The Set It and Leave it Alone Minimum Wage Act of 2015 (Signed)

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Well, I'm tempted to vote nay myself, Yankee.

There is an interesting balance to consider. Internships are meant to be temporary positions that provide students or other young people with valuable experience. While the intern certainly offers a service to the company or office they're working in, in a way, that office is also offering a valuable service to the intern. How many intern positions would cease to exist if this bill came into law? How many students would miss out on valuable "work" experience that could help them later in life? Students who decide to become unpaid interns know what they're getting into.

On the other hand, though, there's only a certain type of student who can afford to work as an unpaid intern, so there's definitely a privilege gap here. Is the solution to punish the people with privilege, or to find a way to help students with less privilege still find a way to make use of these internships?

I'm torn.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Volunteerism is not slavery.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

That sounds like a reasonable change, although I'm afraid the inclusion of internships in this legislation at all might have turned the bill into something far different than what Yankee intended...

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Well, I'm sorry I missed the boat on sponsoring, but I'm happy that Lief seems to understand the dilemma here. Balance is necessary.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

If it gets called "volunteering" instead of an "unpaid internship" would it still be illegal or no?  Or is the distinction that things done for academic credit have to be paid?    

The idea that because something is less available to the poor it should be illegal would make higher education illegal even with free tuition since poorer students will need to support themselves, right?

Indeed, this is why I'm inclined to stick to the status quo with regard to interns. I don't think there's feasible solution. It's lose-lose.

That being said, I could support a lower tiered minimum wage for interns if need be. But we ought to come up with a very clear definition of "intern" before we pass anything.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Aye

It's important.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Aye

We can give it a bit of time.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Me as well, although my "FTR nay" wouldn't have made a difference anyway.