With summer approaching, many employers are looking to hire interns to increase staffing during a busy season or to build a pipeline for future full-time hiring. But employers need to be careful about making decisions to allow any work to go unpaid.
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Unpaid internships remain fairly common in certain industries, including restaurants, publishing, television and filmmaking, music, and fashion. This designation can create legal risk if the work primarily benefits the employer.
Under the FLSA, employers must pay interns in nonexempt positions at least the minimum wage and overtime pay, unless they meet specific criteria that show the internship primarily benefits the intern. Terminology is not wholly determinative; even if the position is called a “trainee,” “intern,” “extern,” “apprentice,” “graduate assistant,” “stagiaire,” or some other term, the same legal obligations will likely apply.
In addition, several states have wage-and-hour laws with more stringent standards than the FLSA with regard to unpaid internships.
Unlike internships in the for-profit private sector, which may require a more nuanced inquiry, unpaid internships in the public sector...
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