
Some unpaid internships may be against the law | ScrippsNews - wooster
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/23795
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lsc
That takes the Tom Sawyer scam to a whole 'nother level.

I mean, my first computer job, I worked for less than minimum wage (piece
work, you know.) but I didn't pay for the privilege. So not only do these
people work for free, but they pay some middleman a fairly hefty sum to get
you the job? I just can't imagine people falling for that.

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billswift
The main purpose of unpaid internships is to keep out working class people who
can't afford not to have an income. I was thirty before I could afford to be
out of work for more than a month; and I wouldn't have been able to then if
I'd had a family.

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_delirium
FWIW, here's an opinion (2004) from the U.S. Dept. of Labor on the subject,
setting out the six criteria that the linked article alludes to:
[http://www.dol.gov/whd/opinion/FLSANA/2004/2004_05_17_05FLSA...](http://www.dol.gov/whd/opinion/FLSANA/2004/2004_05_17_05FLSA_NA_internship.pdf)

It seems fairly stringent, essentially excluding any unpaid internship where
the interns are, at least primarily, doing real work for the benefit of the
company. And that opinion was from the Bush DoL, so I can't imagine the
interpretation has gotten any more lenient since then.

