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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

JCC Bank intern dies after working 72 hrs straight.... Goooo capitalism!

Discussion in 'Community' started by Kiki-Gonn, Aug 21, 2013.

  1. Kiki-Gonn

    Kiki-Gonn Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2001
    And some of you wonder how I can hold my industry in such contempt, profiting from countless hours of 'work' when I'm off relaxing (like this very moment, I've spent an hour in the office and it's 1:00 pm).

    http://gawker.com/bank-of-america-summer-intern-dies-after-pulling-three-1171258381

     
  2. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    Yeah - that's been all over the news here since the intern worked for Merrill Lynch in the City of London. It reminded me of stories I've read about Japanese students dying from working so hard at studying and exams.
     
  3. KissMeImARebel

    KissMeImARebel Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2003
    I'm also reminded of a Japanese widow who successfully sued Toyota for her husband's pension. The courts ruled that he had literally been worked to death.
     
  4. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    Are interns in the UK paid (I imagine a small amount if they are, but still)? Or are they illegally worked as white collar slaves like in the U.S. because labor departments turn a blind eye?
     
    Blithe likes this.
  5. Rosslcopter

    Rosslcopter Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I've never been paid as well in any job as I was the summer I had my internship. Some internships give bank.
     
  6. JoinTheSchwarz

    JoinTheSchwarz Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2002
    Maggie Thatcher is like a black scorpion, killing even after her death.
     
  7. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    How is working to death the exclusive property of capitalism?

    Firstly, the guy was German. So he could have just tried to be uber-efficient and do his month's work in a week. Germans are strange people.

    Secondly, I have no other points except that Baroness Thatcher made the world better.
     
  8. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    I think pay depends on the type of internship and the company. I'm pretty sure there are both paid and unpaid ones. My guess is that if the intern was earning anything it was probably minimum wage or just above that.
     
  9. yankee8255

    yankee8255 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    May 31, 2005

    Summer internships in the legal profession are very well paid, or at least they were before 2008. I believe they are/were well paid in finance as well.
     
  10. LostOnHoth

    LostOnHoth Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2000
    I've worked that many hours straight before and I am still alive. Perhaps he had a weak constitution or some other pre-existing medical condition which has nothing to do with his working habits? Most young medical interns work crazy hours for months on end. I suspect my 8 year old pulls regular and consecutive all nighters playing minecraft. **** happens.
     
  11. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    Good point. The gold farmers who die of playing too much WoW are obviously victims of mercantilism.
     
    heels1785 and Blithe like this.
  12. Piltdown

    Piltdown Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 3, 2002
    Or, you know, malnutrition or DVT.

    But yea, economic systems are brutal killers, too.
     
  13. Kiki-Gonn

    Kiki-Gonn Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2001
    I've worked in banking for years. I'd like to know just what was so important that a person at the bottom of the ladder couldn't be given time to sleep.

    There's probably also a hazing aspect to this. I went through it so you have to as well.

    So it's a nice synergy of economic exploitation and idiot jock mentality!
     
  14. The Loyal Imperial

    The Loyal Imperial Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 19, 2007
    It's not just their students.
     
  15. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    You aren't arguing that it's a good and desirable thing for people to work eighty hours straight, are you? Because that would be ridiculous.
     
  16. Aytee-Aytee

    Aytee-Aytee Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2008
    Note to self: make even more of an effort to hide the gf's cellular on her days off.
     
  17. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    Just came across this story that says ML interns are paid around £2700/month. That works out to just over £32K a year gross. So that's not bad pay for an intern.

    Edit - language warning. The article is fine but I don't know how well the comments are moderated.
     
  18. Piltdown

    Piltdown Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 3, 2002
    I like the sensationalist headline of the Independent article that the first linked article references.

    "SLAVERY IN THE CITY"
     
  19. EmpireForever

    EmpireForever Force Ghost star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2004
    I wonder more how you don't hold yourself and your abhorrent work ethic in contempt.
     
    Rogue1-and-a-half likes this.
  20. Kiki-Gonn

    Kiki-Gonn Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2001
    Keep wondering :)
     
    JoinTheSchwarz likes this.
  21. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    Ah, how I missed the days of :) at the end of a passive-aggressive sentences.
     
  22. EmpireForever

    EmpireForever Force Ghost star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2004
  23. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    When you say worked in banking, where exactly?

    It's not common practice in my bank to hire people who comment erroneously and subjectively on a matter, similar to how you have. So I'm keen to know where and what you do where standards are so damned lax.

    Every article I've read suggests this was the intern's doing and not the expectation of management. However, in the emboldened section above you indicate the intern was not given time to sleep.

    By adding the comment about having worked in banking for years you appeal to your authority as an expert on the matter and suggest this is a systemic problem. Whilst long hours are part of the package (I remember doing a fortnight of 6 day weeks, 7am to 10pm, when we had a project due) they are usually offset with time in lieu.
     
  24. Jabba-wocky

    Jabba-wocky Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 4, 2003
    Ender, that is a terribly lame excuse. The intern should not have been able to do this under any responsible management in the first place. He would be forcibly sent home, as is the practice in profession's where extraordinary duty hour requirements are common. Simply saying it "wasn't management's expectation" is not and has never been an acceptable defense for inhumane working conditions.
     
    Sauntaero likes this.
  25. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    People can choose to work as long as they want to, I've seen nothing to suggest this guy was forced to work as long as he did by his employers. Maybe they told him he should go home and rest and he refused to.

    I know people who have done 16 hour days, because they took on someone else's shift after their own had finished. As far as I know no-one is legally allowed to be shifted for 16 hours, but they aren't stopped from working for that long should they choose to do it. They are given appropriate break time for that many hours, though unlike this person they do actually go home and sleep afterwards.


    If the intern decided to work for a long time and have no sleep, related health & work issues are his problem and his alone.