Unpaid interns in federally regulated industries are getting closer to having some of the same labour protections paid employees get.
They include 40-hour work weeks, holidays, maternity-related reassignments, leave and breaks.
The federal government posted the proposed rules under laws that extended standard health and safety protections to unpaid interns and limited those internships to placements that are part of educational courses.
The rules would also require an employer to collect paperwork from each intern’s school explaining just how the work placement fits into an education program and how many hours they’re supposed to put in.
WATCH: Paid internship protest (Nov. 2016)
Eliminating unpaid internships in federally regulated environments was a Liberal campaign promise in 2015.
Legislation to do it was delayed until December 2017 because labour groups, student unions and others representing interns said the protections weren’t strong enough in the Liberals’ first attempt.