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Abstract

my bosses they need to pay me extra or hire more people, as the work our department is getting is extremely overwhelming.</p><p id="a27a">I hinted at that multiple times, along with many of my colleagues, very politely. But it didn’t yield any results, because this is how they get you. Employers expect they courteous and dedicated underlings not to leave their desks if they have unfinished work, and they are also banking on us working at high speed the entire day, stressed and exhausted by the end of the shift. Again, why? Because hiring twice as many employees would mean fewer profits.</p><h1 id="cd4d">Unpaid Internships</h1><p id="46bf">If you’re a student, beware of the excessive number of organizations who would leap at the chance of having your services for free. Many years ago, it was referred to as <i>“owning a slave”</i> (which is beyond horrible), but now this practice has a different term: <i>an unpaid internship.</i></p><p id="a3b8">Respectable and established companies offer fully paid internships with numerous benefits. But unless you’re training to be a nurse or preparing for an internship at Goldman Sacks, you may end up working with no pay.</p><p id="9ccf">The internship entails a young person learning the work environment in their selected work field, such as: attending meetings, assisting executives, and observing their regular workday and workflow.</p><p id="a468">However, according to Buzzfeed’s endless <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/tahliapritchard/real-life-intern-nightmares">horrific stories</a>, the reality of an internship can be very different. Lately, it’s been way too much of <i>assisting</i> as opposed to learning anything in the work environment. The Cut can offer you an insight into how interns are expected to sell their bosses’ belongings, move their furniture and walk their dogs <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2018/07/7-people-on-their-most-insane-unpaid-internship-stories.html">in this article</a>. The story which shocked me the most is available <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/kaylasuazo/15-internship-horror-stories-thatll-make-you-cringe">here, on Buzzfeed, under # 13</a>, and features a boss who demanded her interns wake up at 3 a.m. and would walk around naked in her apartment in front of them. Sorry, but I’m not waking up at 3 a.m. for anyone, especially when I’m not getting paid for it. The naked part of the story is quite horrifying too.</p><p id="6264">Respectable and established companies offer fully paid internships with numerous benefits. But unless you’re training to be a nurse or preparing for an internship at Goldman Sacks, you may end up working with no pay.</p><h1 id="6725">Volunteering</h1><p id="6af8">I used to volunteer at a multicultural center between the age of 17 and 19. I would spend a few hours a week there, and sometimes I would come over for a full day once or twice a week. It wasn’t paid, but I loved doing it. I decided to donate my time to a worthy organization that was helping recent immigrants to settle down and start from scratch in a new country.</p><p id="ee9b">For the same reason, I would gladly volunteer at certain community events around the year. I still try to do this when I’m available, although it’s easier for me to do a food drive or clothes drive sometimes.</p><p id="fdb5">But the point is, when I choose to volunteer, <i

