The United States Department of Labor recently issued a fact sheet to help for-profit employers determine whether interns must be paid minimum wage and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Six criteria must be examined when determining whether an employment relationship exists:
1. The internship is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
2. The experience is for the benefit of the intern.
3. The intern does not displace regular employees and works under close supervision of existing staff.
4. The employer derives no immediate advantage from the intern’s activities and, on occasion, its operations may actually be impeded.
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the end of the internship.
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
If all of these factors are not met, an employment relationship exists, and the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act apply to the intern. Thus, employers who seek to hire summer interns must ensure that the interns are appropriately compensated if the above factors are not met.
To speak to a Dallas, Texas employment lawyer about an internship program or another employment law issue, please contact the Dallas employment lawyers at Clouse Dunn Khoshbin LLP at [email protected].
