Hiring Students: Trainees versus Interns
Many employers hire students as interns during the summer months and are perhaps questioning how those interns should be paid to ensure the employer’s compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). If your interns are “employees,” FLSA applies, and the interns must be paid at least minimum wage. If the interns can be categorized as a “trainee,” however, they may be exempt from FLSA.
For an intern to qualify as a trainee, the intern’s position must meet the following criteria:
1) The training, even though it includes actual operations at the facilities of the employer, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school;
2) The training is for the benefit of the trainee;
3) The trainee does not displace regular employees and works under close observation;
4) The employer providing the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainee, and, on occasion, the employer’s operations may actually be impeded;
5) The trainee is not necessary entitled to a job at the completion of the training period; and
6) The employer and the trainee understand that the trainee is not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.
If interns fail to meet any of the above criteria, they should be paid as employees, with at least minimum wage and overtime compensation when earned. Note that class credit is not considered wages and should not be substituted for wages.
Julie H. Pfitzenmaier