With an increased focus on the legality of unpaid internships, some lawyers are urging companies to avoid them altogether, even if credit is being offered.
“Having a lawful intern is an exceedingly difficult thing to do,” said Robert G. Brody, a managing partner at Brody and Associates L.L.C. in Westport. “If an unpaid intern can somehow become paid, it takes away that huge risk that you”™re going to get sued.”
A U.S. District Court judge in New York last month threw out a class-action lawsuit against The Hearst Corp. over unpaid internships at all of its publications.
The eight plaintiffs who previously interned for Hearst plan to continue their fight and are encouraging other unpaid interns everywhere to do so as well.
A dozen Connecticut publications, including the Stamford Advocate, the Connecticut Post and The News-Times, are owned by Hearst”™s Connecticut Media Group.
In another case, producers of Charlie Rose”™s PBS show agreed in a 2012 settlement to pay $125,000 in unpaid interns”™ wages after several former interns brought a class-action suit against the show.
Outside of the recent high-profile cases, Brody said there also has been an increased emphasis on labor law enforcement within the Obama administration. There”™s been a large focus within the business community over the misclassification of independent contractors, but enforcement officials are also looking into the legality of unpaid interns, Brody said.
“If an unpaid intern gets college credit it might help qualify them as an unpaid intern, but that is still not enough,” said Brody, who has more than 30 years”™ experience in employment law. “You still need to meet the same six-part test as anybody else.”
An unpaid internship is only legal if it meets six qualifications determined by the U.S. Department of Labor. The minimum requirements in essence require that an unpaid intern must result in a net loss of resources for his or her employer.
There can be no immediate advantage from the activities of an unpaid intern and on occasion, a company”™s operations should be impeded, according to federal law. An unpaid intern can”™t displace a regular employee and must be under close supervision. Additionally, the training interns receive needs to be similar to that of an educational environment, Brody said.
Brody said most employers want to get value out of their interns, which is why they employ them. But if any real value is actually being derived, it”™s likely that the particular intern should be paid, he said.
“The economy has a lot to do with unpaid interns,” Brody said. “There are a lot of really good, smart people unemployed and they will do almost anything to enhance their resume and get a job.”
For many of the people who take unpaid internships, Brody said most want to use the experience to get a paid job later on and don”™t necessarily care if they get paid.
“Who wouldn”™t if you have tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt and you were sitting on the sidelines, not making money?” he said. “But the law just doesn”™t allow it.”
