Melbourne company BigDatr forced to pull ads for interns ‘fuelled by awesomeness’

A MELBOURNE company has been forced to pull ads for 12-month internships after Seek deemed being paid in ‘emojis’ was a breach of the Fair Work Act.

IF ONLY emojis paid the bills.

Melbourne company Big Datr has had their ads pulled from job website Seek after they advertised for an army of interns to work for three, six and 12 months at a time with no financial compensation.

The marketing and digital media company, who’s clients include Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, as well as top creative agencies DDB and Leo Burnett, posted ads promising “invaluable experience” to applicants looking for a constant challenge in a variety of sectors.

The ads, which have now been removed, tantalised prospective staff with the ability to earn their stripes while seeing “what’s currently playing on Spotify over the DJ decks”.

However the ‘internship’ also involved what is essentially full-time work, finding marketing strategies for the multi-million dollar brands and “squashing bugs” in the system.

We wonder if the lunch is paid for?

The company offered no salary or compensation, but promised free fruit, Wii, DJ decks and an open bar in the office.

Workers were also able to “challenge the reigning table tennis champion” have their efforts frequently rewarded with “emoji” and not having to wear a tie.

If lucky “stand out candidates may be offered a permanent full-time position”.

Not surprisingly, the ad was slammed on social media.

An outright disgrace, @BigDatr RT @chrisjrn: "We frequently reward your efforts with emoji" http://t.co/UkjEQNb7up

— Michael Cordover (@mjec) February 17, 2014

Hey @BigDatr, how much do your products cost in emoji?

— Benno Rice (@jeamland) February 17, 2014

"You'll primarily be working on our BigDatr platform". No. No I will not. That's not a thing that's going to happen.

— John Dalton (@johndalton) February 17, 2014

Seek’s public relations spokeswoman Sarah Macartney said they pulled the ad this afternoon after realising it failed to comply with standards outlined in the Fair Work Act around minimum entitlements for employees.

“We monitor these things really tightly and if people are posting these job ads on Seek we take them down because it’s not fair for candidates.”

The Fair Work Act states unpaid work experience and internships can be illegal if the person is in a legally binding employment relationship, based on factors like length of time, obligations and who benefits from the arrangement.

She said the decision to pull the job ad had been communicated to the advertiser and they’re informed of what the breach has been.

“We have many systems in place that check keywords but there are always things that slip through the gaps,” Ms Macartney said.

Big Datr has not responded to news.com.au’s request for comment and it’s not known how many people applied for the internship.

What do you think of the ad? Leave a comment below or continue the conversation on Twitter @newscomauHQ | @BigDatr