Yesterday, the New York City Council voted unanimously to extend the protections of the New York City Human Rights Law to unpaid interns. Now, interns will be protected from unlawful discrimination and harassment, like paid employees.
The amendment defines an “intern” covered by the statute as “an individual who performs work for an employer on a temporary basis whose work: (a) provides training or supplements training given in an educational environment such that the employability of the individual performing the work may be enhanced; (b) provides experience for the benefit of the individual performing the work; and (c) is performed under the close supervision of existing staff.”
The amendment will go into effect 60 days after it is signed by the mayor.