Exploration Of Free Labor Practice Designers In Fashion Industry

　　 High fashion The world may look attractive, and the industry will never lack. Trainee 。

Many people remember the Andrea bar, who was just entering the Prada devil, and the interns do less than she does - and they are still unpaid. Some people believe that newcomers can find opportunities through internship, but others believe that this is a naked exploitation.

Free labor in fashion

Some British fashion companies have long used free interns to make them work for more than 12 hours a day. Many people are willing to do such an internship in the long run, which is aimed at the last chance of getting the job, but in reality, it is rather slim. Finally, sometimes interns jump out and say that their workload often exceeds that of regular employees, and that some companies rely too much on free labor.

Got it. Fashion specialty A few months after the postgraduate degree, Rufus Cassidy, 25, got an unpaid internship at the top fashion brand Alexander McCune. "Most of the time, I work from half past eight in the morning until second in the morning." He said, "generally speaking, seven days a week, some interns are exhausted and unable to sustain."

Cassidy also revealed that the company even relies on interns to do some core work. "In the template production department, there are ten interns, only five formal employees. There is only one designer in the embroidery department, and the remaining ten are interns.

After eight months' work in May last year, he decided to leave. "Obviously, I am not likely to get a formal job here." He said, "if I stay to be an intern, they will be very happy. But I can't continue working without pay. Including this internship, I have worked for five unpaid fashion interns in succession. "

Timothy Brennan, an employment law expert, said that according to Cassidy's description, the company's use of interns in such a way has violated the minimum wage stipulated by the state law.

"The most important part of the minimum wage provision is what the actual work arrangement is, not that the position itself is called an intern or a formal employee." Brennan said, "if someone works for a long time like a dress and sewing beads, this work can be seen as an essential part of the garment production line. The person who works there should be treated as a regular employee and paid accordingly."

Alexander McCune's intern was asked to sign a consent form, one of which agreed to work 48 hours a week. The consent form indicates that the intern may at any time request termination of the internship as long as the written notice is given three months in advance. "Interns must follow all reasonable instructions given by the company and complete these instructions through appropriate working hours," he wrote.

Brennan said that the consent was actually used by the interns as "workers", so the minimum wage requirement was not excessive.

"Even without any other material and evidence, I can be sure that the person who works in accordance with the terms of this agreement is a formal employee." He said, "if there is no formal staff, there is no need to define working hours. According to the terms and conditions, it should be paid by the state law.

In a statement issued by the Alexander McQueen company to the guardian, they expressed the belief that their company had no illegal use of interns. They said: "Alexander McCune has received a lot of positive feedback from a large number of excellent interns. If your newspaper had talked with two or three interns and reached the opposite conclusion, only a few people would have different opinions on it. I am sorry to say that your source completely ignores the majority of people's ideas and is not tenable. "

In fact, in addition to the minimum wage, the company asked Cassidy to work longer than the longest working hours prescribed by law.

"In my view, the violation of the law requires that adult workers at least work 11 hours of rest time for every 24 hours of work, and that every 7 days, 24 hours of rest time is guaranteed." Simpson lawyer of vocational law firm David McBride said.

A girl who has practiced in a London fashion brand for three months tells us that her internship experience is entirely based on her needs, rather than a free labor force according to the needs of the company. "I see all aspects of the industry, so I have an in-depth understanding of the fashion industry, and help me decide whether I want to do this business."

Some worry that the increase in the number of unpaid interns will further reduce the employment rate of graduates. "Jobs that could have been offered to graduates are now paid to interns who do not pay." Cassidy said, "the entry-level work of the industry has disappeared. Why do you pay twenty thousand pounds a year to hire a rookie designer when a company can use interns for free and indefinitely?

Last November, the London dream picture agency was awarded the minimum wage of Nicola Vita to an intern by a tribunal. Martin Spencer, Assistant Secretary General of the society of David king, who supports the ruling, said optimistically that this would be an exemplable example. "We hope that this ruling will benefit more people." He said.

However, others believe that the industry needs deeper reforms, such as providing the longest time limit for unpaid interns. "Three months should be a reasonable time for unpaid internships. Because the company decided to want to continue to hire this person, three months of inspection time is enough. Stephen Overy, Deputy Secretary General of the labor foundation, said, "internship should be an opportunity for interns to get a better understanding of the industry, rather than giving companies the opportunity to use free labor."