{"id":2205,"date":"2018-08-27T19:20:42","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T23:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.harringtonlawassociates.com\/?p=2205"},"modified":"2018-10-11T12:09:20","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T16:09:20","slug":"labor-law-unpaid-interns-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myhlaw.com\/es\/labor-law-unpaid-interns-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor Law: Unpaid Interns in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an international business attorney, I often point out the advantages of doing business in the US.\u00a0 It’s cheap and easy to set up a new company, employment is \u00abat-will\u00bb and, in the case of Florida, taxation is comparatively low.\u00a0 There are, however, a few caveats to keep in mind, and offering unpaid internships is one.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Many of my foreign business clients are used to employing unpaid interns.\u00a0 That concept exists here in the US as well, but be careful.\u00a0 The practice is fraught with potential peril.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you are reading this article then, like all business owners, you want a quick and concrete answer to the question \u00abCan I use unpaid interns in my business?\u00bb\u00a0 Like a typical attorney, my answer is \u00abWell . . . maybe.\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

The first question is what body or bodies of law apply to your business.\u00a0 The most prevalent is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is federal labor law.\u00a0 There are particular criteria that you can look at to determine whether the FLSA applies to your business, but I’m going to save you some time.\u00a0 Assume that it does.\u00a0 Why do I say that?<\/span><\/p>\n

Courts have gone so far out of their way to find that the FLSA applies — even to businesses that seemingly have nothing to do with interstate commerce — that we might as well say the FLSA applies to every business in every state.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m sure there are exceptions but, even if your business is the paradigm of an exempt employer, it would still be dodgy to count on that.\u00a0 So, assume the FLSA applies to your company.<\/span><\/p>\n

Department of Labor’s Standard<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Wage & Hour Division of the US Department of Labor has kindly given us some factors to consider in order to determine whether your company’s interns must be considered \u00abemployees\u00bb and paid minimum wage:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee\u2014and vice versa.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The extent to which the internship provides training that would be similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the clinical and other hands-on training provided by educational institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The extent to which the internship is tied to the intern\u2019s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The extent to which the internship accommodates the intern\u2019s academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The extent to which the internship\u2019s duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. The extent to which the intern\u2019s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. The extent to which the intern and the employer understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, that does give you something<\/em> to go by.\u00a0 The Courts have a similar but different list of criteria . . . and the decisions have not be uniform throughout the country.<\/span><\/p>\n