Important note about internships

Did you know an unpaid internship for a for-profit company is probably illegal? I think a lot of people don’t know this! Work done for a legal internship is not meant to be used by the company, unless maybe it’s non-profit. 

For instance, if a game company asks you to be an intern, what they’re basically supposed to do is give you things to make for their game, and once you’ve made them they throw them away and don’t use them. If they do want to use them, they have to pay you plain and simple. “Getting your name out there” is not a legal replacement for payment.

Here I’ll just paste this from the US Dept. of Labor’s website:

The following six criteria must be applied when making this determination [Unpaid Interns]:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

Anyways, don’t get ripped off and make sure your college artist friends know!

5 months ago  /  156 notes