CNBC published an interesting article recently on some of the history behind unpaid internships. While such internships are allowed under the Fair Labor Standards Act, there are specific criteria which must be met in order for an employer to justify an unpaid internship. The biggest question on this front is whether or not the internship primarily benefits the student or the site. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is clear that interns must not be used as a substitute for paid employees. Rather, interns must complement the work of paid employees and the burden of supervising the intern should be greater than any benefit provided to the site. In plain terms, that means that a site cannot profit off the work of unpaid interns if the interns are otherwise doing work that the site would have to pay an employee to do. The FLSA rules apply mostly to for-profit agencies with over $500,000 a year in revenue. While many counseling internships are in agencies that may not be subject to FLSA, it is interesting to consider the FLSA rules. What if an intern is at a site that is able to bill for services provided by the intern (though Medicaid, for example) and the site is profiting from the intern's work while not paying the intern? The intern is certainly gaining valuable experience and receiving supervision and academic credit, but do those benefits for the intern outweigh the benefits to the site? We don't have any clear answers on that and we're certainly not lawyers, but the FLSA is an interesting piece of the puzzle to ponder as we consider how to create a more equitable internship experience.
Comments