1.There is a steady
narrative of righteous indignation on social media that professional
internships ,specially in the field of law and CA are mostly unpaid or heavily
underpaid ,below subsistence wages.I deemed it fit to collate my posts thereon
into a comprehensive article detailing my views alongwith cross border
perceptions and facts.
2.Just think about this:what
are internships for?
"internship is a
professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work related
to a student's field of study or career interest. An internship gives a student
the opportunity for career exploration and development, and to learn new
skills."
2.1 Are they supposed to train you and pay you for being trained
so that you can go and make big bucks for yourself tommorow?!
Is that it?
Fantastic.
By that token ICAI or law
schools too should be paying the students or not charging any fee.
3.One post on Linkedin(an
Indian doing law in London) said that in UK one big law firm offered pounds 3.5
per day travelling as the only compensation and that one is not supposed to
slog on menial wages for years,running loan and working part time to pay for
education.
3.1 My response:
1.Would
you still say the same about unpaid internship if you were economically well
off ,not on a loan and well heeled?
The
law firm was honest enough to say they were covering only your travel
expenses.If they had said they will pay you £3.50 per day as stipend for
internship,without referring to travel ,would you still say what you said?
2.An
internship is of two types:
A.you
are just a disguised employee without being on roll sheet and do the firm's
work and learning is incidental and ancillary.
B.you
are on a learning curve with active interaction with partners ,getting inputs
and hands on training.
In A
,some compensation is probably justified.Is it ,in B?
3.And
what is an internship for?Learning curve or earning curve?
Should
you be compensated for being taught? We are on a huge confusion curve reg
internships-the employers as well as interns.
4.If you weren't" going
to learn anything new"..in your words...then why the internship?
5..You came on
a huge loan and working at Mac....my huge respect ....it does colour
perception...and not in a negative way...else your post wouldn't be about
"being unpaid"
6..If u want to be compensated for years of experience why seek internship?Seek
regular employment.
7.If u seek paid internship,they will simply show you the door.Just look out
the door.There is a mile long line.
8..Internship pays in kind..when u intern in a prestigious firm ,dont u use
that leverage in your cv when u apply for a job?
9.One comment was:"you cannot expect them to continue for years together
on less than menial wages";but interns are not employees..and second
..which internship continues "for years together"?
7.You are
already privileged in that you are studying in UK.Think about India.20 lakh
lawyers for about 5 crore pending cases.Perennial juniors even at age 40. If
they do a job,most would be lucky if they land up even 50,000 ₹
p.m....which is about 488.33 £ p.m.
Imagine.
Need
huge course correction and perception correction.
4.A
comment on LINKEDIN mentioned basic stipend is paid in every civilized country
and "only in India" there are unpaid internships.
Wonder
how many countries did the commentator saw?
It is
purely an individual firm's policy.There are no geographical connotations to
it.
4.1 Such
misleading posts are shocking. Here is a verifiable truth.Do check out:
In US:
The
FLSA requires “for-profit” employers to pay employees for their work. Interns
and students, however, are not “employees” under the FLSA—in which case the
FLSA does not require compensation for their work.
Further:
"Nearly
40% of internships in the United States are unpaid."Do check directly from
FLSA data from US.
4.2 Here
is a further fact sheet:
Unpaid
internships are legal if the intern is the “primary beneficiary” :the seven-point
primary beneficiary test.
If an
employer is the primary beneficiary, the intern is considered an employee under
the Fair Labor Standards
Act and entitled to at least minimum wage.
5.In
USA,State legislation on unpaid
internships differ. Although
the federal government doesn’t have any strict requirements for unpaid
internships, many state governments offer more specific standards. Some make
the flexible guidelines of the seven-point test mandatory; many provide their
own criteria.
5.1 New York, for example, includes a stipulation that internships
must provide transferable (rather than company-specific) training and cannot be
of any “immediate advantage” to the employer, even when the intern is the
primary beneficiary. In fact, as outlined by the New York State Department of Labor,
“In most circumstances, interns will require employers to dedicate resources
that may actually detract from the productivity of the worksite for some
period,” making it virtually impossible for a company to profit from an unpaid
internship.
5.2 California has one of the country’s strictest stances on unpaid
internships, requiring all programs to be conducted through and supervised by
an accredited school or vocational program. Employers must also submit an
internship proposal to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement before
hiring interns. Any internship that does not meet these standards must pay at
least minimum wage.
Interns
are not a way to get free labour.
5.3 The
article referred above also says that Brandon Ruiz, whose Los Angeles law firm
Hennig Kramer Ruiz & Singh represents employees in wage disputes, reminds
employers that labels mean nothing.
“If
the intern performs work that benefits the employer and that would otherwise be
performed by a regular employee, it is unlikely to be an internship,” Ruiz
said. If the intern performs work that primarily benefits the intern and does
not do work that would otherwise be performed by an employee, it is more likely
to be an internship.”
6.Siri
Hedreen writes further in above referred article as to why unpaid
internships should be taken up:
‘’Why would someone willingly work
as an intern without getting a paycheck? For some college students hoping to
launch their careers, meaningful professional experience makes unpaid
internships worthwhile. They may view internships as “buying” work
experience rather than as offering their labor to a business for free. Robust,
internship-filled resumes
that stand out, after all, are incredibly valuable for young
professionals.
[College students
who complete internships are 15% more likely to find employment after
graduation than their peers, according to Zippia.]……. Even legal unpaid
internships tread a fine line of compliance, where failure is costly.So most
Companies do not try gaming the system but do their legal due diligence.
[An unpaid
internship may cost the Company.] Not every unpaid intern is simply
ambitious for the cause. The professional experience they’re receiving may be
valuable, but without compensation, they may not be motivated to deliver their
best work. Unpaid interns may consider their internship less serious than a
paid one and, therefore, be less committed.’’
6.1 Ponder on this:
Unpaid internships can
bring you a wealth of experience. You'll get to work with passionate people in
a field you love. Compared to paid internships, there is likely to be less
pressure on you to perform. It leaves you free to explore, learn, experiment,
and grow.
Who should be paying whom?
7.The U.S. Department of
Labor addresses this subjective question with a flexible seven-part primary
beneficiary test, updated from a more rigid six-point test in 2018. Note that the
test is for for-profit companies only; public sector and nonprofit
organizations are held to separate standards, depending on whether their
interns are categorized as volunteers or employees.
According to the test, an
intern is a primary beneficiary if they meet the following criteria:
1.The intern is aware they
will be uncompensated.
2.Training is comparable to
training received at an educational institution.
3.The internship is tied to
the intern’s current educational program (e.g., the intern is getting academic
credit).
4.The internship
accommodates the intern’s academic calendar.
5.The internship is limited
to the period during which the intern receives beneficial learning.
6.The intern’s work
complements (not replaces) existing employees’ work while still providing
beneficial learning.
7.It is understood that the
internship does not provide entitlement to a job at its conclusion.
[See:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/71-flsa
internships&ved=2ahUKEwiGg7m05IP8AhXWEaYKHayXC0cQFnoECDMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw34DwahbLGAQ26sQBF8Ie6y]
7.CONCLUSION:
Lets
not look at internship purely from the prism of utterly modest stipends.Look at
them as extensions of your study .And command the learning curve from the
organization.Say you want full curve and you seek the knowledge,not the money.The
moment you seek and get those stipends ,the moral obligation is gone.They are ‘paying
you’,even if its peanuts.Look at the trade off.For pennies of stipends ,pounds
of invaluable learning may be gone.
Still want the stipend?
