TO THE EDITOR:
Unpaid internships are an abuse of power. When any worker contributes more to an employer than the employer invests in the worker, the employer decides how to divide that profit.
In an unpaid internship, the employer chooses to keep it all. We have laws to prevent this abuse.
The intent of the Fair Labor Standards Act is ensuring that all workers, including interns, are entitled to a fair portion of their contribution. In most cases, unpaid internships violate that law.
Whether an intern voluntarily accepted the unpaid internship is irrelevant, in the same way that any other worker cannot voluntarily work for less than minimum wage; employers may not accept unpaid or underpaid work.
Whether an intern receives academic credit is irrelevant.
Whether everyone else is doing it is irrelevant. Abusive employers might try to convince interns otherwise, but interns have the same rights as any other worker.
In my understanding of Section 15(a)(3) of the FLSA, an intern may request a fair wage, even after accepting or completing an internship, and employers may not take any negative action against a worker for this request.
The Wage and Hours Division of the Department of Labor assists with complaints of labor laws violations.
