Unpaid interns may actually be entitled to pay despite the employer classifying the intern as unpaid and the intern agreeing to take the unpaid internship. The Wage Laws and Overtime Laws do not make it easy for employers to avoid the minimum wage and overtime laws – even for interns.
Wage laws are commonly applied to employees. However, employers may try to circumvent the wage laws by classifying an employee as an intern.
The Wage and Hour Laws have created the following test to determine whether an intern is actually an employee and entitled to the pay and benefits by the employer:
- The internship is similar to an educational environment and provides training (most important);
- The internship is for the benefit of the intern and not the employer;
- The intern is closely supervised by the employer;
- The intern does not replace the job of an employee;
- The employer does not guarantee employment at the end of the internship; and
- The employer and intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages.
The employer must meet all six of these requirements in order to have an unpaid intern. Remeber that this test is for “for-profit” businesses and does not apply to “non-profit” charitable organizations.
This test is very fact specific and you should contact us for a free consultation to determine whether you are entitled to wages and overtime as part of your unpaid internship.
For more information regarding New Jersey's Overtime Law, visit Castronovo & McKinney's New Jersey Employment Law Blog. If you have believe you are have been denied overtime, call us at (973) 920-7888. Also, check out our website for more information about the firm and the New Jersey Employment law.
