Councillor in trouble over tweet
Bailao can’t advertise for intern or volunteer
A tweet by a city politician advertising an unpaid internship has landed her in trouble with constituents and youth advocates who say the position is illegal.
The job posting for work in Councillor Ana Bailao’s community office created “so much controversy” she removed it from her website last week.
But the posting — which includes duties such as social media monitoring, drafting letters and correspondence, research, data cataloguing and community asset mapping — is still on her Facebook page.
“I really believe in that engagement and I wanted to particularly have the youth in my ward understand they can come here if they want,” Bailao said. “Sometimes . . . it’s a bit of work for us.”
She is now categorizing the position as volunteer after advice from a Labour ministry hotline.
But a ministry spokesman said the work can’t be classed as volunteer. “Merely agreeing to work without pay does not in itself make you a volunteer,” said Jonathon Rose.
Unpaid internships are legal only in cases where someone is self-employed, in a co-op placement, or a trainee, but there are strict criteria for the latter.
The work has to be for the benefit of the intern and the employer should derive “little, if any, benefit from the activity,” according to a Labour ministry website. The intern can’t take someone else’s job and can’t be promised employment at the end of the training.
“If you perform work for someone you are an employee covered under the Employment Standards Act and should be paid — it doesn’t matter if you are called an ‘intern’ or not,” said Rose.
In a letter to Ward 18 residents, Bailao wrote that unpaid positions save taxpayer money and are necessary to “keep on top of the immense amount of work” needed to keep residents “informed and engaged.”
She said the posts could lead to paying jobs. “Indeed the majority of my staff began a working relationship with me in volunteer roles.”