#Work Experience
Why must small and medium businesses do all the heavy lifting for workplace experience?
We know that small businesses employ around 40% of Australia’s workforce, but they also play more than their fair share of taking on interns for work experience. Most interns that I speak to are getting their work experience at a small business, usually a place with fewer than 10 employees. With an increasing number of […]
Internships: A potential minefield for employers
As the job market becomes increasingly competitive for university graduates, many students and young professionals are willing to take on unpaid internships to gain experience in their chosen industry. This practice is widespread in the United States, where a laissez faire approach to workplace relations means businesses can benefit from taking on unpaid workers. But […]
Fair Work crackdown on unpaid work and internships
Businesses that are uncertain about unpaid work and internship arrangements will be the focus of a new education campaign by the Fair Work Ombudsman. The FWO will seek to clarify the circumstances when businesses can legitimately make use of unpaid workers and interns following a number of recent case-studies in which workers were exploited. In […]
A modern take on work experience
We all remember our work experience days – for many of us, our bright eyed and bushy tailed attitude was quickly extinguished by being left to languish in the corner.
The legal requirements of unpaid work
EI gives the small business community the opportunity to ask our employment experts their burning employment questions.
How to treat an intern
Interns are often given grunt work and treated poorly by their co-workers and supervisors. Here are a few points on how an intern should be treated.