When an unpaid public relations internship is illegal

Search Craigslist for Washington, DC and you will find postings for dozens of public relations and marketing internships. Some are paid, some are unpaid.

I read the internship descriptions and each one that is unpaid is illegal. Disgraceful.

In fact, most unpaid marketing and public relations internships in the Washington, DC area appear to be in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

It’s a shame, because there are good, legitimate, paid internships to be had in the Washington, DC area.    I paid my own interns, and if my tiny company can do it, any company or organization can do the same. It’s fair, and it’s legal.

Better Alternatives to Illegal Unpaid Internships

Students and job-seekers should know that there are alternatives to taking on illegal unpaid internships.  In addition to paid internships, job seekers and students can always obtain experience through volunteering, which is a much better deal than unpaid internships.  You can obtain valuable contacts through networking, and you often get to work on higher level projects in volunteer positions.  Many nonprofit organizations and membership organizations need public relations and marketing volunteers, including all the major communications organizations in the Washington, DC area, such as PRSA-NCC and WWPR.

The Difference Between Legal and Illegal Unpaid Internships

Thinking about hiring interns?  You should know that the Fair Labor Standards Act protects the rights of employees, including interns.  It provides that a company who employs an unpaid intern must derive no tangible benefit from the intern’s activities. The intern cannot perform tasks for the company that benefit the company.  They cannot do billable work.  The intern cannot make copies or coffee.  All the intern can do is receive the educational benefit of being at the company, and the company, ideally, should even be somewhat inconvenienced to be in full compliance with the law.  There must not be any promise or hint of a job to come at the conclusion of the unpaid internship, as I saw posted in one of the Craigslist ads.  Basically, a company has to take on an unpaid intern out of the goodness of their hearts, and be prepared to coach, mentor, and teach the intern as if the company were a vocational school.

The Six Criteria That Must Apply If You Don’t Pay Your Interns

If your unpaid intern meets the trainee criteria, you may elect not to pay them.  But the trainee must meet all six criteria:

1. The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school;
2. The training is for the benefit of the trainees or students;
3. The trainees or students do not displace regular employees, but work under close supervision;
4. The employer that provides the training receives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees or students and, on occasion, his operations may even be impeded;
5. The trainees or students are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period; and
6. The employer and the trainees or students understand that the trainees or students are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.

Interns May Not Replace Employees

Another important factor to understand is that it is illegal to use an unpaid intern to do the work at your company that a paid employee would do, but is not doing.  Unpaid interns cannot be used like temps.  In other words, if you bring on an unpaid intern to do something essential, like work on a specific project, edit or write a publication, or manage your social media efforts, than you are breaking the law. Plenty of cash-strapped Washington, DC companies and nonprofit organizations do this.  What is legal: you can let an unpaid intern shadow an employee working on the project, publication, or social media program, and they can obtain hands-on experience while being closely supervised, but again, within the parameters of the law.

Offering College Credit Does Not Automatically Exempt Companies From Paying Interns

Providing college credit does not exempt a company or nonprofit organization from paying its interns!  A common misconception is that a company or organization can elect to provide college credit instead of pay to interns in all circumstances.  This is not true. Your intern may apply for college credit, which you can support, but you also have the responsibility to provide an educational environment that is the equivalent of a vocational school if you don’t want to pay them for the time they are with your company.   If interns perform work for your company, even if they get college credit, you must treat them as employees, and they are entitled to the rights of employees, including wages.  One of the interns at my company did earn three college credits for her internship, but she was also paid the same rate as and earned just as much as the other interns.  It was the fair thing to do, and it was the law.

The School-to-Work Opportunities Act

One instance in which you may opt not to pay students is when you provide a learning experience that is consistent with the specific guidelines set in the School-to-Work Opportunities Act.  The requirements are similar to the trainee requirements, but more specific.  Among many other requirements, it specifies that any productive work a student performs for your company must be offset by the training and education you provide.  The balance must always be in the student’s favor, and you must, in essence, turn your company into a vocational school for the student.  It all becomes very simple to understand when you accept the fundamental idea that unpaid internships may benefit the intern, but not the company.

What Companies and Organizations Can Do To Comply with The Law

I understand that times are hard, budgets are small, and that companies and nonprofit organizations want to take advantage of the skills of interns. Many interns have web design skills, video production skills, and social media skills which are in high demand in the marketing and public relations community, and which can be expensive to outsource to contractors.

However, there really is no getting around the law.  Unpaid internships, when legal, should cost the company money and resources.  They are not for cash-strapped companies and nonprofit organizations on a tight budget.  Unpaid internship programs are for well-heeled companies who have a mission to offer educational outreach to students.

Companies who wish to save money while getting the job done can do so by hiring paid interns, temporary employees, independent consultants, or through other means.

If you have hired unpaid interns in the past and are just now realizing that your company’s unpaid internship program may have actually violated their employment rights, then I hope you will come to realize that when you hire quality people for your internship program, they will bring value to your company or nonprofit organization.  The simplest thing to do, in my opinion, is to pay them for that contribution.

Unless, of course, they happen to be your kids.  The law exempts parents from complying with the law for their own children, oddly enough.

A Final Note…

Interns, don’t settle for illegal unpaid internships!  People fought hard for these rights.  Don’t give them up.