Hoot Suite bows and offers unpaid interns back wages
Hoot Suite, the Vancouver social media management company that came under fire recently over its practice of unpaid internships, has paid back wages to all the interns who have worked at the firm in the past six months.
“It was brought to my attention on April 5 that Hoot Suite had unpaid internship postings on its website that may have been in contravention of the Employment Standards Act of B. C.,” Hoot Suite CEO Ryan Holmes said in an emailed statement.
“Hoot Suite conducted an immediate review with our ... legal team and we have determined that some intern roles may not have been in compliance with Employment Standards Act of B. C.
“To completely remove outstanding doubt around this matter, we will immediately rectify the issue by offering full payment, including interest incurred, to unpaid interns who had roles within our company within the last six months that were not in accordance with the ESA BC.”
Hoot Suite, which has grown from a Vancouver start- up to take a leading role in social media management, faced its own social media storm after a post on the popular news and entertainment site Reddit drew attention to the unpaid internships.
The practice of having interns work for free, although widely touted as way to gain experience and help build a resume, actually amounts to unpaid labour under the Employment Standards Act.
Under the act, a “practicum,” which is part of a formal education process and not considered to be work, is different from an “internship.”
The company did not disclose the number of interns that would be covered by the payout.