Summer presents the perfect opportunity for a win-win employment relationship. Many college students are scrambling to gain relevant work experience and enhance their resumes. Many employers are facing a labor shortage in a tight market. Couple the two together and you have “the summer internship.” Add the fact that the U.S. Department of Labor issued new 2018 Rules making it easier for companies to offer unpaid internship programs, and it may be a match made in heaven.
From the employer’s perspective, unpaid internships are ideal. They offer students valuable training and experience without bruising the company’s budget. However, unpaid internships have long been the source of conflict and controversy. A wave of lawsuits began in 2011 when two former interns at Fox Searchlight Pictures alleged they should have been paid for work they did on the movie “Black Swan.” The legal standards adopted by many courts became rigid and often resulted in companies having to pay wages if the intern did any work at all.
The article Unpaid Internships are Back for College Students was in the May 27, 2018 Knoxville Business Journal, read the full article here.