Companies across the US use the "unpaid internship" provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act to employ a shadow workforce of students. Although the provisions in the FLSA are narrow, employers blatantly disregard them in large numbers in order to exploit students who need this valuable experience for college. In addition to not being paid, these students are not eligible for employment protections such as unemployment insurance or worker's compensation.
This petition asks the Obama administration to do away with the unpaid internship provisions entirely to make it abundantly clear that people need to be paid for the work they perform.