Intern Bill of Rights: Unintended Consequences to Follow?
Intern Bill of Rights - RF CafeA recent NY Times article reported on a court ruling in favor of a couple interns who claimed they were not fairly paid for their work. Author Steve Greenhouse points out that while it could be a victory for the litigants, ultimately it could bode poorly for internship programs. Legal precedence is widely referenced and applied by legal teams, and is notoriously difficult to overturn. This particular internship involved work on a movie production set, but expect the decision to ripple through to even engineering and science business programs. An estimated 1,000,000 internships are hosted each year in America, a significant portion of which could be eliminated out of an abundance of caution and fear of being sued. Is this another "careful what you wish for, you might just get it" scenario?

Posted  June 2013