unpaid internship

[sw45]

Jurisdiction

New York

Is it legal to hire an intern at no compensation? I work in a law office, and the attorney I work for only pays me for transportation.

 

[KatDini]

An internship is to expose you to the field you are interested in working in. Sometimes they are paid, sometimes they are not. It's all dependent. I've done two unpaid internships and one paid internship.

 

[cbg]

Do you get school credit for this?

 

[sw45]

Kudos to you @KatDini for doing all those internships! Unfortunately I am still looking for my sugar daddy to pay my bills. I need some money, even if it's not exactly law firm partner level money. @cbg - No school credit offered. I was told that it would be a good experience by my professors. It turned out to be slave work with minimal exposure. I was doing much of the legal assistant's work and didn't get the experience in a law office promised.

 

[KatDini]

I pay my own bills, thank you very much.

 

[cbg]

That being the case, the time has to be paid. There are rules (read, laws) about when an internship must be paid and when it can be unpaid. Given your description, yours falls squarely in the Paid column.

 

[Betty3]

Here is some info on interns.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf

 

[sw45]

Here is some info on interns.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf

This is pretty amazing information! Thank you so much! I had no idea that this intern and work law document existed. It's really tough to find out about laws that apply to you as an employee or an intern or a contractor.

 

[cbg]

If you have questions about the employment laws that apply to you, come on back here. It's what we're here for.

 

[Betty3]

This is pretty amazing information! Thank you so much! I had no idea that this intern and work law document existed. It's really tough to find out about laws that apply to you as an employee or an intern or a contractor.

You're welcome. Come back anytime.