York U’s Policy on Posting Unpaid Jobs

Credit: Alina Sofia on flickr

Below is the response I received from York University after writing to ask for details of their policy on posting unpaid job opportunities. I will be following up with an email that details the concerns unpaid internships pose and will post that response as and when it is received.

The bottom line seems to be that the university includes unpaid positions as opportunities for experience. At first blush this might not read as problematic. However, it ignores the fact that these opportunities are only accessible to those that can afford to work for free for what is often a significant period of time and it fails to see the problems associated with unregulated, unmonitored, unpaid jobs. That universities see no problem with these postings and present them to their students and graduates only helps to normalize the idea of performing unpaid work to gain skills.

Dear Carley,

Thanks so much for your e-mail.  Many York students and recent graduates are interested in building career-related skills, gaining experience in a work environment, trying on a job or organization as a means of career exploration, and expanding their networks.  As such the Career Centre posts a variety of opportunities for students and new graduates to connect with employers from various industries including paid, unpaid and volunteer positions.  Part of our mandate is to help students and new graduates develop skills and awareness regarding the breadth of opportunities that may be available to them and the importance of researching organizations and their opportunities to ensure they are a good fit for them.  

We do have guidelines for reviewing employers and the positions they want to post through our online system. For example, if an organization is unfamiliar to us, we take measures to research the organization further. This may include everything from contacting the organization directly to get clarification about the position or contacting our colleagues at other university career centre’s to see if they’ve had any interactions with the particular organization.  If we are concerned the organization or job posting may not legitimate, then we do not post it.  

Did you have a concern about a particular posting?  If so, please let me know.  Thanks so much for your query and if you require any further information, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Kind regards,

J

Snapshot of Unpaid Listings @ UofT

Credit: ilkerender on flickr

[The following snapshot of job listings was taken from the University of Toronto internal student career site on August 25th, 2011. The fall recruitment drive for next summer’s top jobs – many of which are likely to be unpaid – will begin soon. Email internsheep.canada@gmail.com with scans from your university and they will be posted here to illustrate the extent of the unpaid problem in Canada.]

U of T’s job portal does not distinguish between unpaid internships and volunteer positions and instead lumps everything into one ‘volunteer’ category. Of the 510 listings in the database, 168 were in the volunteer category. That is just shy of 33%, making 1 out of 3 jobs unpaid.

When searching by keyword for ‘intern’ 156 results came back, while only 27 were returned when searching ‘unpaid intern.’ However, many, if not most, of the positions listed under the volunteer category would really be classed as internships or job positions. (A post to come will explore the legal distinctions between volunteer and employee status.)

As with the database at York, some of these listings might be legitimate opportunities. However, the presence of several for-profit corporations (Investors Group Financial Services, RBC, Sony Music) and the concentration of creative fields (web development, design, writing, marketing, social media), parallel trends seen elsewhere that are of questionable legality.

Some posts list letters of reference and experience gained under headings like “what we offer” and “remuneration”. Last time I checked, this kind of creative remuneration isn’t listed as an option under minimum wage guarantees in Employment Standards Acts…

McGuinty: Work for free, we won’t charge interest

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is on the campaign trail ahead of the election October 6th and has proposed to help students in Ontario seeking to launch careers in non-profit, NGO or charity sectors by granting a one year grace period on provincial student loans. He stated:

 “Ontario students work hard to do well and in Ontario we also strive to do good. We believe it’s important for young people to have an opportunity to help our broader society. Extending the payback period for student loans makes it easier for graduates who take that first job in organizations where they can help.”

Does the Permier acknowledge that this is because many of these positions are unpaid? This sends the message that it is ok to have rolling unpaid internship schemes.

Extending the grace period is a band-aid solution to this problem. Those that cannot afford to live (you know, those apparent negotiables like food and shelter) and work for free still cannot access these positions. There are no grants for unpaid internships. Students must still pay the federal portion of their loan and must still afford the basic necessities.

Internsheep believes that the Ontario Premier can do much more to protect young interns and is failing Ontario youth by not acknowledging the root of the problem and by only paying lip-service to band-aid solutions.

Take action – Write to your MPP and the Minister of Labour and demand that interns be afforded the same protections as most Canadian workers.