Salon.com: Interns of New York City, rejoice. You are now protected against sexual harassment and discrimination based on race, religion and sexual orientation in the workplace.
Plus, The New York Times will now pay you minimum wage, New York University is making a greater effort to protect you and Columbia University has told companies it expects its interns to be paid.
5 comments:
Wait wait wait, shouldn't everyone be protected against sexual harassment? Isn't it a general consensus now that sexual harassment is WRONG? Why do these bills have such a hard time going through? Do the politicians have people paying them that like to sexually harass their interns? I can't believe that this is still a problem. I thought that since the case in October caused such a big uproar there would be more attention to it. Like, I understand a company not wanting to pay for someone to sue a high ranking official in their own ranks, but these people are perverts and need to be taught a lesson. Maybe if they realize how much they are costing the company then they will shape up. I doubt it though.
It was shocking to read the title of this article, because its surprising to think that interns would not be protected against sexual harassment. But I guess, giving more thought to it, it does make sense that it could be an area where clear regulations have not yet been established, considering that unpaid intern employment is not as clear as typical employment. Of course this is something that needs to be regulated. I understand that regulations like this may not be set up until a situation arises that then goes on to set a precedent, which appears to be what has happened in New York. But it is shocking that so few states have put forth legislation to protect unpaid workers, and it seems that it really needs to be further addressed.
Wait. Stop. This is a new development? Interns weren’t protected before now? That’s totally unacceptable. It’s crazy enough that unpaid internships still exist, let alone that those unpaid interns were susceptible to legal harassment and discrimination only because they were unpaid.
It’s hard to believe that only three places in the country have developed these kinds of protections for their unpaid interns.
I am really surprised that this this wasn't already the case. As an NY native, I have had a few internships there and most if not all of them have handed me the same harassment and discrimination guidelines as full time employees. I also wonder why colleges and other institutions who are sending representatives and have been for years haven't been more on top of this. I feel like this should have always been the common practice and I can't imagine why there would be a disparity in any case. hope this new law is the beginning of a chain reaction in other states.
Like everyone else who commented on this post, my first reaction to reading the title of this article was surprise - because how is it that interns weren't protected against harassment until now? The thing is, after actually reading the article is did make sense why, legally speaking, they weren't protected since being protected revolved around the definition of an employee. But that seems ridiculous in itself, because why isn't sexual harassment just illegal, period? I do agree that more states should be looking to change their rules to protect interns, but ideally we should just be putting forth laws that can protect everybody (though whether this is legally feasible, I've no idea).
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