Anish Desai (-) 12 October 2013

Internships - need clarity

I'm starting my first internship today, it's at an outlet of Bajaj Finserv.

I am not an on-call intern, it is a stay at work internship. They have asked me to work from 10:45 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. daily, even weekends; with one rest day (can only be taken on a weekday). I'm being paid 4,500 rupees for a month as a stipend.

I have a couple of questions I just want cleared out:

Do they have to pay any allowances? (travelling, food, etc.)
Can they make me work for 10+ hours at a stretch?

I am afraid to bring this up with them because I'm scared of termination. My employer doesn't seem particularly friendly. He sports a 'my way, or the highway' attitude.

Also, they said that I would have to be in the shop during Diwali/Deepavali because the number of customers are at the peak then. I am not comfortable with this, but I have not brought it up (again, employer).

Someone please help me. What can I do?

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3 Replies

Kumar Doab (FIN) 13 October 2013

What is this establishment: Commercial or Industrial?

You are in which state and Redg office /HO of the company is in which state?

What is your designation in appointment letter and nature of duties?

Has the company registered under Shops and Commercials Establishments act of the state? It should have displayed the registration certificate on notice board.

Are you appointed as Trainee/Intern/Apprentice under Training Programme of the company under management’s standing orders or as an apprentice under the Apprenticeship Act?

The work hours are 8 hours/day exclusive of rest hours, rest should be provided after each 5 hours. For work of more than 8 hours OT should be paid.

Max. weekly hours =54 and yearly=150.

If you are recruited under Management standing orders PF and ESIC should be provided.

You may show the job advertisement, job application, interview call letter, selection letter, offer letter, standing orders applicable to the company (certified or model) appointment letter, any other relevant communications, to your lawyer and proceed under expert advise of your lawyer………………………………The lawyer that has seen your entire docs and has analyzed your inputs can advise you the best.

Anish Desai (-) 14 October 2013

I consulted a family friend, also a lawyer, who helped me out. He told me that such 'petty' internships, though through a reputed firm, shouldn't really be questioned, and I should learn whatever I can, and not overthink such small issues.

Mr. Doab, thank you for that. That helped me out the most. I am not going to pursue this much further as it seems to be 'irrelevant' in most eyes, and it's only a one month affair.

Thank you.