ. Every intern I've ever worked with has cost me hours of my own professional time in training them in valuable skills. They most certainly ARE NOT doing the work of paid staff. Many of them were in DC with student organizations that paid for their housing and meals, and a handful I can recall most certainly did not come from rich families. They worked hard, I was happy to train them and provide a reference down the line. I've never been threatened with a lawsuit because these kids had good heads on their shoulders instead of ones firmly planted up their ass like yours. I'm pretty sure DOJ would agree with me.

As long as your internships meet the DOJ criteria, sure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

uh...no. Unpaid internships allow people who are generally supported by their parents, who can afford to still support them, get absolutely no useful experience other than the reality hitting them that many people they will work with and/or for are assholes.

I never did an unpaid internship. I have a huge problem with how so many people feel they HAVE to do them. Lower income students can't afford to have them so they have to actually work for a job that pays them, often not in their ideal field, in order to have money for school. Then they get punished later for not having experience in said field because they couldn't afford unpaid internships.

It's ridiculous.

Slave labor it's not, but thinking it's totally fine to not pay someone - anyone - for work done is ignorant of reality.

Well, then you should tell the DOJ. Every intern I've ever worked with has cost me hours of my own professional time in training them in valuable skills. They most certainly ARE NOT doing the work of paid staff. Many of them were in DC with student organizations that paid for their housing and meals, and a handful I can recall most certainly did not come from rich families. They worked hard, I was happy to train them and provide a reference down the line. I've never been threatened with a lawsuit because these kids had good heads on their shoulders instead of ones firmly planted up their ass like yours. I'm pretty sure DOJ would agree with me.

What does the DOJ have to do with this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

uh...no. Unpaid internships allow people who are generally supported by their parents, who can afford to still support them, get absolutely no useful experience other than the reality hitting them that many people they will work with and/or for are assholes.

I never did an unpaid internship. I have a huge problem with how so many people feel they HAVE to do them. Lower income students can't afford to have them so they have to actually work for a job that pays them, often not in their ideal field, in order to have money for school. Then they get punished later for not having experience in said field because they couldn't afford unpaid internships.

It's ridiculous.

Slave labor it's not, but thinking it's totally fine to not pay someone - anyone - for work done is ignorant of reality.

Well, then you should tell the DOJ. Every intern I've ever worked with has cost me hours of my own professional time in training them in valuable skills. They most certainly ARE NOT doing the work of paid staff. Many of them were in DC with student organizations that paid for their housing and meals, and a handful I can recall most certainly did not come from rich families. They worked hard, I was happy to train them and provide a reference down the line. I've never been threatened with a lawsuit because these kids had good heads on their shoulders instead of ones firmly planted up their ass like yours. I'm pretty sure DOJ would agree with me.

I agree 100%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

There are huge wage/hour issues with them.

No, there are not. Generally you have the intern sign a contract that states what will be expected of them. I have NEVER worked for an organization/company that tried to use interns like slave labor. You have a seriously bizarre hangup about this.

You should talk to an employment lawyer about this issue and look at case law. It is in the wheelhouse of many courts right now. And there is more than one person here who is saying the same thing.

OMG you are so uptight DC. Unclench.

Have fun getting sued! Maybe it will even be a class action!

Wow. You really ARE an asshat. I've hired interns under contracts. You sign a contract saying that you will work XX hours/week for 8 weeks for $0 but XX hours of class credit doing XYZ activities, you have NO leg to stand on in court. That's basic contract law, dipshit.

Yeah, I am the dipshit. You do realize you can't contract around a lot of statutory requirements, right?! I suggest you call up your friendly local employment lawyer.

+1

Anyone can write up a BS contract for something illegal. Doesn't mean the contract is worth anything. It happens all the time, because HR geniuses don't know the law.

Yes and again, NO COURT - NOT ONE - has ruled that unpaid internships fall outside of "statutory requirements."

Dude. We have this thing called the Department of Labor. Hope no one calls them on you!

Dude. See my link above. ASSHAT.

Your interns are probably dialing as we type...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

uh...no. Unpaid internships allow people who are generally supported by their parents, who can afford to still support them, get absolutely no useful experience other than the reality hitting them that many people they will work with and/or for are assholes.

