Posted on 04/06/2010 8:11:56 PM PDT by JohnRLott
The Obama administration's top law enforcement officer at the Labor Department, M. Patricia Smith, is targeting companies that give young people unpaid internships. She claims that internships are rife with abusive practices and that serious violations of labor law are widespread. Arguing that interns should get paid at least minimum wage, Ms. Smith and the White House risk destroying a valuable steppingstone that gives many young Americans training they need to get jobs they want in the future.
Unpaid internships are valuable for many reasons. Most simply, they help people test whether they are a good fit for a particular industry. If interns like the type of work at particular companies, internships can help them get the training and contacts they need to make their career aspirations a reality. The short time that interns spend at jobs - often just two to three months - makes it difficult for firms to both train these young people and get much work out of them. From manufacturing to nonprofits to media companies such as The Washington Times, hands-on opportunities open through internships are almost endless. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Whatever the agreed upon arrangement between the worker and employer,
it’s none of the gov’t’s business. Unpaid or not. As long as there is no coercive force involved (which the government is, inherently).
No, “slavery” requires a coercive force be involved.
If the worker agrees to work without monetary compensation, that’s their business.
Unpaid internships are generally done for some type of school credit or as a part of a training program. They are a great experience for students and often have led to the intern being hired full time by the company involved. Think of it as taking a hands-on class in the practical application of some discipline; you are not being paid to take the class.
Interesting to see two pro-minimum wage advocates so early on this thread.
Because that's what these people are actually doing.
Coming up with more government regulations and rules against internships is just more government solution in search of a problem. The type of work that most interns do in companies is menial, necessary work that adds little or no value but is needed in order for operations to flow. Having interns do this work (whether modestly paid or not) while they get a chance to learn about the company and the industry is beneficial to both the company and the intern or there would not be a market for these positions.
At my company, interns are paid a modest wage, but the interns (who pretty much have to be top-notch college upperclassmen with a GPA of 3.5 or higher) consider the experience to be invaluable for the skills they learn and the insights into the industry they gain.
Perhaps you believe that the government isn't doing enough to regulate internships and that the government is better at looking out for these young students and future workforce contributers than the free market. If so, then by all means get out there and lobby and campaing for expanded government regulation in the labor market.
I’d even the playing field. If free or sub-minimum wage is okay in some circumstances, it should be okay in all. If anything it is the usual culmination of unintended consequences: you slap on minimum wages for higher than new, unskilled employees are worth, supposedly to protect the poor, and you end up creating barriers so that upper-class kids have still more of a leg up than those who can’t afford to work absolutely free. My preferred route would be less regulation, not more, but right now we’ve got the usual, government-intruded upon system that is getting to be less and less fair.
I'm not a proponent of minimum wage (although sometimes I think it may be the only thing that lends any value to the US dollar). I think all Americans should negotiate for any wage they want.
But I'm an anachronism - I'm a capitalist. (Please don't turn me in to the administration - I'm trying to self-brainwash - but have been unsuccessful so far.)
Is it me, or is EVERY SINGLE ACTION of the Obama Adminstration focused on lessening employment?
I’m not exactly sure how you think you’d “even the playing field”. Any attempts to enforce “fairness” and evening the playing field pretty much always bring on more of those unintended consequences you were talking about.
Taking away the minimum wage or enforcing it. One or the other. I prefer the former, but the latter is probably more likely.
Isn't charity work "unpaid labor"?
M. Patricia Smith has spent her entire career in 'public service'.
So, by "enforcing" it, you are advocating that companies or individuals or organizations be forced to pay at least minimum wage for any work/services provided -- even if such work/services are provided under a volunteer or internship arrangment separate from standard employment?
If the unpaid labor is FORCED or COERCED, you could have an argument there. But when the unpaid labor is voluntarily given, then it bears no resemblance to slavery. And if you have multiple applicants clamoring for the opportunity to work in one of those "worse than slavery" internships, then what does that say about your argument?
Again, I prefer dropping it. But those employers who evade the minimum wage by calling minimum-wage work an internship should be handled the same way other employers evading the minimum wage are handled.
Monica Lewinsky turned her hands-on experience as an intern into fame, if not fortune. 150 years from now, her name will still be mentioned in the history books. Immorality begets immortality.
Most internship activity is hardly minimum-wage work, even when it is “menial” work. Furthermore, the fact that highly intelligent, highly competitive, and highly motivated college students apply for - and compete for - internships at various companies testifies to the fact that the value of these positions is in the experience and skills gained rather than the wage that the positions pay. To the extent that the market is allowed to work, and companies and prospective interns have the FREEDOM pursue these relationships, internships provide value to both the company and the intern. You should find it somewhat unsettling that both you and Obama seem to have the same problem with the existing degree of market freedom and that you both object to the opportunity provided by these internships.
My son (the architect) was offered an internship with a small firm for the summer after his sophomore year. After a few weeks he was hired on a part time basis to supplement the staff. Full time the next summer. After graduation he was hired away by a larger firm; it took an extra year for him to get his masters because he was so busy working in the real world.
Take the opportunity, make it work.
Oh, stop. We’re just going ‘round and ‘round here. I’ve told you repeatedly I’m for no minimum wage at all. But in my area internships are most often no longer nearly the lofty reward that they apparently still are in and around your experience. I’d be rid of them all and just let people negotiate their own price or nonprice. No big deal. But instead of selectively enforcing the minimum wage, I’d have all companies either pay it or not. Really, we’re both repeating ourselves at this point.
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