Options

I do it at my own will</i>. And I’m the one who decides which cause and organization I wish to offer my free labor to. However, some people don’t have any other option but to volunteer.</p><p id="61a5">A friend of mine was almost forced to volunteer when she moved to Canada years ago. She didn’t have any local experience, so she had to work for free for 6 months to add a line to her resume. It was a dull office job, and they didn’t pay her a penny. Why? It’s opportunistic for a company to take advantage of those with no work experience, than hiring an experienced individual and paying them.</p><h1 id="fca1">Unpaid Research</h1><p id="d967">During my student years, I would participate in every unpaid school study if it meant getting an extra point or credit for a class. I would also gladly take part in unpaid surveys conducted by other students, as I knew they needed data for a project, but did not have the funding to pay their participants. But this is where I draw the line.</p><p id="fc7a">I have come across many research studies offering meager pay or no compensation at all. The best you can hope for sometimes is parking validation. I’m not talking about academic studies when a doctoral candidate is working on their Ph.D. and has limited funding for their research. I’m referring to established companies that wish to conduct full-fledged marketing research, yet all they are willing to pay is $20 for 5 hours of work, often with no gas or transit compensation. You might get a dried blueberry muffin and a cup of old gross coffee on top of that if you’re lucky.</p><p id="d2fe">It’s opportunistic for a company to take advantage of those with no work experience, than hiring an experienced individual and paying them.</p><h1 id="3034">Artists’ Struggle: The Magical Promise of “Exposure”</h1><p id="48e5">Artistic exploitation deserves a separate article. The number of creators and entertainers who are being taken advantage of due to lack of portfolio is infuriating. You want to be an artist — be prepared to perform for free to build up your resume. You wish to become a stand-up comedian — you’ll probably get paid in fries and soup. What about writing? Well, many magazines are gracious enough to offer you$ 10 for 2 articles.</p><p id="ad45">Yet, no one expects an office worker to write presentations or compile reports for <i>exposure</i>. Have you ever met a bank teller who agreed to work for exposure? I certainly have not.</p><p id="d922">I have naively donated many hours of my time to my former employers. I stopped believing in them and recognized the constant abuse and unethical behavior. Everyone deserves to be paid for their work, regardless of how simple that work may be. The laws should reflect this concept — sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. If you are someone who encountered the expectation of free labor and if you are in a position to say “no” — do it. Refuse to work for free, as this is an unfair and abusive practice. Value yourself and value your time.</p><h2 id="8ac9">Get the Mini Post-Grad Survival Guide</h2><p id="22b5">A 5-day email course with amazing tips on budgeting, investing, and productivity for 20-somethings. Learn how to spend $40 per week on groceries, among other things, by <a href="https://morning-darkness-5176.ck.page/75ec2d5152">signing up for free</a>.</p></article></body>

You Need To Stop Working For Free

Stay away from unpaid employment

The main objective of a business is to maximize profit. If you’re a Business Administration freshman, this is the very first thing you hear at your first business class. Companies find many ways to showcase their ethics, fair employment treatment, and dedication to their clients, but by the end of the day, their main goal is to earn as much money as possible while reducing the expenses as low as they can. You don’t even need to be business-savvy to understand this concept — it’s common sense.

Unfortunately, despite having laws in place, employers found a way to receive almost- or fully-unpaid labor. It can be described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain experience and valuable life skills. I prefer a different definition: the modern-life equivalent of slavery, allowed by law and encouraged by the business world.

Three Main Types of Unpaid Work

Employers come up with all sorts of loopholes to get themselves out of paying their workers, but I would like to point out four main ways:

Unpaid regular time and overtime.
Unpaid internships.
Volunteering.
Unpaid research.
The promise of exposure for artists.

The chances are, every one of us has probably encountered some of them in our lifetime. Let’s look at these types of unpaid work more closely.

Unpaid Regular Time and Overtime

Unpaid regular work time is extra hours you spend working beyond your scheduled shift stipulated in your contract, which your employer isn’t paying for. For example, if you’re in the habit of coming to work early and expected to jump into work right away — this is unpaid work time. If your boss is asking you to stay a little bit late to complete the task without paying extra or allowing you to leave early another day — this is unpaid time as well.

Unpaid overtime is essentially the same thing, except for it starts after 40, 44 or more hours (depending on the country and state you live in), and should be paid at a higher rate — usually at 1.5 or 2 times your regular wage.

Most of us have probably encountered bosses politely asking workers to stay for an additional 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes quickly turn into 20, 30 or even more, and aren’t always paid for. We also know employers who wouldn’t ask us to work extra, yet we know it’s expected.

I don’t know about you, but I have stayed after my shift countless times because I was assigned a workload that can only be accomplished if someone clones me. Naturally, I would come into the office slightly early, skip one of my breaks, take a shorter lunch, and stay for 15 minutes after my shift ends. It wouldn’t make a difference for me, but by the end of the day, all that unpaid labor would add up to 1 or 1.5 hours per day. Which means I was working for 6 days a week instead of 5, and no one paid me for that additional day. Why? Because I should have put my foot down and told my bosses they need to pay me extra or hire more people, as the work our department is getting is extremely overwhelming.

I hinted at that multiple times, along with many of my colleagues, very politely. But it didn’t yield any results, because this is how they get you. Employers expect they courteous and dedicated underlings not to leave their desks if they have unfinished work, and they are also banking on us working at high speed the entire day, stressed and exhausted by the end of the shift. Again, why? Because hiring twice as many employees would mean fewer profits.

