Oh the infamous intern/free labor…or is it? Most don’t even know that if you are a for profit company, then a true intern must be paid or you are in violation of the Labor Laws. Ouch. Trust me I know. This is not 100% true, but in most cases it is.
I know if you are doing a feature and using the latest RED camera, who wouldn’t want to jump in and help. I mean look at all the new graduates coming in to the workforce with no true skills. Plus, it’s FREE labor to you. But, that is actually not the case, and the Labor Department is starting to crack down, so be forewarned. And if you do want to use unpaid interns, you have to check off these six items: http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL12-09acc.pdf
Just a few to highlight: the intern must be given adequate training to equal that of a school; the intern can not just take over someone else’s job who would be paid to do it; and you can’t take advantage of them, meaning you truly want to help the young intern get some real experience so he can eventually get paid for this type of work.
So, imagine, you can’t just have an intern as your boom op, because he would have to not be replacing someone who would/could get paid for that role. So you have to have a boom op. If you want the intern to get some experience, then the paid boom op must stand aside-still getting paid himself-and help the intern learn the ropes. You can’t just send the intern for coffee or errands, because that would be a PA job, not getting experience as a boom op. They must be “learning the trade.” It does actually make sense, if you stop and think about it.
Having interns can be a great opportunity for you and them. But, I think, sometimes what we’re truly looking for is a “volunteer.” We had several volunteers on our film.
Another really good article:
http://laborlaw.typepad.com/labor_and_employment_law_/2007/11/unpaid-internsh.html.
I know if you are doing a feature and using the latest RED camera, who wouldn’t want to jump in and help. I mean look at all the new graduates coming in to the workforce with no true skills. Plus, it’s FREE labor to you. But, that is actually not the case, and the Labor Department is starting to crack down, so be forewarned. And if you do want to use unpaid interns, you have to check off these six items: http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL12-09acc.pdf
Just a few to highlight: the intern must be given adequate training to equal that of a school; the intern can not just take over someone else’s job who would be paid to do it; and you can’t take advantage of them, meaning you truly want to help the young intern get some real experience so he can eventually get paid for this type of work.
So, imagine, you can’t just have an intern as your boom op, because he would have to not be replacing someone who would/could get paid for that role. So you have to have a boom op. If you want the intern to get some experience, then the paid boom op must stand aside-still getting paid himself-and help the intern learn the ropes. You can’t just send the intern for coffee or errands, because that would be a PA job, not getting experience as a boom op. They must be “learning the trade.” It does actually make sense, if you stop and think about it.
Having interns can be a great opportunity for you and them. But, I think, sometimes what we’re truly looking for is a “volunteer.” We had several volunteers on our film.
Another really good article:
http://laborlaw.typepad.com/labor_and_employment_law_/2007/11/unpaid-internsh.html.
