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Intern
Practical Law Glossary Item 8-521-1357 (Approx. 3 pages)
Glossary
Intern
In the labor and employment context, an individual, typically a student or recent graduate, who provides services to a company for a specified period to:
- Get practical, hands-on experience in a particular job or professional field.
- Improve their resume and job prospects.
- Network at a particular employer or in a particular professional field.
Some employers engage student interns through a formal academic program. For example, several colleges and universities have intern or externship programs in which they partner with one or more employers to provide experience-based learning to students. These programs frequently:
- Provide academic credit.
- Are paired with classroom learning and other academic requirements. For example, students may be required to attend a weekly class and write a paper about their internship experience.
- Relate to a particular course of study or curriculum.
- Last for a specified duration, such as a semester.
Employers may hire interns regardless of whether they are in a formal academic internship program to:
- Get additional seasonal help or for special projects.
- Help individuals gain professional experience. For example, an employer may hire the child of a senior executive or important client as a summer intern to help them gain professional experience and bolster their resume.
Although internships are frequently unpaid, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has no specific exemption from its minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for interns.
The primary beneficiary test is the prevailing test for determining whether unpaid interns who provide services to a for-profit, private-sector company should be treated as employees under the FLSA.
For more information about interns under the FLSA, see Practice Note, Interns, Trainees, and Volunteers Under the FLSA. State and local wage and hour laws may impose different or additional requirements on employers. For more information, see Wage and Hour Laws: State Q&A Tool.