Overworked? Underpaid? Not Paid At All? ProPublica Wants To Help
By Cara Cifferelli
There’s been quite a bit of buzz on campus about the fact that we’re basically all committing ourselves to voluntary slave labor lately — and rightfully so. Students have even taken to the Internet to petition against unpaid internship listings on Wasserman Career Center. But each day, we still roll out of bed to go to work, and we leave empty-handed.
Put down the dozen soy-venti double shot iced espressos (no ice!) you’re carrying to the office, and take a minute to share your own nightmarish internship story — it could really help.
This week, ProPublica launched a nationwide investigation into the nature of internships in the US. This is a problem being addressed here on campus, and for students scrambling for those last-minute summer positions, or those planning for the fall, now is a great time to start paying attention.
ProPublica, a non-profit journalism corporation based here in New York, is taking its public interest to the college sector with their recent initiative. “Since the financial crash, jobs have held a top spot in public discussion. But among all the employment talk, one sector of the workforce has consistently received relatively little attention: interns,” explains the article, citing the ballooning internship economy in the last few years.
As job offers remain stagnant, the amount of students and young professionals earning unpaid positions classifying as “internships” continue to dominate the market. Interns sometimes do as much or more work as the paid employees- something that is not allowed by federal guidelines.
Despite statutory and federal regulations on what can and cannot be an unpaid internship, many companies are able to get away with breaking those rules. Though a federal six point test has been in effect since 2010, regulation has been relatively low, and often requires a complaint to be filed before any investigation is taken.
ProPublica needs students who have held internship positions in the last three years to fill out their form. They hope to better understand how many students are being employed in violation of guidelines, what kind of protections cover interns in these situations, and the role colleges and career services play in placing students in these jobs.
With the high level of NYU students in internships, we stress your importance in the program. By getting awareness and information out, perhaps we can change federal activity against these degrading, unpaid jobs and then actually hope to be employed after graduation.
