The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

[quote="whereislarry"]You should not be working overtime.

(1) According to the handbook, you are only required to work "full-time". Note, however, assuming the handbook would probably be considered part of a "binding contract" in any legal matter, they do not define full-time regarding internships.

(2) Internship support payments (and stipend payments for that matter) are not in exchange for (your) services rendered during an internship.

As far as I'm concerned, (1) + (2) = internship hours are whatever I say they are. The caveat here being, if you push back on the work hours policy at your SF, they may not want to hire you later on. But, given (1) and (2), and the fact that they have you working overtime, when you could be, oh, I don't know, working on your degree completion, or maybe doing anything else, maybe you would not want to work there.

The 'T' in SMART stands for transformation. Be the change.[/quote]

I can understand some of the logic here, but one big issue... You are not working on your degree while doing your required internships, per the SMART agreement... So overtime has no bearing on finishing your degree requirements since this time has already been allotted for your stay in the SF's area.

Either way, you are a full time worker during the internship and the hours are governed by your bosses/mentor. If you are assigned a task, you should do it. My liaison said overtime was not allowed which is why my SF had to give me the equivalent time off when I worked over the 8 hour workdays. Since it was a testing facility, any time I supported a test it was overtime anyway or off regular hours.

Best bet: contact your new liaison (after the contract change SMART had go on recently) and get answers from them. Also have them speak to your facility. My SF had no idea about ANY of the rules SMART had and initially didn't want me to intern because they thought it was out of their own pocket.

You should not be working overtime.

(1) According to the handbook, you are only required to work "full-time". Note, however, assuming the handbook would probably be considered part of a "binding contract" in any legal matter, they do not define full-time regarding internships.

(2) Internship support payments (and stipend payments for that matter) are not in exchange for (your) services rendered during an internship.

As far as I'm concerned, (1) + (2) = internship hours are whatever I say they are. The caveat here being, if you push back on the work hours policy at your SF, they may not want to hire you later on. But, given (1) and (2), and the fact that they have you working overtime, when you could be, oh, I don't know, working on your degree completion, or maybe doing anything else, maybe you would not want to work there.

The 'T' in SMART stands for transformation. Be the change.

Damn, your facility actually had rules? Mine wanted me there whenever they were working, meaning that some days were long while others were short. Even had a couple days off because the rest of the team was on leave.

[quote="Guest"]Anyone know what the general hours are for internships? Is it full time, and is working overtime something that happens often?[/quote]

You have to work full time (8 hours of work per day typically). I had to come in by 7:30AM and work until 4PM, with a 30 minute unpaid lunch. At my facility, I did some overtime (some not by choice) but since the SF doesn't pay you (SMART does), they have to give you the time off when it accumulates. I was able to take a couple days off near the end of my internship.

Anyone know what the general hours are for internships? Is it full time, and is working overtime something that happens often?