Great Lakes Wire

Summer internships offer high school, college, and graduate students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with employers. Sherrie Gong Taguchi, a consultant and principal of Career Inspirations, advises companies on developing or strengthening their internship programs. She suggests eight steps: clarifying the program's purpose, integrating it with targeted schools, offering meaningful work, using top employees as mentors, creating interaction opportunities with key personnel, providing company insights, giving timely feedback and offers, and involving interns in on-campus recruiting.

A significant concern is whether internships should be paid. Employers must ensure that the primary benefit of the internship is for the intern rather than the employer. The U.S. Department of Labor has a seven-factor test to determine who benefits more from the internship. Akerman LLP’s Blog outlines these tests in its article "The Do’s and Don’ts of Internships." Factors include mutual understanding of compensation expectations, training similar to educational environments, alignment with formal education programs, accommodation of academic commitments, limited duration for beneficial learning, complementing rather than displacing paid employees' work while providing educational benefits, and understanding that there is no entitlement to a job after the internship.

Employers should note that individual states may have additional or different factors to consider. In Michigan, where no specific law governs internships, federal guidelines are followed. If an internship primarily benefits the employer or involves minors being paid for summer jobs, Michigan's Youth Employment Standards Act (YESA) applies. This law covers workers under 18 and requires minors to obtain a work permit or have a training agreement completed by their school district and employer. Minors can be paid 85% of Michigan’s minimum wage of $12.48 per hour. Work hour limits vary based on age.

Employers in Michigan employing minors should display the state's Youth Employment poster.

By Michael Burns