Summer college interns working as door-to-door salesmen may be overworked and misguided, according to one state senator who hopes to pass a bill requiring students to become official employees of traveling sales companies.
""They are out at the doors selling by 7:59 in the morning and are out selling until 9:30 at night, six days a week,"" said Tryg Kanutson, spokesperson for state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, who is pushing for the legislation.
Erpenbach has pushed for legislation to regulate sales crews since his town witnessed a 1999 traffic accident that killed seven members of a traveling sales crew.
Last year, the bill was hung up on the Assembly because of concerns from Southwestern Company, a Nashville based sales crew company.
But that same company says it supports much of Erpenbach's proposed bill.
""We support the intention of this bill, which is to regulate traveling sales crews,"" said Trey Campbell, director of communications for Southwestern Company.
Campbell said his company is different from other sales companies in many regards.
""We're definitely not one of these rogue traveling sales crews that are fly by night operations that are in and out of towns and avoid local law like the plague,"" he said.
The company has been around since 1855 and has had an internship program since 1868. UW-Madison currently recognizes a Southwestern internship and gives credits to students who successfully complete one.
Erpenbach's bill would require companies like Southwestern to ""hire"" employees instead of making them ""independent contractors."" This distinction concerns Southwestern.
""It takes away the independent contractor status and replaces it with an employee to employer relationship,"" Campbell said. He added that Southwestern is a direct selling company and thus should not be regulated by the state.
A UW-Madison Facebook group known as OWEIS has 22 members who work for Southwestern. The group's page says members have been, ""Out Working Everyone In Sight since 1855. Yes. We sell books for the Southwestern Company. DOOR TO DOOR!""
However, Erpenbach said these students may be misled into grueling hours and company oversight. According to Kanutson, on Sunday the interns are required to attend sales meetings, which he called ""cultish.""
On the other hand, Campbell says the company allows students to run independent businesses. Southwestern sells products to students at wholesale price. The students then keeps whatever profit they make from sales, Campbell said.
At a Tuesday hearing in front of legislators, one former ""crew"" member testified against Southwestern, saying her car was totaled and she was raped during her internship.
Kassie Lusp, a UW-Madison senior who has been involved with Southwestern for four years, said, ""The allegations presented at the hearing were far and beyond what I have ever experienced at Southwestern.""
