Overview

Unpaid internships have been the subject of scrutiny over the past few years as numerous
corporations have been sued over their mistreatment of college interns. Although some unpaid
internships can be a source of meaningful experience for some students, many companies take
advantage of college interns as a way to get cheap labor without the cost of hiring a full-time
employee. The regulations on unpaid internships include:
1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the
employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close
supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the
activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship;
and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for
the time spent in the internship.
Although regulations on unpaid internships exist, many students and organizations are not aware
of the laws, and the proliferation of unpaid internships continues to lead to legal disputes, social
inequality, and exploited college students in the United States. In order to begin to solve this
issue, there should be increased awareness of the legality of unpaid internships, helping
employers and students be accountable for eliminating unlawful internships.
Objective
Raise awareness among college students and employers about the laws regarding
unpaid internships, thereby decreasing the number of students participating in illegal
internships and the number of employers offering them.
Goals
1. Increase the number of students who plan to check the legal requirements of their
internship by 25%
2. Increase the number of employers who are interested in offering paid internships
by 20%
3. Decrease the percentage of unpaid internships offered through DC university
career centers by 15 points
Audience
Primary Audiences
1. Employers with internship programs
a. Focus on organizations with large internship programs, particularly
those in industries where unpaid internships are common. These industries may

include sectors such as fashion, non-profit, and journalism and will be clearly
identified through research.
2. Student interns/students seeking internships
a. Large universities with a focus on students studying fields that
typically offer unpaid internships
Secondary Audiences
1. University Educators
a. Large university career counselors and career placement centers
should be educated on regulations for unpaid internships in order to properly
inform students seeking internship placements.
2. Parents of College Students
a. The parents of students attending these large universities should be
informed on regulations for unpaid internships in order to help their children
make informed decisions.
Research
Overview of # of unpaid internships by major and career field
Employment data for college students including postgraduate salaries, % with
jobs after graduation, # of paid vs. unpaid internships, etc.
Focus groups and surveys with employers to understand reasons for hiring unpaid
interns
Focus groups and surveys with students to understand reasons to take unpaid
internships
Current status of unpaid internship lawsuits
Ballinger et al v. Advance Magazine Publishers Inc d/b/a Cond
Nast Publications, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Jesse Moore v. NBCUniversal Inc.
Glatt et al. v. Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc.
Hearst Corp v. Wang
Overview of current unpaid internship law
Most fields, with the exception of the STEM field, provide
internships with compensation.
Federal government requires that students must receive credit if
not compensated
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, an unpaid internship
is only lawful in the context of an educational training program, when the interns
do not perform productive work and the employer derives no benefit.
Overarching Strategy
Demonstrate to the public that illegal unpaid internships exploit students, and that
interns have the same rights to labor laws as all other employees.
Tactics

 Campus Information Sessions

Conduct labor law information centers on 5 campuses in the D.C.
Metropolitan area including the University of Maryland, Georgetown University,
Howard University, George Washington University, and American University
Develop web and social media tools designed to help students
understand the differences between legal and illegal internships
Create training sessions for university educators and career center
employees
Online Advertising
Distribute an infographic with statistics to educate employers with
internship programs as well as students seeking internships
Create campaign graphics that demonstrate the detriment of illegal
internships
Utilize Facebook, Instagram, and Google AdWords for national
advertising distribution
Raise political awareness
Create a petition to strengthen the legal regulations on internships
Send direct mailings to lawmakers and voters to educate them on
internship regulations
Measurement
# of students aware of the laws on unpaid internships
We will conduct a benchmark survey before the campaign starts in
order to gage the number of students informed on the rights of an intern by the US
Department of Labor standards.
We will conduct a benchmark survey at the conclusion of the
campaign to gage the number of students informed on the rights of an intern by
the US Department of Labor standards.
# of employers who would consider switching from unpaid to paid interns
We will conduct a small focus group and survey of internship
employers to understand their opinions and barriers in hiring unpaid interns. We
will survey them before and after to see how their opinions have changed.
% of internships posted on University career centers that are unpaid
We will conduct a quantitative analysis using career center
software to determine what % of posted internships are unpaid before and after
the campaign.
Sources
http://www.internlaborrights.com/
http://unpaidinternslawsuit.com/
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf