• BertramDitore@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    Yeah totally, that’s an important distinction. Paid interns are definitely different than unpaid interns, and can legally do essentially the same work as a paid employee.

    The way the distinction was explained to me is that an unpaid intern is essentially a student of the company, they are there to learn. They often get university credit for the internship. A paid internship is essentially an entry-level job with the expectation that you might get more on-the-job training than a ‘normal’ employee.

    This article doesn’t say if the intern was paid, but it does say the company reported the behavior to the intern’s university, so I’d guess it was unpaid.

    • Infynis@midwest.social
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      1 month ago

      The university I went to told us not to bother with unpaid internships, because it’s just a sign the company doesn’t care about you. Paid internships pretty much always still give college credit.

      • sugar_in_your_tea
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        1 month ago

        Yup, we only do paid internships, but they don’t get full-time benefits, only whatever is required for part-time employees (because they are part-time, we only have them for 20-ish hours/week).