Unpaid Internships

If you’re a student, beware of the excessive number of organizations who would leap at the chance of having your services for free. Many years ago, it was referred to as “owning a slave” (which is beyond horrible), but now this practice has a different term: an unpaid internship.

Respectable and established companies offer fully paid internships with numerous benefits. But unless you’re training to be a nurse or preparing for an internship at Goldman Sacks, you may end up working with no pay.

The internship entails a young person learning the work environment in their selected work field, such as: attending meetings, assisting executives, and observing their regular workday and workflow.

However, according to Buzzfeed’s endless horrific stories, the reality of an internship can be very different. Lately, it’s been way too much of assisting as opposed to learning anything in the work environment. The Cut can offer you an insight into how interns are expected to sell their bosses’ belongings, move their furniture and walk their dogs in this article. The story which shocked me the most is available here, on Buzzfeed, under # 13, and features a boss who demanded her interns wake up at 3 a.m. and would walk around naked in her apartment in front of them. Sorry, but I’m not waking up at 3 a.m. for anyone, especially when I’m not getting paid for it. The naked part of the story is quite horrifying too.

Volunteering

I used to volunteer at a multicultural center between the age of 17 and 19. I would spend a few hours a week there, and sometimes I would come over for a full day once or twice a week. It wasn’t paid, but I loved doing it. I decided to donate my time to a worthy organization that was helping recent immigrants to settle down and start from scratch in a new country.

For the same reason, I would gladly volunteer at certain community events around the year. I still try to do this when I’m available, although it’s easier for me to do a food drive or clothes drive sometimes.

But the point is, when I choose to volunteer, I do it at my own will. And I’m the one who decides which cause and organization I wish to offer my free labor to. However, some people don’t have any other option but to volunteer.

A friend of mine was almost forced to volunteer when she moved to Canada years ago. She didn’t have any local experience, so she had to work for free for 6 months to add a line to her resume. It was a dull office job, and they didn’t pay her a penny. Why? It’s opportunistic for a company to take advantage of those with no work experience, than hiring an experienced individual and paying them.

Unpaid Research

During my student years, I would participate in every unpaid school study if it meant getting an extra point or credit for a class. I would also gladly take part in unpaid surveys conducted by other students, as I knew they needed data for a project, but did not have the funding to pay their participants. But this is where I draw the line.

I have come across many research studies offering meager pay or no compensation at all. The best you can hope for sometimes is parking validation. I’m not talking about academic studies when a doctoral candidate is working on their Ph.D. and has limited funding for their research. I’m referring to established companies that wish to conduct full-fledged marketing research, yet all they are willing to pay is $20 for 5 hours of work, often with no gas or transit compensation. You might get a dried blueberry muffin and a cup of old gross coffee on top of that if you’re lucky.

It’s opportunistic for a company to take advantage of those with no work experience, than hiring an experienced individual and paying them.

Artists’ Struggle: The Magical Promise of “Exposure”

Artistic exploitation deserves a separate article. The number of creators and entertainers who are being taken advantage of due to lack of portfolio is infuriating. You want to be an artist — be prepared to perform for free to build up your resume. You wish to become a stand-up comedian — you’ll probably get paid in fries and soup. What about writing? Well, many magazines are gracious enough to offer you $10 for 2 articles.

Yet, no one expects an office worker to write presentations or compile reports for exposure. Have you ever met a bank teller who agreed to work for exposure? I certainly have not.

I have naively donated many hours of my time to my former employers. I stopped believing in them and recognized the constant abuse and unethical behavior. Everyone deserves to be paid for their work, regardless of how simple that work may be. The laws should reflect this concept — sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. If you are someone who encountered the expectation of free labor and if you are in a position to say “no” — do it. Refuse to work for free, as this is an unfair and abusive practice. Value yourself and value your time.

Get the Mini Post-Grad Survival Guide

A 5-day email course with amazing tips on budgeting, investing, and productivity for 20-somethings. Learn how to spend $40 per week on groceries, among other things, by signing up for free.