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Young Invincibles Hails Unanimous Passage of Workplace Protections for Federal Interns

Young Invincibles Hails Unanimous Passage of Workplace Protections for Federal Interns

Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Federal Intern Protection Act (HR 3231) unanimously, a bill designed to protect federal interns from sexual harassment and workplace discrimination. The measure was introduced in July of 2015 by ranking members Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Bobby Scott (D-VA), and Grace Meng (D-NY). This new legislation will address a glaring loophole in federal law, which fails to provide protections to unpaid interns because they are not considered “employees.”

“This bill is an important step toward ensuring that interns are treated fairly in the workplace”, said Reid Setzer, Young Invincibles’ Policy and Legislative Affairs Analyst. “If we want to create meaningful learning and training experiences that allow the next generation of young workers to gain critical skills, we have to ensure that workplaces are safe and healthy environments. Hopefully, this movement will kick-start progress on similar bills, HR 3232 and HR 3233, which address these issues for private sector interns and Congressional interns, respectively. All interns should be protected from sexual harassment and discrimination under the law.”