A piccolo latte and gluten-free brownie? No problem! Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
IT'S tough being the office dogsbody. When you're not fetching soy lattes and edamame beans, you're stuck with a pile of photocopying or sorting out the shoe cupboard.
A recent spate of lawsuits in the US has brought internships under the spotlight, sparking debate over whether they are a valuable rite of passage for young graduates, or simply a source of free labour for the companies involved.
The issue made global headlines after Eric Glatt and Alexander Footman sued Fox Searchlight Pictures for work they did on the set of the movie Black Swan.
The pair allege that rather than provide them with valuable film industry experience, they spent time taking lunch orders, filing, photocopying and doing menial tasks that were used to keep production costs down for the company, Bloomberg reports.
The case has sparked what The Hollywood Reporter called an "avalanche" of law suits, with NBC Universal the latest target from interns who worked on Saturday Night Live, following similar suits against Gawker, the Charlie Rose Show and Conde Nast.
University of Adelaide Professor Andrew Stewart said Australia could be set for a "wave" of similar cases as internships expand beyond traditional spaces like journalism to fashion, finance, public relations, advertising and law.
"There's no doubt we are going to see more cases in this area," he said.
"Most businesses are not setting out to exploit interns but some businesses are. Some are structuring their operations to get free labour rather than employing people. We're seeing a steady switch from paid jobs to unpaid work experience."
Internships have spread from traditional areas like journalism to finance, tech, fashion and PR. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are pictured in Source: Supplied
Professor Stewart said the legal status of internships in Australia is unclear, with one exception being a provision in the Fair Work Act that states employees can't be paid if they are doing unpaid work as part of a university or training college.
"That certainly covers a lot of placement or work experience periods or internships organised through universities, TAFE, colleges and other training providers, but we also know there are a lot of internships happening outside those courses."
However it's tough to regulate because plenty of interns volunteer their time without realising they are effectively subsidising a business with free labour.
"Many of the people who do this do it with their eyes open. I would not be critical of that but the broader picture is that if we allow this to keep happening unchecked, it blows a hole in our labour laws and also has the pernicious effect of squeezing out people who can't afford to do unpaid work," Professor Stewart said.
We asked three Australian interns to tell us about their experience. Read their stories below.
Katie Hale
Katie Hale Source: Supplied
"Without a doubt it's the best thing I've ever done," she said. "Ideally that is where I want to be when I graduate. I want to be working in a newsroom, it's what I love doing. I've been given a little bit of extra responsibility, I train all other interns and my skills have improved."
She initially lived away from home but has since moved back in order to afford being able to intern, although she is yet to broach the pay issue where she works.
"Personally I feel like I already should have [raised the issue of pay] but my skills aren't at a level to be employable. I'm there to learn and build up my knowledge until I am employable, if that's what they're looking for," she said, adding that Sydney is particularly competitive.
"That's the dilemma. I've been told if I was to go for a job at a regional station I would be picked up straight away. In Sydney it's a lot more difficult, but some of the things I'm doing should be paid for."
She has also interned at a business networking organisation and said some companies are better than others at managing the experience.
"In terms of the responsibility given to interns, you shouldn't be doing a paid job because you are there to learn. At the previous [internship] they expected me to know everything and do everything. You understand the environment is difficult but you are there to learn not to do a paid job as free labour."
Daniel Paterno
Daniel Paterno Source: Supplied
"For me personally, I would never [ask to be paid] only because the experience would be too much to take for granted. I recently emailed 25 places and only three replied, it is so hard and so competitive so to get a position and be given work that perhaps you should be paid to be doing - I wouldn't take that for granted," he said.
However he said the experience has been mixed, with Film Victoria providing a "proper internship" where staff got email addresses and a structured work week, while others were much less organised.
"The tennis I didn't get paid but they looked after you. I got free tickets probably four times throughout the open [to expensive matches] whereas some of the others really milked you ... I didn't really learn much, I worked and organised clothing, put stuff away, filed stuff, didn't do actual PR work."
"I obviously did learn a little bit but they never got to know you by name. You felt like you were there just to help out."
Kate Pattison
Kate Pattinson Source: Supplied
"One of the creatives would give us a brief for the day and we would brainstorm ideas and show them. They would critique them and say if there was anything they thought they could use or go with it if they thought it was any good."
She said the intense competition for graduate jobs in creative industries make some kind of experience essential.
"I found it very valuable because when I started applying for jobs that was the thing they thought was important. A degree was, but a lot of people have degrees …. If you haven't interned anywhere you pretty much can't get a graduate job just because there are so many people with more experience."
However she said it can be difficult to work out how long to do it for.
"I know a few people who aren't sure whether to stick it out or do something else. I was lucky I was living at home so I didn't have to worry about rent."
Are you being taken advantage of?
Professor Stewart said for those looking at taking on internships, it's important to ask the hard questions upfront about what kind of work will be involved and if it could lead to paid employment.
"Talk to people who've come through the internship program and the longer things go on, the more you should be wary," he said.
Those who feel they are getting a raw deal should contact their local union or the Fair Work Ombudsman.
News Ltd runs internship and cadet programs in conjunction with registered training organisations and universities.
Have you been an intern? Did you find it valuable or a waste of your time? Tell us your experience in the comments below.
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