I never did an unpaid internship. I have a huge problem with how so many people feel they HAVE to do them. Lower income students can't afford to have them so they have to actually work for a job that pays them, often not in their ideal field, in order to have money for school. Then they get punished later for not having experience in said field because they couldn't afford unpaid internships.

It's ridiculous.

Slave labor it's not, but thinking it's totally fine to not pay someone - anyone - for work done is ignorant of reality.

Well, then you should tell the DOJ. Every intern I've ever worked with has cost me hours of my own professional time in training them in valuable skills. They most certainly ARE NOT doing the work of paid staff. Many of them were in DC with student organizations that paid for their housing and meals, and a handful I can recall most certainly did not come from rich families. They worked hard, I was happy to train them and provide a reference down the line. I've never been threatened with a lawsuit because these kids had good heads on their shoulders instead of ones firmly planted up their ass like yours. I'm pretty sure DOJ would agree with me.

Anonymous wrote:Op again. Yep we pay our interns pretty well and have them doing substantive work.

To give him credit, I reread the email and he did offer to work at home afterwards. We do have a casual work environment, though, and I'm worried that I'm not doing enough to teach them that this type of request will not fly in most places of business and make me question professionalism.

....I had a chief of staff who regularly left work at 3pm because she lived in Fredericksburg and didn't want to deal with traffic.

I'd say this request is setting him for exactly the way many managers already behave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

There are huge wage/hour issues with them.

No, there are not. Generally you have the intern sign a contract that states what will be expected of them. I have NEVER worked for an organization/company that tried to use interns like slave labor. You have a seriously bizarre hangup about this.

You should talk to an employment lawyer about this issue and look at case law. It is in the wheelhouse of many courts right now. And there is more than one person here who is saying the same thing.

OMG you are so uptight DC. Unclench.

Have fun getting sued! Maybe it will even be a class action!

Wow. You really ARE an asshat. I've hired interns under contracts. You sign a contract saying that you will work XX hours/week for 8 weeks for $0 but XX hours of class credit doing XYZ activities, you have NO leg to stand on in court. That's basic contract law, dipshit.

Yeah, I am the dipshit. You do realize you can't contract around a lot of statutory requirements, right?! I suggest you call up your friendly local employment lawyer.

+1

Anyone can write up a BS contract for something illegal. Doesn't mean the contract is worth anything. It happens all the time, because HR geniuses don't know the law.

Yes and again, NO COURT - NOT ONE - has ruled that unpaid internships fall outside of "statutory requirements."

Dude. We have this thing called the Department of Labor. Hope no one calls them on you!

Dude. See my link above. ASSHAT.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

uh...no. Unpaid internships allow people who are generally supported by their parents, who can afford to still support them, get absolutely no useful experience other than the reality hitting them that many people they will work with and/or for are assholes.

I never did an unpaid internship. I have a huge problem with how so many people feel they HAVE to do them. Lower income students can't afford to have them so they have to actually work for a job that pays them, often not in their ideal field, in order to have money for school. Then they get punished later for not having experience in said field because they couldn't afford unpaid internships.

It's ridiculous.

Slave labor it's not, but thinking it's totally fine to not pay someone - anyone - for work done is ignorant of reality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

There are huge wage/hour issues with them.

No, there are not. Generally you have the intern sign a contract that states what will be expected of them. I have NEVER worked for an organization/company that tried to use interns like slave labor. You have a seriously bizarre hangup about this.

You should talk to an employment lawyer about this issue and look at case law. It is in the wheelhouse of many courts right now. And there is more than one person here who is saying the same thing.

OMG you are so uptight DC. Unclench.

Have fun getting sued! Maybe it will even be a class action!

Wow. You really ARE an asshat. I've hired interns under contracts. You sign a contract saying that you will work XX hours/week for 8 weeks for $0 but XX hours of class credit doing XYZ activities, you have NO leg to stand on in court. That's basic contract law, dipshit.

Yeah, I am the dipshit. You do realize you can't contract around a lot of statutory requirements, right?! I suggest you call up your friendly local employment lawyer.

