Lawyer Says Many Unpaid Internships Are Exploitative, Illegal

THE CANADIAN PRESS -- TORONTO - Young Canadians eager to launch their careers say they're under mounting pressure to take unpaid internships that promise valuable experience and a foot in the door but rarely lead to permanent work.

Unpaid internships are replacing entry-level jobs, experts say, propelled in part by a recession that has forced companies to tighten their belts and graduates to fight for any advantage in the job market.

But some of these positions are illegal, says Andrew Langille, an employment lawyer in Toronto who has researched labour standards and case law related to internships.

"I would say upwards of 95 per cent of unpaid internships (in Ontario) are probably illegal," because interns are doing work typically performed by paid employees, he says.

"If you have an intern making coffee or researching articles . . . then they're an employee, not an intern, and they should be getting minimum wage and all the other protection that comes with the Employment Standards Act."

Companies offering unpaid internships say they're part of a sweeping shift in workplace culture, one that rewards "hungry" workers willing to go above and beyond their job descriptions.

But many young grads, while willing to pay their dues at the office, say they can't afford to work for free, particularly while saddled with student loans.

"There's people who say young people expect everything right now, they want this great-paying job," says Heather Bellingham, a 26-year-old from Oshawa, Ont., who has held a string of unpaid internships since graduating from a film and television college program. "I don't expect a lot — I would love minimum wage."

Setting and enforcing employment standards such as minimum wage falls to the provinces, except for federally regulated industries such a aviation and telecommunications.

Yet none of the provinces seem to have rules that directly govern internships. Instead, they have a patchwork of regulations mostly meant for trainees and volunteers that lay out when employers aren't required to pay minimum wage.

Under Ontario law, "trainees" can work for free under specific circumstances. The training must be similar to what's given in a vocational school. It must be for the benefit of the trainee, with little to no benefit for the employer. The trainee can't displace paid employees and isn't guaranteed a job. He or she must be warned that the position is unpaid.

Full Article
Source: Huffington