Interns

dlongawa

Can a private corporation hire interns for less than minimum wage? Can a private corporation attain interns (college students) without pay?

NaeNae55

Here is a link to an article that may help you:

[url]http://www.jacksonlewis.com/legalupdates/article.cfm?aid=2145[/url]

I don't have experience with interns, but my understanding is that it must be for the benefit of the intern (not the employer), and they are either not paid at all (and few meet the critieria for no pay) or they are paid minimum wage.

Hope this helps.

Nae

Holly Jones

[url]http://hrhero.com/hl/articles/2009/04/17/interns-and-trainees-must-they-be-paid/[/url]

The above article from our Hero Line e-zine goes into explanation of the DOL six-factor test.

Regarding your earlier question about paying with gift cards, while the sixth factor discusses that the employer and intern must understand that there is no entitlement for wages for time spent in the internship, the DOL and courts have permitted limited pay, such as housing, meal allowances, transportation, retroactive hiring, and bonuses (which gift cards could be considered), so long as the value of the compensation doesn't exceed the reasonable approximation of the interns' or trainees' actual expenses incurred during the program.

Sharon McKnight SPHR

I've coordinated interns in the past and found it to be a very rewarding experience. As Nae mentioned, the key to whether you pay interns or not is whether their time at your place of business is solely for their benefit (to learn) or whether their presence benefits the employer (actually doing work).

Also, it is ok to pay them more than minimum wage if they are in fact working rather than observing and asking questions.

Sharon

PS: HRLaws subscribers can find helpful information about hiring interns at:

[URL]http://www.hrlaws.com/node/1199525[/URL]

[URL]http://www.hrlaws.com/node/1202325[/URL]