Summer Interns and HR

With colleges out and high schools soon to follow you may find yourself wondering if you should get an intern this year.  According to Wikipedia an internship is described as:

Internship is a system of on-the-job training for white-collar and professional careers. Internships for professional careers are similar to apprenticeships for trade and vocational jobs. Although interns are typically college or university students, they can also be high school students or post-graduate adults. Rarely, they can even be middle school or in some cases elementary students.

Generally, the internship works as an exchange of services for experience between the student and his or her employer. Students exchange their cheap or free labor to gain experience in a particular field. They can also use an internship to determine if they have an interest in a particular career, create a network of contacts, or gain school credit. Some interns also find permanent, paid employment with the companies in which they interned. Thus, employers also benefit as experienced interns need little or no training when they begin full-time regular employment.

According to Human Resource News – many HR Departments are seeing an increase in the number of college students requesting internships hoping to get their foot in the door of the organization. Many organizations also think that “hiring” an intern means they have someone to do work without compensation because after all – they are learning something (hopefully)!  Many organizations also find themselves on the wrong side of a Dept of Labor (DOL) audit and discover that those “interns” were really employees. The DOL has guidelines you must follow in order for an intern to not be paid for their services.

According to the DOL most internships in the “for profit” private sector are most often viewed as employees and must be paid at least minimum wage and the overtime rules apply as well.  There are however, some tests that an employer can look at to make this determination. Many times interns do not have to be paid, but the criteria is tough to meet.

(From the DOL website) The following six criteria must be applied when making this determination:

1. 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;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. 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;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

By reviewing this list and also reviewing the DOL Wage and Hour Internship Fact Sheet you can be assured you are in compliance and offer the up and coming employees of the future a great way to learn about your organization and business in general.