California has many great colleges and universities, and with such an excellent education system come many students. Students often take internships because they hope that the experience will make them better qualified for "real" jobs.

An interesting development in this area, though, is the increasing volume with which some people are claiming that internships, especially unpaid internships, are a violation of employment law.

Over 1 million people work as an intern in some capacity each year. Clearly, it is a very popular way for people to improve their resumes and gain valuable real world experience. However, some critics believe that employers are using unpaid interns instead of hiring "real" employees, which they say keeps our unemployment rate high and exploits young people who are eager to start their careers.

Take the case of a young man who recently interned on the set of "The Black Swan," the hit movie for which Natalie Portman won her Best Actress Oscar. The independent film had a small budget, so the young man agreed to work as an unpaid intern. It eventually went on to earn $300 million.

The man and another intern have now sued Fox Searchlight Pictures, the studio behind "The Black Swan," because they feel they should have been paid for their work.

It is somewhat interesting that this man is suing for retroactive pay for a position he agreed to take knowing full well that he would be compensated for his work in ways other than financially. But above and beyond this individual circumstance, policies toward interns are something Sacramento employers may want to re-examine. It appears changes may be afoot in this field.

Source: National Public Radio, "Unpaid Interns: Real World Word Or Just Free Labor?" Beenish Ahmed, Nov. 12, 2011