Placing a Paid Internship
If you wish to post a paid internship, please call the Student Employment Office at 831.479.6413, or go place your job online.
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Placing an Unpaid Internship
If you wish to place an unpaid internship, please review the formatting of the currently posted internships that are listed in the categories in "Local Non-Profit Volunteer Opportunities." Please format your internship in a similar manner and email it to Lyn Hood at: "lyhood(at)cabrillo.edu". Please send the wording in the text of the email, not as an attachment, and indicate which category you feel is most appropriate in which to have it posted.
If you are a For-Profit business, please read the information toward the bottom of this page prior to sending us an unpaid internship listing.
We reserve the right to decline to post any internship. If the internship is for a for-profit employer and we do not feel that the internship represents a sufficient learning opportunity to offset the value of the work being performed or the the employer does not stipulate how the intern will learn new skills or gain new knowledge, as it relates to the six criteria listed below that relate to the “Employment Relationship Under the Fair Labor Standards Act”, the employer may be referred to post a paid internship.
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What is an Internship
The term “internship” is loosely defined in today’s work world. The National Society for Experiential Education defines an internship as a “carefully monitored work or volunteer experience in which an individual had intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience.” At the Cabrillo College Student Employment Center, we view internships as learning opportunities, whether paid or unpaid, which are designed to fulfill the dual purpose of reality-testing and skill-building. Reality-testing is the process of clarifying a student's choice of career direction. Skill-building is the chance to gain valuable experience in a specific career field or work environment. If learning is the emphasis, it is an internship.
The FLSA defines an employee as “any individual employed by an employer.” 29 U.S.C. 203(e)(1). Similarly, the FLSA definition of “[e]mploy’ includes to suffer or permit to work. ” Id. The Supreme Court held over fifty years ago in Walling v. Portland Terminal Co., 330 U.S. 148 (1947), that the FLSA definition of “employ’ does not make all persons employees who, without any express or implied compensation agreement, may work for their own advantage on the premises of another. Whether student interns are employees under the FLSA will depend upon all the circumstances surrounding their activities. For example, where certain work activities are performed by students that are simply an extension of their academic programs, we often would not assert that an employer-employee relationship exists for purposes of the FLSA. Thus, provided the six criteria listed below are met, where educational or training programs are designed to provide students with professional experience in the furtherance of their education, and the training is academically oriented for the benefit of the students, it is our position that the students will not be considered employees of the firm to which they are assigned. The six criteria, derived from the Supreme Court’s decision in Portland Terminal, are as follows:
- The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school;
- The training is for the benefit of the trainee;
- The trainees do not displace regular employees, but work under close observation;
- The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees and on occasion the employer’s operations may actually be impeded;
- The trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job at the completion of the training period; and
- The employer and the trainee understand that the trainees are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.
The Department of Labor has consistently applied this test in response to questions about the employment status of student interns. See, e.g., attached opinion letters dated May 8, 1996, July 11, 1995 and March 13, 1995 and WH Publication 1297 (“Employment Relationship Under the Fair Labor Standards Act”).
School-to-Work
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/scope/er15astw.asp
The general trainee tests apply to School-to-Work learning programs under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (STW).
A learning experience at an employer's work site that includes all of the following elements is consistent with a learning experience under the STW:
- a planned program of job training and work experience for the student, appropriate to the student's abilities, which includes training related to pre-employment and employment skills to be mastered at progressively higher levels that are coordinated with learning in the school-based learning component and lead to the awarding of a skill certificate;
- the learning experience encompasses a sequence of activities that build upon one another, that increase in complexity and promote mastery of basic skills;
- the learning experience has been structured to expose the student to all aspects of an industry and promotes the development of broad, transferable skills; and,
- the learning experience provides for real or simulated tasks or assignments which push students to develop higher-order critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
A student enrolled in a STW learning experience would not be considered an employee under the FLSA if all of the following student criteria are met:
- the student receives ongoing instruction at the employer's worksite and receives close on-site supervision throughout the learning experience, with the result that any productive work that the student would perform would be offset by the burden to the employer from the training and supervision provided; and
- the placement of the student at a worksite during the learning experience does not result in the displacement of any regular employee -- i.e., the presence of the student at the worksite cannot result in an employee being laid off, cannot result in the employer not hiring an employee it would otherwise hire, and cannot result in an employee working fewer hours than he or she would otherwise work; and
- the student is not entitled to a job at the completion of the learning experience -- but this does not mean that employers are to be discouraged from offering employment to students who might successfully complete the training; and
- the employer, student, and parent or guardian understand that the student is not entitled to wages or other compensation for the time spent in the learning experience -- although the student may be paid a stipend for expenses such as books or tools.
When all four of the above student criteria are met, an employer would not be required to pay wages to a student enrolled in an STW learning experience.
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What is the Difference between an Internship and a Job?
Volunteer opportunities and unpaid internships for non-profit organizations and public sector employers are generally not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Volunteer opportunities and unpaid internships for for-profit emplouers may be covered by the FLSA.
http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-flsa.htm
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How are Interns Compensated?
Compensation comes in many forms. In some cases internships are paid at or near the prevailing wage for an entry level professional. Compensation at this level helps attract students and ensures the internship site can pick the “cream of the crop”. This also helps the students to focus on the internship because they do not need to work a second job and possibly attend school at the same time. These “internships” are usually listed on the Off Campus Student Job Board. In other cases, interns are paid a “training wage” that is at or above minimum wage. Some employers offer a stipend, a set amount of money that is awarded without regard to the number of hours completed in an internship. Before offering a stipend, however, employers should check with state regulations concerning stipends to ensure that all appropriate regulations are being followed.
Non-profit groups often cannot afford to pay an intern, and so compensation in other forms should be considered, For example, an arts agency may provide the intern with free ticket to performances or events. A social service agency may pay the registration and other expenses to send an intern to a professional conference.
For many students, the most important compensation is the opportunity to learn real skills and contribute to the mission of the internship site. However, internships without pay (particularly for for-profit businesses), must have an identifiable learning component or the employer is at risk for violating the Fair Labor Practices Act. The U.S. Department of Labor has identified specific criteria for identifying a learner/trainee who may be unpaid. (The DOL does not use the term internship).
for an example, go to:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/opinion/FLSANA/2004/2004_05_17_05FLSA_NA_internship.htm
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