Nearly 42 per cent of businesses with internships were found to be breaking the law in a recent inspection blitz, according to Ontario Ministry of Labour documents obtained by the Star.

This spring, the ministry inspected 56 businesses in the GTA, issued 37 compliance orders and demanded the businesses pay $48,543 in back pay, the documents say.

The results of the “proactive enforcement blitz,” which took place between April 1 and June 15 of this year, will be made public Tuesday.

Ministry inspectors targeted companies in advertising, public relations, computer design and consulting, and found that of the 31 businesses which had interns, 13 were breaking the Employment Standards Act.

The most common violations were for not paying minimum wage or not providing vacation or public-holiday pay. Inspectors also found that businesses weren’t keeping proper records of their interns’ hours and remuneration.

Exploitation of unpaid interns has been growing across Canada, critics say, fuelled by outdated labour laws that don’t even include the word “intern.” Because the government keeps no statistics on internships there’s no certainty on the scope of the problem. Over the last year, however, several high-profile internship programs have been shut down.

Unpaid interns were fired from several national magazines after a previous inspection blitz. At least one of those magazines — The Walrus — later hired back their interns with pay.

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“ ‘Internship’ is a term commonly used to describe a temporary work arrangement that involves a person working at a business in a beginner or junior position, who may or may not receive pay for that work,” writes Stephen McDonald, director of employment standards, in a letter summarizing the inspection results.

“Generally, if you perform work for another person or a company or other organization and you are not in business for yourself, you would be considered to be an employee, and therefore entitled to Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) rights such as the minimum wage.

“There are some exceptions, but they are very limited, and the fact that you are called an intern is not relevant to whether your internship should be paid or unpaid. There are also exemptions for secondary school students in co-op work experience programs for credit or programs approved by a college of applied arts and technology or a university,” he wrote.

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Of the 56 companies inspected, eight had no internship programs and 17 had no interns at the time of the inspection. Thirteen of the businesses ran internship programs that were exempt from the law, while five followed all regulations. The remaining 13 were found to be in breach of labour laws.

All of the companies found to be owing back wages to their interns paid voluntarily except one, for which the ministry issued an Order to Pay.