零薪就业是种新常态吗？

    美国的失业人口已近1400万人，许多人已经到了走投无路的地步，甚至就连不付薪水的工作也愿意做。使用免费工人可能导致一些法律风险和监管问题，因此许多企业对此非常谨慎。但已经使用了免费员工的企业却表示，只要用法得当，使用免费员工是可以带来很好的效果的。

    Remote Stylist公司是一家位于多伦多和纽约的初创公司，主要提供基于网络的室内设计服务。该公司的首席执行官凯丽•法利斯指出：“零薪酬的员工比拿薪水的员工更加卖力，因此他们的表现也会更好，他们也会尽量更讨人喜欢，尽量变得更有创造性。从节省成本的视角来看，这是一个很大的优势，尤其是如果你是小企业的话。”

    在过去三年里，大约有50名零薪的实习生在法利斯的公司里从事营销、编辑、广告、销售、客户管理和公关等工作。法利斯相信，零薪将成为人力资源的发展趋势。她说道：“在未来十年里，零薪将成为一种常态。”

为什么人们会免费工作？

    零薪员工为企业带来的好处是不言而喻的。不过与此同时，零薪酬就业也能为员工带来一些好处，比如它能带来许多员工亟需的经验以及推荐信，甚至能在经济低迷的当下，为员工的自尊心打上一剂强心针。

    今年27岁的凯西•约翰逊居住在加州的圣马科斯。她本来是一所网络大学的注册顾问，2009年她丢了饭碗，然后领取了整整一年的失业救济，后来终于在星巴克（Starbucks）找到一份协理的工作。这份工作离家很远，她的大部分薪水都花在汽油上了。今年二月，她又找到了一份公关实习生的工作。虽然是零薪水，不过她又重新有了明确的目标。

    凯西表示：“我学到了很多东西，而且我对这份工作的感觉很不错。我很快乐，我觉得自己是个有用的人。虽然我没有挣钱，因此过得很艰难，但我觉得它为我带来了一个全新的职业生涯。尽管现在我的存款账户里只有1.5美元了，不过好在我和男朋友一起生活，他一直很支持我。”

    有时候，免费工作甚至会直接带来付薪的工作机会。特丽莎•波特从事营销高管的职位已经30年，在她的职业出现暂时停滞时，她曾免费为俄亥俄州哥伦布市的Coalescence调料公司做过一些营销活动。

    波特表示：“如果你积累了很多此类信息，你就会乐于分享这些信息。因为你愿意看到企业成功。”

    后来，Coalescence公司的创始人请波特执掌总裁大印——当然这是个付薪的职位，波特花在这家公司上的精力最终得到了回报。波特也觉得心安理得，因为她对这家公司的企业文化和业务目标已经非常熟悉了。

零薪工作是否合法？

    尽管许多雇主都希望使用免费劳力来达成他们的业务目标，但是在美国，从联邦法律到各州法律都严格规定，企业必须向员工支付最低薪水，如果加班的话，还要支付加班费。此外企业还需遵守《公平劳动标准法案》（Fair Labor Standards Act）的其它规定，该法案适用于730万家企业的1.35亿员工。不过《公平劳动标准法案》并不适用于年收入在50万美元以下的企业，除非他们从事跨州业务——所谓的跨州业务可能小到接受另一个州的信用卡，或者往另一个州打电话等。

    亚利桑那州菲尼克斯市博恩凯悟律师事务所（Bryan Cave）的合伙人、主攻劳工法的杰•茨威格表示：“在美国，我们没有一个让你可以零薪工作的体系，只有极少数的例外情况。一般情况下，如果你想使用零薪员工，总会有州法律介入，告诉你除非你满足某些特定标准，否则政府一定会找你的麻烦。”

    除非你是一名实习生、培训生或独立承包人，否则你只要一开始为某家公司工作，你就与这家公司构成了雇佣关系。联邦政府和州政府都非常警惕企业利用就业难来绕开劳动法规的行为。

    劳工部有一个严格的“六点测试”，用来判定某人是否是实习生或培训生，此外还对独立承包人有单独的指导方针。实习职位必须首先有益于实习生的发展，实习生必须在密切的监督下工作，而且实习生不能取代现有员工。而独立承包人不能在雇主的控制下工作，也不能在经济上依赖于这家公司。

    美国劳工部（Labor Department）的一位发言人表示：“如果某人与一家公司构成了雇佣关系，公司就要为他的工作支付薪水。我们加强了执行力度，确保这些企业符合《公平劳动标准法案》的规定。我们已经额外招募了250名调查员。”

