by CYNDY SLOVAK-BARTON
For many years, young people about to graduate from college looked for internships – to teach them specifics in their field, to give them work experience, to add to their resumes.
For years, internships were paid – at least partially. But, these days, there are many unpaid internships and the rules for businesses are very strict on what constitutes an internship, and what is actual labor for a business.
As recently as 2012, a judge in New York ruled that businesses have to follow strict rules by the Department of Labor (DOL) outlining exactly what an unpaid internship must entail.
U.S. District Judge William Paul said that a movie production company, Fox Searchlight, had violated minimum wage laws by not paying interns who worked on the 2010 movie, “Black Swan,” which starred Natalie Portman.
In the judgement, Paul ruled that an unpaid internship must comply with all six of the DOL’s internship programs under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
If a for-profit business’ internship program follows all six of the standards, then interns can be hired without compensation.
DOL criteria includes:
The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern.
The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff.
The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern, and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded.
The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
The Department of Labor has ruled that for an internship to be unpaid, all six of the criteria must be met.
For exact rules from the DOL, go this website for the factsheet: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm.
