More On Student Unpaid Internships

The Economic Policy Institute published a paper on April 5, 2010 about unpaid internships and the potential end around of our nation's employment laws-particularly the FLSA. We have addressed this topic several times. Researchers may find this paper of interest because it is full of interesting stats. As the paper states:

Indeed, internships have become an implicit requirement for college students seeking employment after graduation. One recent survey found that half of new college graduate hires had previously completed internship experiences at the firm at which they were hired (Gardner et al. 2008; NACE 2008). A separate survey of employers found that 76% of firms reported relevant work experience in the form of internships as the primary decision to hire a new college graduate (NACE 2008). Employers have come to expect an increasing skill level and prior work experience for their new hires even before graduates start employment; internships are thus a key mechanism for students and recent graduates to develop these proficiencies (Hanneman and Gardner 2009).

Despite internships’ importance to the labor market as a crucial form of vocational training and pre-employment vetting, they are only loosely regulated through vague and outdated employment law. Moreover, these regulations go essentially unenforced. As this paper demonstrates, a lack of clear regulation and enforcement of internship-related laws:

• Leaves the majority of interns unprotected by workplace discrimination and harassment statues such as the Civil Rights Act, Americans with Disability Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act;
• Fosters the growth of unpaid internships, which in turn limits participation to only the students who can afford to forego wages and pay for living expenses, effectively institutionalizing socioeconomic disparities; and
• Permits (and even incentivizes) the replacement of regular workers with unpaid college students and recent graduates.

In light of these outcomes, this paper contends that the current system of regulations governing internships must be reformed, both for the immediate protection of students’ rights and also to maintain a strong and vibrant labor market that compensates all workers fairly.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Hat Tip: Prof. David Yamada (Suffolk Law School).