The Fair Labor Standards Act and internships
Each summer a number of articles surface concerning internships and cheap labor. Hannah Seligson of the Washingtonian recently wrote a feature titled "The Age of the Permanent Intern" where she evaluated the current state of internships in Washington, D.C. where interns often worn two or three jobs unpaid and work paid jobs as restaurant hosts, retail workers and coffee baristas.
http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/the-age-of-the-permanent-intern/
The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division regulates internships under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Interns should be aware of how the services that they provide to “for-profit” private sector are regulated. There are six things interns should evaluate when they work an internship for a "for-profit" news organization:
1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage
from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
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