Alex87 wrote:
I understand that this is a fairly nuanced area of law. Generally businesses are held to minimum wage laws unless their internship meets some fairly specific criteria exempting it from standard labor laws.
Does anyone know the specific circumstances under which it is legal for a for-profit entity to have unpaid interns? This is, of course, just a random question having nothing to do with anything that may or may not be happening here on LR.
It depends on the jurisdiction. Some states have their own laws beyond the federal requirements. For example, in california, it has to be organized through an accredited school, in addition to following the state law.
Assuming no stricter state laws, the minimum requirements would be the federal requirements, found listed here:
https://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/employment-law-and-human-resources/unpaid-internship-rules.htmlSo basically, the internship has to be applicable to their career field, must not interfere with normal school schedules, must not displace any employees, must be limited in time to only as long as is needed to learn the educational objectives of the internship, etc.