Dear Ed,
I recently graduated from college and took an unpaid internship (well they pay a travel stipend of $50 every two weeks). A friend who works in human resources said that my company should be paying me minimum wage since I am no longer receiving college credit for the internship. Is this correct? I feel like I’m already getting taken advantage of by the industry and I want others to know what the deal is so they don’t get stuck in a situation like mine.
Thanks,
J in Missouri
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Dear J,
Your friend is partially right. The minimum wage in Missouri is $6.65 (in New York, it’s $7.15 an hour). And all employees must get paid minimum wage.
The question is: Are you an employee? Under federal law, employers are required to pay their employees minimum wage. But interns are—correctly or incorrectly—often not interpreted as employees. There’s a complicated legal definition of what distinguishes an intern (or a “trainee”) from an employee, such as if you’re filling the job of someone who would normally get paid (like an editorial assistant leaves and you fill her spot and take on all her responsibilities with no pay) or if both trainee and employer agree prior to the training that the work is unpaid. However, according to the Department of Labor, if the employer benefits from the trainee’s work—and it’s hard to imagine that your company doesn’t benefit from what you do—then the trainee is not a trainee but an employee. (Ed found this blog intriguing; check it out for a more detailed explanation/interpretation of the law:
http://www.onedayoneinternship.com/blog/are-unpaid-internships- illegal/)
So you should get paid right? Well, maybe. Publishing companies get around all of this legal mess by requiring unpaid interns to receive academic credit. You see, providing credit “proves” that the internship benefits the student more than it does the company. I know it seems twisted because oftentimes this means that as an intern you are actually paying for those credit hours through your university, so if anything you’re making negative cash at your internship which hardly feels like a benefit. But getting academic credit is sort of the hand-shake agreement with the company that you are benefiting from the internship as part of your school, or career, training.
Meanwhile, you’re in a weird position because it sounds like you started out getting credit and then suddenly you’re not. So the terms of your “employment” have changed. So maybe you’re in a gray area, and you should be compensated for your work now that you’re no longer receiving any credit. The truth is it’s hard to tell unless you take the case to court. And hate to say it, but taking your publishing house to court might not be the best way to segue into an entry-level position.
Ed’s advice is to suck it up and be grateful that you get a $50 stipend. As long as it’s not more than $600, the IRS doesn’t care, either—because most magazine interns don’t get diddly squat. So $50 every two weeks is pretty damn good. Hell, the folks at Lehman Brothers could be vying for your job pretty soon the way this economy is shaking down. So be grateful for the experience and the stipend. The true benefit to you is the connections you make on the job—so the editors you work with can recommend you to their friends and coworkers as a potential hire. Or so you can use them as a reference. If you continue to complain about not getting compensated you may not get such an enthusiastic recommendation, or a recommendation at all. Fair? No. But it’s how the world works. So roll with it, baby. And start looking on Ed’s job board for a full-time paid position. You’ve done your duty as an intern. It’s time to move on to a crappy editorial assistant salary!
Much love,
Ed
