May 9, 2012

Jennifer Williams authored a Contributors Column, "Employers Should Focus Internships on Education," in the Daily Business Review.

In the column, Willams discusses the increasing use of unpaid interns and the risks to employers if workers are misclassified. Employers need to be aware that the use of unpaid interns can violate the Fair Labor Standards Act as well as any applicable state labor laws. Internships in the private sector will most often be seen as employment unless interns receive training for their own educational benefit and that training meets certain criteria. In addition, the internship experience is for the intern's benefit - not the employer's.

Willams states, "The focus of any unpaid internship program should be from a training or educational aspect rather than a production or operational aspect. In other words, interns should be learning an employer’s business rather than actually performing work in the employer’s business — especially work that would typically be performed by employees."