Paid Interns & FLSA Employee Issue

Fred

We have never paid compensation to an intern, but have a doctoral intern in psychology that will be doing a 1 year internship with us, and my understanding that it is common practice to pay some amount in compensation to these professional interns. I have reviewed the FLSA issues and 6 criteria which we meet, but the compensation issues is of some concern to me.

Do any of you have any experience with paying a nominal amount for an intern and/or any guidance on a comfort level regarding FLSA issues such as not meeting minimum wage? Would a paid intern be an employee? We have $5,000 in our budget that could be paid over the year intern program.

If someone has a copy of an intern "agreement" that you use you could share with me it would be much appreciated!

stilldazed

No experience here with the 'pay' part of the issue. We do have interns, including psychology interns, who come onboard for the practical part of their academic programs, and we don't offer anything more than the opportunity for experience. They also must provide evidence of liability insurance through their school, and if our experience with them is promising, we encourage them to apply for a job with us if we have an opening.

Fred

Do you use a written agreement for your internships, and if so could you share with me?

I have read on SHRM's website that if a company feels that no direct compensation of the student is required under FLSA, considering the six criteria, then a stipend or donation of any amount can be given. I assume here that "stipend" can be actual compensation since I've also seen examples where this is the case.

However, other articles seem to indicate that any "stipend" should be only expense reimbursement type items..............can be confusing.