    亚特兰大专注于劳工法的Fisher & Phillips律师事务所合伙人约翰•汤普森表示，随着联邦的监管更加严格，像所谓的“观察期”和“试用期”等不付薪的工作安排，可能会比过去更难符合监管机构的要求。

    汤普森表示：“许多雇主并不明白，这项法律不是关于个人的责任或成年人之间的协议；而是为了按照法律的要求，让人们劳有其酬。”

    汤普森指出，如果企业违反了该法律，一经查实，则可能必须支付欠付工资，此外每次违规还需缴纳最高为1100美元的罚款，以及与工资额相等的损失赔偿。

雇佣和管理当代“农奴”的挑战

    像其他使用了免费劳动力的雇主一样，Remote Stylist公司的凯丽•法利斯推荐企业首先制订一份非常详细的职务描述，然后进行一次彻底的招聘流程，将不愿意免费工作的人筛选出去。

    那些在Cragslist和Facebook网站上回复了法利斯的招聘帖的人，必须填写一份详细的电子邮件调查问卷，经过两轮电话面试和三轮真人面试。

    而对于最终加盟Remote Stylist公司的人来说，不管他们是学生还是社会人士，不管他们是20出头还是30多岁，他们都必须接受四个月的试用期，并且签订一份雇佣合同。法利斯要求实习生每周工作30个小时。不过为了获得一份付薪工作，许多实习生都干得非常努力，给法利斯留下了很深的印象。

    不管你信不信，有些零薪酬工作的竞争居然也非常激烈。例如Nomadic Nation是一家多媒体集资公司，这家公司为一个从德国驾驶塑料汽车到哥伦比亚的项目做了招聘广告，仅过了一个星期，该公司的执行董事约翰•洛夫乔伊就收到了300份编辑职务的申请，另有700人申请这个项目的摄像师一职。这些职务不仅没有薪水，应聘成功者还需支付自己的所有开销。

    在应聘成功的人中，有一名编辑和两位摄像师由于不堪忍受艰苦的条件和长达16个小时的工作时间，而在这段跋涉还没有结束的时候就退出了。洛夫乔伊检讨道：“我应该在筛选的时候做得更好些，应该让他们明白，这个项目并不是度假。”

    Your Social Butterfly公司是一家位于佛罗里达州塔拉哈西市的活动策划公司。由于有些免费员工没有认真履行他们的职责，因此他们的工作效果也良莠不齐。有时候免费员工做错了事，该公司的老板克莉斯托•格林还得重新为他们收拾烂摊子，并且向被得罪的业务伙伴道歉。

    “他们都需要学习。而作为一个单独的企业家来说，要面面俱到地照看这些人是很难的。另外他们又没有拿薪水，所以你必须非常耐心。”格林说。

    在这些雇主中，没有任何一位雇主表示他们担心自己会违反法律——不管他们事实上是否违反了法律。不过大多数雇主也并没有从免费员工身上获得什么实质性的好处，令人不禁质疑，如果他们使用了另一种久经考验的方法——给这些员工发薪水，那么效果是否会更好些。

    格林表示：“一个拿着不错薪水的员工，胜过九个零薪酬的员工。零薪酬的员工会把事情弄得很难办，因为他们要么工作懈怠，要么很难管理。”

    译者：朴成奎

    With nearly 14 million unemployed workers in America, many have gotten so desperate that they're willing to work for free. While some businesses are wary of the legal risks and supervision such an arrangement might require, companies that have used free workers say it can pay off when done right.

    "People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they're going to outperform, they're going to try to please, they're going to be creative," says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist, a Toronto and New York-based startup that provides Web-based interior design services. "From a cost savings perspective, to get something off the ground, it's huge. Especially if you're a small business."

    In the last three years, Fallis has used about 50 unpaid interns for duties in marketing, editorial, advertising, sales, account management and public relations. She's convinced it's the wave of the future in human resources. "Ten years from now, this is going to be the norm," she says.

Why do people work for free?

    The benefit unpaid labor offers to a business is pretty clear, but it can also give employees needed experience, a reference letter or even a self-esteem boost in a depressing economy.

    Cassie Johnson, a 27-year old in San Marcos, Calif., lost her job as an enrollment adviser for an online university in 2009 and was receiving unemployment benefits for a year before finding an assistant manager position at a Starbucks (SBUX) that's so far from her home she spends most of her pay on gas. Since starting a public relations internship in February, she feels a renewed sense of purpose.

