The HR Space: Free Labour Or Future Liability? Unpaid Internships Deserve A Second Look

With each summer comes a wave of students on break and new graduates all looking for a way to gain career experience. This summer, graduation time has coincided with the media spotlight being focused on the nature of unpaid internships in the U.S. and Canada. It is therefore probably a good time for employers with some sort of internship program to reassess whether what seems like free labour is actually a liability in disguise.

Employers are familiar with minimum wage requirements. Most equal or exceed these rates for regular employees who require on-the-job training. However, when it comes to engaging people who are willing to work for free just to get experience, all thoughts of employment standards can sometimes go out the window.