Internship
Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards
Act
Background
The FLSA requires "for-profit" employers to pay employees for their
work. Interns and students, however, may not be "employees" under
the FLSA-in which case the FLSA does not require compensation for
their work.
Courts have used the "primary beneficiary test" to
determine whether an intern or student is, in fact, an employee
under the FLSA.2 In short, this test allows courts to examine
the "economic reality" of the intern-employer relationship to
determine which party is the "primary beneficiary" of the
relationship. Courts have identified the following seven factors as
part of the test:
1、The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly
understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any
promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the
intern is an employee-and vice versa.
2、The extent to which the internship provides training
that would be similar to that which would be given in an
educational environment, including the clinical and other hands-on
training provided by educational institutions.
3、The extent to which the internship is tied to the
intern's formal education program by integrated coursework or the
receipt of academic credit.
4、The extent to which the internship accommodates the
intern's academic commitments by corresponding to the academic
calendar.
5、The extent to which the internship's duration is limited
to the period in which the internship provides the intern with
beneficial learning.
6、The extent to which the intern's work complements,
rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing
significant educational benefits to the intern.
7、The extent to which the intern and the employer
understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to
a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.
Courts have described the "primary beneficiary
test" as a flexible test, and no single factor is
determinative. Accordingly, whether an intern or student is an
employee under the FLSA necessarily depends on the unique
circumstances of each case.
If analysis of these circumstances reveals that an intern
or student is actually an employee, then he or she is entitled to
both minimum wage and overtime pay under the FLSA. On the other
hand, if the analysis confirms that the intern or student is not an
employee, then he or she is not entitled to either minimum wage or
overtime pay under the FLSA.
背景：
《公平劳动标准法》（以下简称FLSA）中要求以"盈利为目的"的雇主必须支付雇员应得的薪酬。然而，实习生（学生）在很大程度上不属于员工编制。在这种情况下，FLSA不要求雇主付给他们薪酬。
近期，美国法院系统采用了"主要受益人测试"标准来确定一个实习生（学生）是否属于FLSA标准下的雇员（劳动者）。这项测试能够让法院检验雇主与雇员之间的"经济现实"，法院系统通过以下七个方面来确认谁才是"主要受益方"。
1、实习生和雇主都清楚知道这段工作中不存在任何预期的薪酬。任何对薪酬的承诺，无论是明示还是暗示，都说明实习生的身份为劳动者。
2、在实习期间提供的培训与实习生在校接受的培训程度形似，这包括与教育机构提供的诊所教学或者其他实际的培训
3、实习生是否能获得学分（实习内容是否和在校课程相结合从而获得学分）
4、是否根据学校的教学进度平衡实习时间
5、实习期间的工作是否能为学生带来益处
6、实习生所从事的工作大多数是实习公司额外为他们提供的，而不是让实习生取代原有的工作岗位，同时，这段实习期会为为实习生带来显著的教育福利。
7、双方都清楚的了解实习期的结束并不意味着实习生（学生）可以获得一份有薪酬的工作。
法院将"主要受益人测试"描述为一种灵活的测试，但没有一个因素是确定的，因此，一个实习生（学生）是否是FLSA标准下的雇员，需要根据不同案例来决定。
小刘热线：021-32508134
翻译：刘筱晨
来源：
https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm