3 Things to Note About the New Federal Unpaid Intern Test

If you are an employer who hires interns, you should be using the Department of Labor's Primary Beneficiary Test to determine whether an internship qualifies as unpaid or not. The new unpaid intern test, adopted in January 2018, changes the way employers should be thinking about the internships they offer. Here are a few ways the test varies from the old one. 

It is More Holistic

One major difference is that the new test is not an all-or-nothing test. Previously, employers had to fit all of the required criteria of a six-question test in order for an internship to classify as unpaid. With the new test, there is more room for balance in a seven-question test where no single question determines an intern's classification. This allows the employer to look at the internship as a whole. 

It Focuses on Educational Aspects

The test the Department of Labor used to use required employers to indicate that they do not benefit from the intern's services to justify an unpaid internship. This is no longer a requirement. Instead, the test places a strong emphasis on whether or not the employer is providing educational benefits to an intern. Only one question on the old test asked about this important factor. The new test, however, includes four questions about the educational value of the internship.

It Sets a New Standard for Unpaid Internships

The factors the test focuses on push employers to think about the purpose and goal of unpaid internships. Typically, unpaid interns are looking for these factors in an internship:

• Valuable educational job experience
• Hands on and clinical training
• Skill development
• Flexibility around academic commitments and schedules

Now that the Primary Beneficiary Test places importance on the training and educational aspects of internships, employers are able to structure unpaid internships with expectations in mind. 

Classifying interns correctly is an important part of administrative and payroll processes. Contact the experts at Future Systems today for more business solutions and updates!

- Your Team at Future Systems