Okay, Interns, Now Let’s Get in Organi-zation: How to organize your your office to pay interns

As Fellows for Pay Our Interns, we know very well Experience Doesn’t Pay The Bills, and because of that, we are assured fair compensation for the work. Through our work, we’ve come to understand the negative impacts of unpaid internships and be inspired by those who advocate changing institutions that allow them (and yes, sometimes we are our own inspirations). Advocating for fair pay in the workplace when you’re coming in at a disadvantage can be extremely daunting, and that’s why it’s so important for all sectors of the workforce to understand the importance of paid internships.

Organizing for this issue needs community support—that means all of us! So, here are some ways to rally your coworkers and fellow interns in support of paid internships at your organizations.

Do Your Research

Though paid internships should be the norm, they often are not, and in part, that is because employers see interns as dispensable and free labor.  The first step in getting internships paid is proving that the position is vital to the organization and conducting research to back up your ask. Create a clear document on the role of the internship position and how you (the intern) contribute to the organization, and keep track of all tasks you work on. This will eventually be used for the position job description and help engage a discussion on compensation with your organization. Another important aspect once you begin discussing compensation is understanding the average pay for similar positions at similarly sized organizations. Research your position on websites such ReproJobs’ salary database, Indeed, or LinkedIn to see competitive salaries for your position. Lastly, be sure to look at the employee handbook for your work to see any potential blockades you might encounter as you seek pay. Acknowledging these potential blocks early on and working with your team to come up with solutions will be helpful when presenting to your employer. Assembling this information to be readily available when you begin the discussion with your team will set the tone for your professionalism and knowledge of the topic. 

Be Clear About Your Needs

When approaching the issue of paying interns, it’s important to be clear and concise with what you want as far as to pay and benefits—not being clear leaves your employer with space to not meet your demands fully or deliver a result that you didn’t ask for. If you’ve asked for an hourly wage and they give you a transit card, they’re not thoughtfully listening to what you need or living their values. Be as specific as possible with the type of pay (stipend vs. hourly), the offering of overtime pay, the number of sick days (and the system for deciding who gets what amount), the benefits, and potential intern leadership development and educational programming. There is a chance that none of this will come up when you approach the topic of paid internships with your employer. This will work in your favor because you’ve already taken the time to lay out how the internship will be organized, making their job easier. At times, the ease of just having someone else taking care of the planning will clear the pathways for negotiations and discussions.

A quick note on stipends: Many employers offer interns a small stipend to cover their hours over the semester. Unfortunately, when you calculate this out to figure out what the hourly rate would be, it’s well below the minimum wage and is a poverty wage. This is still unacceptable. Calculate how many hours you are usually working and tabulate that against a proposed stipend amount to ensure that you’re being paid fairly. Just because you’re getting a lump sum stipend doesn’t mean you should be earning poverty wages. Employers should still live their values.

Work With Your Colleagues

One huge mistake in your journey to paid internships is to leave out others in your organization. Many folks love having interns in the office, and they want to help mentor the interns into positions in the organization and within their network. Don’t be afraid to reach out to members of your team for help or advice! Being open to discussions will also clear up any misconceptions about your expectations for receiving payment. Some organizations may reject intern pay because they could be paying a full-time employee; there is a false narrative that paying an intern would mean cutting staff. Having an open conversation with your colleagues will make clear they will not lose pay because interns are being paid. Instead, you will be able to build off each other’s ideas and everyone will be reminded to organize for fair wages. Another pro of working with your colleagues is that they have a thorough understanding of the organization and can serve as a resource in navigating potential barriers. Has a campaign to pay interns been tried before? Where did it fail? Who are your allies in the office? Draft your proposal with the feedback from colleagues; they will be most knowledgeable about where in the budget you can find space for the paid internships and even which members of management would be most supportive! One way to work most effectively would be to plan a small task force of individuals from different sectors of your organization to help develop a robust intern program.

Emphasize Transparency

One of the essential parts of creating the program is to create transparency for all who will be impacted. Whether it is being transparent about pay listed in job descriptions online, transparent with other team members about the needs of the position, or being open to discussing how the team can improve the internship program. Transparency will ensure that the position can be maintained as a long-term programming investment rather than a one-time payment that is done to please one or two interns during that semester. Another bonus includes being transparent about hiring practices within the organization: do they hire from within? For interns, does this mean a potential route to employment? Having paid internships for such hiring practices can be a great step in diversifying the workplace. Having the knowledge of this as they are recruiting cohorts of interns should be at the top of the mind of those involved in the hiring process. Being honest with your team will build accountability that can lead to a more involved and invested workforce.

Shontrice Barnes 

Shontrice Barnes (she/they) is Black feminist and womanist scholar, writer, and pleasure activist. Currently she is a Research Fellow for Pay Our Interns and a current second-year Master’s student in Public Policy with Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at George Washington University. She has done work and research centered around inequalities in economic policy, criminal justice policy, sexual and reproductive health policy, and social welfare policy. As a writer, Shontrice has published work for the Black Feminist Collective and Women In and Beyond Global. Shontrice is also the sole administrator for the blog The Black Caged Bird, which is dedicated to exploring Black feminist pleasure politics through a variety of topics centered in the liberation of marginalized folks, especially Black women. In her free time, she enjoys taking care of their plants, discovering new Black women rappers, and watching reruns of the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Brittney Jimenez

Brittney Jimenez (she/her) is a Research Fellow at Pay Our Interns where she conducts research on the inequities of paid internships. She is a Master’s student at Cal State Northridge studying in the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department. Her research discusses youth involvement in contemporary social movements and their continued political engagement.