Your behavior appears to be a little unusual. Please verify that you are not a bot.


What should an internship pay?

By |  August 19, 2013

If you are like many of us in this business, an internship opened the doors to your current career. Were you well paid? Or were you paid in experience and contacts?

According to a recent lawsuit, the latter is not enough. Superintendents need to be aware of the latest legal decision on internships.

Remember the recent movie “Black Swan” starring Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman? In 2011, a group of students were offered internships as production assistants on the movie filmed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. They got a ton of experience but they did not earn minimum wage.

That’s a no-no, said a federal judge in New York City in mid-June. The judge ruled that Fox Searchlight violated both federal and state minimum wage laws when it filmed “Black Swan” and did not give the kids a full paycheck at the end of the week.

While the movie revolves around a ballet dancer, it really is a dark psychological study of someone on their way up (or down).

For turf students, unpaid or underpaid intern work is not uncommon on golf courses… or in the halls of academia, either. Whether the students should be seen as adults making a rational investment in their careers or as hapless dupes being soaked for free labor is up for debate.

How do you see it? Email us at sjones@northcoastmedia.net.

This is posted in Research


Comments are closed.