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
On June 9, 2022, a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided an unpaid intern who participated in a forensic photography training program was not entitled to wages under the Fair...more
Bond Labor and Employment attorney Seth F. Gilbertson offers suggestions on how employers can successfully operate an internship program that complies with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, New York State Minimum Wage Act...more
The questions and answers below highlight labor and employment topics as they relate to nonprofit organizations. Classifying Your Staff - What is the difference between a paid employee and an unpaid volunteer? Under...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept over the world, an unlikely phenomenon swept the United States. While new terms like “social distancing” and “essential employees” suddenly became part of the common lexicon, a surprising phrase...more
The end of the school year is on the horizon for high school and college students. Along with catching up on sleep and enjoying a break from classes, many students will want to spend at least part of the summer working for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Courts across the country have frequently weighed in on the unpaid interns/ trainees versus paid employee debate. Now, the 10th Circuit has jumped into the fray with a decision affirming that a massage...more
Once thought to be the next wave of wage-and-hour cases, suits involving interns and students have tended to founder because most training programs are intended to train rather than to provide employment....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 the past we have focused a lot on volunteer labor. The fact that generally an individual cannot “volunteer” to work for a for-profit business. The days of unpaid internships where someone volunteers their time to gain...more
In January, the Department of Labor announced that it would use a new method to determine whether interns or students working for non-profit organizations should be paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DOL’s new...more
New laws pop up in California on a regular basis, as summarized by our What’s New for 2018 advisory. Meanwhile, California employers must also be mindful of the laws already on the books, many of which pose traps for the...more
The use of unpaid interns is a common practice across many industries, especially in the D.C. Metro area. And the question recently addressed by the Ninth Circuit is not a new one: under what set of circumstances does an...more
On January 5, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued Fact Sheet #71, which sets forth new federal guidelines for determining whether an intern or student at a for-profit company must be paid under...more
As part of its revision of Obama-era policies, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently announced a new test for assessing whether interns qualify as employees under the Federal Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The agency’s...more
Determining when an unpaid intern is really an employee has been a moving target for the last several years. However, on January 5, 2018, the Department of Labor announced that its Wage and Hour Division will now use the...more
Several former interns of the Hearst Corporation, one of the world’s largest magazine publishers, were just that: unpaid interns, not employees entitled to minimum wage or overtime under the FLSA, the Second Circuit has held....more
In late April each year, tens of millions of employees and millions of employers participate in Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day. Of course, the vast majority of the child participants are elementary school kids, or...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
In two recent cases decided on July 2, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that in many instances, unpaid interns may not necessarily be employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor...more
The Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicant Act: Commonly referred to as the "ban-the-box” law, employers with 15 or more employees cannot consider or inquire into an applicant’s criminal record or history until: (a) the...more
With the use of more than a few pens, the Governor of California has enacted more than 50 new laws related to employment, some of which affect all employers, and others that affect only specific industries. Unfortunately for...more
California Legislative Update - Welcome back to our annual review of new laws that may impact California employers! This year’s highlights include California’s new paid sick leave law, additions to sexual harassment...more
California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a number of bills that will impact the employer community. Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014—Paid Sick Leave (AB 1522) - On September 10, 2014,...more