    "I'm learning a lot and I feel really good about it. I'm happy. I feel relevant. I'm not making any money, so it's tough, but I feel it's setting me up for a career," Johnson says. "I only have $1.50 left in my checking account right now but I'm living with my boyfriend and he's been really good about supporting me."

    Sometimes, gratis work can even lead directly to a paid opportunity. Theresa Potter had been a marketing executive for 30 years when, during a career lull, she agreed to work on a few marketing initiatives for free at Coalescence, a Columbus, Ohio-based custom spice blending firm.

    "You have amassed a lot of this information and you like to share it. You like to see companies become successful," Potter says.

    Potter's year of volunteering at Coalescence paid off when the company's founders asked her to take the reins as president -- a salaried position. She felt comfortable taking the job because she'd become so familiar with the corporate culture and business goals.

But is it legal?

    Unfortunately for many employers hoping to use unpaid labor to advance their business goals, there are strict federal and state rules that workers must be paid the minimum wage and paid for overtime, and must abide by other provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act, which applies to about 135 million people working for 7.3 million employers. The FLSA doesn't apply to companies with less than $500,000 in annual revenue unless they engage in interstate commerce -- which can be as little as accepting credit cards or placing phone calls to another state.

    "We don't have a system in this country where you can work for free," says Jay A. Zweig, a partner who works in employment law at Bryan Cave in Phoenix. "The exceptions are very, very rare, and generally there are state laws that would fill in to say that, unless you meet specific criteria, you're going to get in trouble with the government."

    Unless someone is an intern, trainee or independent contractor, he or she has entered into an employment relationship when starting to work for a company. Federal and state authorities are alert for employers who may be taking advantage of the tight job market to skirt the rules.

    The Labor Department has a strict six-point test to determine whether someone is an intern or trainee and separate guidelines for independent contractors. An internship must primarily benefit the intern, who must work under close supervision and not displace existing staff. Independent contractors cannot work under the control of the employer or be economically dependent on the firm.

    "If a person has entered into an employment relationship with a company, they need to be paid for their work," a U.S. Labor Department spokesperson says. "We stepped up enforcement to ensure these businesses are complying with FLSA. We've hired an additional 250 investigators."

    With the additional federal scrutiny, unpaid arrangements such as auditions or tryouts are even less likely to pass muster than in the past, says John Thompson, a partner at employment law firm Fisher & Phillips in Atlanta.

    "A lot of employers don't get that the law is not about personal responsibility or agreements between consenting adults; it's about getting the pay to people as the law requires," Thompson says.

    Companies that are found violating the law will likely have to provide back pay, monetary penalties up to $1,100 per violation and damages that equal the amount of wages, Thompson says.

The challenges of hiring and managing modern day serfs

    Like others who have used unpaid labor, Remote Stylist's Kelly Fallis recommends beginning with a very specific job description and conducting a thorough hiring process to screen out people who aren't going to give their all for nothing.

    Candidates who respond to Fallis' postings on Craigslist and Facebook must fill out a detailed email questionnaire and undergo two rounds of phone interviews and three in-person interviews.

    Those who join Remote Stylist, whether they are students or out-of-work 20- or 30-somethings, must agree to a four-month run and sign a hiring contract. She asks interns to commit 30 hours a week; she has been burned in the past by people who were trying to juggle a paid job with their commitment to Remote Stylist.

    Believe it or not, the competition for some unpaid gigs can grow intense. John Lovejoy, managing director of multimedia fundraising company Nomadic Nation, received 300 responses for an editor position and 700 cameraman applications after only one week of advertising a project to drive from Germany to Cambodia in plastic cars. Not only were the positions unpaid, but successful candidates had to pay their own expenses.

    One editor and two cameramen ended up quitting before the end of the trek due to rough conditions and 16-hour workdays. In retrospect, Lovejoy says, "I would screen a little bit better and make sure they understood that this wasn't a vacation."

    Crystal Green, owner of Tallahassee-based event planning firm Your Social Butterfly, has had mixed results with unpaid staffers who didn't take their responsibilities seriously. She's even had to retrace the missteps of unpaid staffers and apologize to alienated business partners.

    "It's really hard as a single entrepreneur to babysit these people who need to learn. They're not making any money, so you have to be very patient," Green says.

    None of these employers said they were concerned that they were violating the law -- whether or not they actually are -- but most get what they pay for, raising the question of whether they'd be better off just going with the time-honored tradition of paying employees.

    "It's better to have one decently paid person than nine unpaid people who are making it so difficult because they're slacking off or they're difficult to manage," Green says.