Editorial: Subject unpaid internships to Government oversight

Many students believe internships are prerequisites for full-time, lucrative jobs. But as… Many students believe internships are prerequisites for full-time, lucrative jobs. But as countless former interns will attest, they’re a poor substitute for regular employment.

After Xuedan Wang, a former intern at Harper’s Bazaar, filed a lawsuit alleging that she worked at least 40 hours a week without compensation, The New York Times asked five commentators whether they thought unpaid internships exploited college students. Unsurprisingly, all but one believed they did and that further oversight of unpaid internships was needed.

We agree. Internships are invaluable introductions to the workforce, but too many employers view them as opportunities to exploit free labor. Until the government begins enforcing existing laws, interns will continue to struggle with inappropriately large workloads.

Under current Department of Labor guidelines, for-profit companies must ensure their internships are educational, that they impart a beneficial experience, that interns don’t displace regular employees, that the company derives no immediate advantage from interns’ work, that interns aren’t necessarily guaranteed jobs upon the program’s completion and that both parties understand that interns aren’t entitled to a salaries.

Although the list is lacking in specifics, many former interns would argue that their supervisors violated at least one of the above criteria. Countless companies, for instance, saddle interns with responsibilities more appropriate for regular employees. Many others discount the educational aspect of the experience, instead offering brief training programs.

In previous decades, these guidelines might have seemed unnecessary. But because youth unemployment now exceeds 18 percent, and because, according to research firm Intern Bridge, 60 percent of students attend colleges where internships are mandatory, companies are taking more liberties than ever with their surplus applicants. Absent of any external body scrutinizing their decisions, supervisors will continue to ignore the laws.

Furthermore, most unpaid internships actually cost the students participating a significant amount of money, whether through transportation expenditures, class enrollment fees or housing expenses. In other words, many interns pay a great deal to work for free. Given that this investment carries no guarantee of eventual repayment, the Department of Labor should at least ensure that companies adhere to their six criteria.

Strengthening government oversight won’t be easy, especially amid calls for increased financial austerity. But regardless of whether internships help launch peoples’ careers, labor law abuses are too pervasive to continue unchecked.