+1

Anyone can write up a BS contract for something illegal. Doesn't mean the contract is worth anything. It happens all the time, because HR geniuses don't know the law.

Yes and again, NO COURT - NOT ONE - has ruled that unpaid internships fall outside of "statutory requirements."

Dude. We have this thing called the Department of Labor. Hope no one calls them on you!

US Department of Labor does not agree that unpaid internships, as a concept, are illegal only that they must meet certain requirements. The internships I have organized met all the requirements in conjunction with college placement programs. Therefore I live in ZERO FEAR of being sued. Asshats.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm

I can't believe some of you. "If he's not paid, he can just walk out!" (OP said he WAS paid, and doing substantive work, BTW). Even if he weren't being paid (I wasn't as an intern) I assume that he is not an indentured servant and took the job willingly, for experience and contacts. Therefore, even though technically he could just leave, he probably has some sense of pride in his work.

The lack of personal responsibility some of you are OK with is astounding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

There are huge wage/hour issues with them.

No, there are not. Generally you have the intern sign a contract that states what will be expected of them. I have NEVER worked for an organization/company that tried to use interns like slave labor. You have a seriously bizarre hangup about this.

You should talk to an employment lawyer about this issue and look at case law. It is in the wheelhouse of many courts right now. And there is more than one person here who is saying the same thing.

OMG you are so uptight DC. Unclench.

Have fun getting sued! Maybe it will even be a class action!

Wow. You really ARE an asshat. I've hired interns under contracts. You sign a contract saying that you will work XX hours/week for 8 weeks for $0 but XX hours of class credit doing XYZ activities, you have NO leg to stand on in court. That's basic contract law, dipshit.

Yeah, I am the dipshit. You do realize you can't contract around a lot of statutory requirements, right?! I suggest you call up your friendly local employment lawyer.

+1

Anyone can write up a BS contract for something illegal. Doesn't mean the contract is worth anything. It happens all the time, because HR geniuses don't know the law.

Yes and again, NO COURT - NOT ONE - has ruled that unpaid internships fall outside of "statutory requirements."

Anonymous wrote:Sounds unenforceable to me, if the contract was stipulating something illegal in the first place.

It's not ILLEGAL. Show me ONE judgement that has claimed as such. Just because something is being litigated does not mean that it is illegal, only that someone, somewhere has challenged its legality. Once a state or the feds pass a law making unpaid internships illegal you can say that they are. Until then you are quoting some Forbes article about a lawsuit that has yet to be decided - whoop dee doo. Universities and other student programs negotiate these kinds of opportunities for their students all the time and have done so for decades. Just because a handful of kids who don't know better got duped by some slimy attorney into filing a trivial lawsuit does not mean that internships are illegal, under the FLSA or any other law. Are you even a lawyer? Or a judge? Because you sound unhinged, to be honest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't unpaid internships more or less illegal now?

You want free labor to do grunt work, you get what you pay for.

No they are not "illegal." For Pete's sake people, internships allow college students to gain professional experience so that they can actually have a leg up on getting a paid job when they graduate. They may be unpaid financially but the interns are certainly gaining something valuable for their future - if you are constructing the internship in a useful way.

There are huge wage/hour issues with them.

No, there are not. Generally you have the intern sign a contract that states what will be expected of them. I have NEVER worked for an organization/company that tried to use interns like slave labor. You have a seriously bizarre hangup about this.

You should talk to an employment lawyer about this issue and look at case law. It is in the wheelhouse of many courts right now. And there is more than one person here who is saying the same thing.

OMG you are so uptight DC. Unclench.

Have fun getting sued! Maybe it will even be a class action!

Wow. You really ARE an asshat. I've hired interns under contracts. You sign a contract saying that you will work XX hours/week for 8 weeks for $0 but XX hours of class credit doing XYZ activities, you have NO leg to stand on in court. That's basic contract law, dipshit.

Yeah, I am the dipshit. You do realize you can't contract around a lot of statutory requirements, right?! I suggest you call up your friendly local employment lawyer.

+1

Anyone can write up a BS contract for something illegal. Doesn't mean the contract is worth anything. It happens all the time, because HR geniuses don't know the law.