Some unpaid internships may be against the law | ScrippsNews

That takes the Tom Sawyer scam to a whole 'nother level.

I mean, my first computer job, I worked for less than minimum wage (piece work, you know.) but I didn't pay for the privilege. So not only do these people work for free, but they pay some middleman a fairly hefty sum to get you the job? I just can't imagine people falling for that.

The main purpose of unpaid internships is to keep out working class people who can't afford not to have an income. I was thirty before I could afford to be out of work for more than a month; and I wouldn't have been able to then if I'd had a family.

FWIW, here's an opinion (2004) from the U.S. Dept. of Labor on the subject, setting out the six criteria that the linked article alludes to: http://www.dol.gov/whd/opinion/FLSANA/2004/2004_05_17_05FLSA...

It seems fairly stringent, essentially excluding any unpaid internship where the interns are, at least primarily, doing real work for the benefit of the company. And that opinion was from the Bush DoL, so I can't imagine the interpretation has gotten any more lenient since then.