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 Posté le: Mar Oct 01, 2013 3:11 am Sujet du message: Human resources report: Negative publicity casts d |
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{Human resources report: Negative publicity casts doubt over future of unpaid internships }
Kim Kiloh, UBC's director of careers: unpaid internships that provide training and contacts can give students an edge|PHOTO © Dominic SchaeferBy Jonny WakefieldTue Jul 16, 2013 12:01am PSTCanadian businesses are learning that unpaid interns can come with a heavy price tag.Companies offering unpaid work to experience-hungry graduates have made headlines since last April, when users of the news-sharing service Reddit publicly pressured Vancouver-based social media firm HootSuite into paying its interns.Bell Media found itself facing similar blowback recently after two former interns complained they received no pay while doing the work of employees. Some Vancouver businesses are now forced to consider whether unpaid internships are worth the potential negative publicity.That could mean a shift toward more paid internships. But some observers worry that the new scrutiny could convince companies to abandon internships entirely.In B.C. and most other provinces, unpaid internships break labour laws when the intern does work normally performed by a paid employee (unpaid work experience organized through post-secondary institutions, called practicums, are legal).Unpaid internships were once considered rites of passage in fields like marketing,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]discount moncler jackets[/url], public relations and journalism, but are now common across the labour market, said Canadian Internship Association president Claire Seaborn.While once thought of as a simple trade-off – an organization gets a chance at new talent, while the intern gets a resumé line and a foot in the door – the unpaid internship is increasingly seen as exploitative.Unpaid internships are only accessible to those who are well off,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler outlet[/url], who can afford to work for free, said Seaborn, a University of B.C. graduate who now studies law at the University of Ottawa.Toronto-based labour lawyer Andrew Langille estimates there are approximately 300,000 unpaid interns currently working in Canada.Hard numbers, however, are difficult to come by.Statistics Canada doesn't track unpaid internships. In B.C., the numbers are equally murky. A statement provided by Shirley Bond,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler on sale[/url], B.C.'s minister of jobs, tourism and skills training, noted that labour laws don't define the term intern. It's therefore impossible to say whether any of the 6,000 to 7,000 labour complaints the ministry receives annually were made by interns.Seaborn said the laws need improvement."A very small percentage of companies across Canada are investigated by their ministries of labour," she said. "It's very difficult for an intern who doesn't want to burn the bridge with the employer [to file a complaint]."Seaborn's organization is in the midst of several campaigns aimed at ending unpaid internships. One encourages former interns in B.C. and Ontario to file claims for back pay. Another hopes to "name and shame" companies that advertise unpaid positions.One company on the receiving end of that campaign was the Vancouver Fringe Festival.Earlier this year, the theatre festival posted an advertisement for a communications co-ordinator — an unpaid, full-time position lasting more than four months.Executive director David Jordan told Business in Vancouver that his staff was unclear on the difference between the full-time internship and the festival's more casual volunteer positions. The Fringe has since funded the position.While some companies might move to pay their interns,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler down jackets[/url], the new scrutiny could have a chilling effect on the market."I think we will likely see some companies pull their programs altogether and shy away from taking on interns," said Sara Padidar, a human resources specialist and principal of Talk Shop Media in Vancouver.She added that organizations now realize that an unpaid internship can hurt their image.But with many entry-level jobs now calling for work experience in the field, would a freeze on unpaid internships close doors for new graduates?Kim Kiloh, UBC's director of careers,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler outlet[/url], said she tells students that breaking into a field "can include a full spectrum of paid and unpaid work."Unpaid internships that provide training and contacts can give students an edge, she said.Pamela Rounis, a graphic designer with Vancouver's BRANDFX,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler sale[/url], doubts she would have found a paying job in the field without unpaid experience.Rounis took three month-long internships during and after university,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler sale[/url], surviving on savings and help from home. Anything longer, though,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler on sale[/url], would have been too much."I know people who have [interned] for six months," she said. "It's crazy. It's not good when you feel like you're being taken advantage of."Tags: law, Shirley Bond, human resources, employee,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler down jackets[/url],[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]discount moncler jackets[/url], employer, University of Ottawa, tourism, Statistics Canada, social media
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