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Legal Issues Employers Should Know The possibility of free labor in the form of student interns may be a tempting one for employers. However, employers must be aware of and ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), before classifying an intern as an unpaid "trainee." If an intern is considered an "employee" for purposes of the FLSA, then the employer must pay its interns at least the minimum wage. "Employee" is defined by the FLSA as "any individual employed by an employer." Under the FLSA, to "employ" means "to suffer or permit to work." Since this definition is somewhat circular, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division developed a six-factor test for determining whether workers are to be considered "trainees" or "employees" under the FLSA:
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