Running Successful and Legally Compliant Internships
Primer for Nonprofits on Paid Employees, Volunteers, and Interns
II-28 – The New Relaxed Intern Standard and Implications for Employers
Employment Law This Week®: DOL’s Association Health Plan Proposal, NJLAD Includes Nursing Mothers, New Unpaid Intern Test, HHS’s Conscience-Based Protections
Student and Alumni Litigation
Polsinelli Podcast - To Pay or Not to Pay? The Rules for Summer Interns in 2014
Unpaid Internships: Are They Legal?
Failed Unpaid Intern Class Action Hints at Impact of Comcast v. Behrend
Our quarterly report discusses new developments in class action litigation and offers strategic guidance and tactical tips on how to defend such claims. This issue covers the following topics: - Are you my employer? A...more
An improper class still isn’t a class even if you settle - Here’s something you don’t see every day. A district court has rejected the settlement of a proposed class and collective action – not due to the usual reasons such...more
In yet another blow to Obama-era Department of Labor (DOL) precedent, the DOL recently eliminated its six-part test for determining whether interns can be deemed employees for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),...more
Four years ago, a wave of cases involving unpaid internships looked to be the next “big thing.” As those cases sputtered, however, and employers reduced or eliminated internships, the flood of anticipated litigation never...more
Where's the line between an intern and an employee? If you think that's an easy question, consider this: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines "employ" broadly as to "suffer or permit to work." So, who's to say that...more
Litigation Over Interns Dries Up Internship Opportunities - The natural and probable consequence of litigation over unpaid internships was that such opportunities would disappear because the risk of litigation for even...more
Blog readers who have been following the recent wave of wage and hour lawsuits by interns will recall that the Second Circuit, in a major decision issued in early July, held that the “primary beneficiary” test should govern...more
Earlier this month Sirius XM Radio Inc. settled a wage & hour class action with a class of 1,852 unpaid interns that claimed the company violated federal and state labor laws by failing to compensate them for the work they...more
Second Circuit Reverses Class Certification Ruling in Fox Searchlight Unpaid Intern Case, Directing Trial Court to View Economic Benefit Factors Through New Lens - A federal appellate court in New York handed an apparent...more
Employee's Inability To Work For A Particular Supervisor Does Not Constitute A "Disability" - Higgins-Williams v. Sutter Med. Found., 237 Cal. App. 4th 78 (2015) - Michaelin Higgins-Williams worked as a clinical...more
Can businesses use unpaid interns? Over the past few years, this is a frequent question from corporate clients and a mainstay subject in the legal blogosphere (including right here). The heightened interest stemmed from a...more
On July 2, 2015, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision regarding the employment status of unpaid interns that should prove helpful to employers. In Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., Nos. 13-4478 and...more
Many of us spent summers working as interns, getting access to the industry of our choice, making contacts, learning – and yes running errands and filing and stuffing envelopes and doing other “grunt” work. Most young people...more
The Second Circuit’s ruling provides employers with greater leeway for unpaid internship programs and a stronger defense for class-action lawsuits brought by unpaid interns. In a long-awaited decision, the US Court of...more
Glatt et al. v. Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc., No. 13-4478 (2d Cir.) and Wang et al. v. The Hearst Corp., No. 13-4480, (2d Cir.): On January 30, 2015, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held oral arguments in two closely...more
Sportswear-inspired designs, bold prints, and gingham aren’t the only things trending for Spring 2015 in the fashion world. Judging from a recent wave of lawsuits, wage and hour class actions are trending as well. Over the...more
Late last spring I posted on this blog about the pitfalls for employers of unpaid internships, often offered to young people during the summer months, or to students or recent college graduates as “pre-entry-level” positions....more
It felt like we were in a dream. Or maybe San Diego. Day after day, 82 degrees and little humidity. In a word: pleasant. We know next summer probably won’t be the same, but we sure enjoyed this one. That’s right – this was...more
After more than a year of litigation (the filing of which we reported at the time), former unpaid Gawker Media interns will be permitted to send notices to other unpaid or allegedly underpaid interns to inform those potential...more
In Mark v. Gawker Media LLC, Case No. 13-cv-4347(AJN) (S.D. N.Y. Aug. 15, 2014), Gawker became the subject of yet another in a line of cases involving unpaid interns. Four interns brought suit under the FLSA, contending that...more
With the Memorial Day weekend approaching, many people are looking forward to hitting the beach, firing up the grill and polishing off their golf clubs, which are, for many Northeasterners, covered in cobwebs after this long...more
Following similar decisions involving Hearst Corporation and Viacom, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York recently granted conditional certification of a potential nation-wide class of approximately 3,000...more
There is much to be learned from 2013. Below are five legal topics that made headlines last year, and should provide valuable guidance for managing labor and employment law issues in 2014....more
The rise in unpaid internships has led to an equally significant uptick in litigation brought by interns demanding compensation for performing the same work as paid employees. And the interns are winning....more