Interns: Employees or Not
August 2008
It seems like a good idea: Your client's son is looking for a summer job
General Credit
1. The term intern refers to the employment status of doctors in training at local hospitals. True False
2. Internship (nonemployee) status is guaranteed if the intern is also a student. True False
3. An employment contract designating a person as an intern is determinative. True False
4. An intern who agrees to work for free can’t later make a claim for minimum wages and overtime. True False
5. Interns are not entitled to participate in health plans covering regular employees. True False
6. The federal Department of Labor has specified eleven separate factors that guide the legal analysis under the Fair Labor Standards Act in determining whether an intern is really an employee. True False
7. Opinion letters issued by the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement are the equivalent of official regulations promulgated by an administrative agency. True False
8. The U.S. Supreme Court has never considered the issue of whether trainees are to be treated as employees. True False
9. Interns are never covered by the workers’ compensation law. True False
10. If an intern leaves the job to return to school, he or she can still collect unemployment compensation. True False
11. One key to a successful internship program is that the training must primarily benefit the intern, as opposed to the employer. True False
12. Under California law, there are eleven factors that determine whether an employment relationship exists. True False
13. To determine employment status, courts apply the various factors consistently. True False
14. Depending on the economic realities of the situation, an intern might be considered an employee under Title VII. True False
15. An individual who starts work as a nonemployee intern retains that status indefinitely. True False
16. The labor commissioner’s guidelines are binding as a matter of law. True False
17. An intern should perform work done by regular employees. True False
18. If an intern takes the place of a regular employee, the employer may be liable for providing benefits due regular employees. True False
19. An intern who is injured on the job may be able to bring a tort claim against the employer. True False
20. Firefighter trainees are always considered to be employees because of issues of public safety. True False
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