• monkeyman512@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    I think an important detail is likely missing. My experience as a software engineer intern included getting paid well and full benefits as an employee. So legally I was an hourly employee and I think the label of “intern” was to set expectations work/performance/responsibility.

    • BertramDitore@lemm.ee
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      10 days ago

      Yeah totally, that’s an important distinction. Paid interns are definitely different than unpaid interns, and can legally do essentially the same work as a paid employee.

      The way the distinction was explained to me is that an unpaid intern is essentially a student of the company, they are there to learn. They often get university credit for the internship. A paid internship is essentially an entry-level job with the expectation that you might get more on-the-job training than a ‘normal’ employee.

      This article doesn’t say if the intern was paid, but it does say the company reported the behavior to the intern’s university, so I’d guess it was unpaid.

      • Infynis@midwest.social
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        10 days ago

        The university I went to told us not to bother with unpaid internships, because it’s just a sign the company doesn’t care about you. Paid internships pretty much always still give college credit.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          10 days ago

          Yup, we only do paid internships, but they don’t get full-time benefits, only whatever is required for part-time employees (because they are part-time, we only have them for 20-ish hours/week).

    • dan@upvote.au
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      10 days ago

      Yeah, same at the company I work at - interns are paid and have benefits, including housing provided by the company.