In today’s issue of Warner Employment News From the Law Shanty, Steve Palazzolo discusses the topic of hiring interns and whether or not interns must be paid. Although having all four seasons within a single week gives little to no hope that summer will ever arrive in Michigan, it will be upon us soon enough. Many employers hire students as interns during the summer months as a way to provide work experience to up-and-coming candidates, but also as a way to tackle administrative tasks that need to be completed at a lower pay grade. With this hiring practice, employers often inquire if they need to pay their interns. Steve cautions that interns fall into a grey area, and that for-profit organizations differ greatly from nonprofits or government agencies. Fact Sheet 71 issued by the United States Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division titled Internship Programs under the Fair Labor Standards Act, updated in January of 2018, cites a “seven factor test” to determine whether the intern is a student or an actual employee. Steve provides an overview of the seven factors and helps us comprehend what these mean. He also recommends consulting legal counsel to make the best and most accurate decisions that will keep you out of hot water.
To learn more about the practice of hiring and paying interns, view the video below.
Hiring Interns: To Pay or Not To Pay?
Look for additional Warner recordings in the near future from Steve Palazzolo’s podcast “Warner Employment News From the Law Shanty.”
