Businesses should approach unpaid summer internships with caution
Employers who usually recruit unpaid interns over the summer should approach with caution or consider offering paid positions instead. The U.S. Department of Labor has started cracking down on companies that might be taking advantage of free labor, according to Crain's Cleveland.
In a high-profile example, two unpaid interns working on the set of Oscar-award winning film Black Swan filed a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight Pictures for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Internship program. To stay in compliance with the FLSA, the interns must be considered trainees as opposed to employees, and they must meet the following criteria or be paid for their employee attendance:
1. Interns gain experience similar to training they would receive in a classroom.
2. The internship primarily benefits the intern and not the employer.
3. The intern does not take the place of any employees and works under close supervision of the staff.
4. Daily business operations might be disrupted by presence of the intern and the employer cannot receive an immediate advantage from his or her training.
5. Both the employer and intern understand no wages will be issued for the training activities.
6. The intern is not guaranteed at the end of their term.
If employers are at all uncertain about their ability to meet these provisions, they should consider offering paid positions or outsourcing human resources to reduce liability.
In a high-profile example, two unpaid interns working on the set of Oscar-award winning film Black Swan filed a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight Pictures for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Internship program. To stay in compliance with the FLSA, the interns must be considered trainees as opposed to employees, and they must meet the following criteria or be paid for their employee attendance:
1. Interns gain experience similar to training they would receive in a classroom.
2. The internship primarily benefits the intern and not the employer.
3. The intern does not take the place of any employees and works under close supervision of the staff.
4. Daily business operations might be disrupted by presence of the intern and the employer cannot receive an immediate advantage from his or her training.
5. Both the employer and intern understand no wages will be issued for the training activities.
6. The intern is not guaranteed at the end of their term.
If employers are at all uncertain about their ability to meet these provisions, they should consider offering paid positions or outsourcing human resources to reduce liability.
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