Small Business Interns

Your employee handbook or policy manual should designate Interns as another category of employee (i.e. full-time employees, part-time employees etc). This category should specify what benefits the Intern is eligible to receive. For example, most companies do not offer benefits to Interns such as health insurance, retirement participation and paid holidays/vacation/sick days.

In your offer letter to an Intern, you should designate the length of the Internship. However, you should also state that the Intern is employed at-will and the employment relationship may be terminated by the employer or the Intern at any time, for any reason.

You should set them up in your payroll system as you would any other hourly paid employee. As an Intern, the employee should be paid on an hourly basis and subject to the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (must pay minimum wage and overtime). You must complete all other required paperwork for the Intern as a new hire such as the I-9 form.

I suggest getting in touch with the college Career Services office that you are recruiting the Intern from. They typically provide guidance and service to companies interested in hiring Interns. They will also be able to provide you guidance in assuring that the student receives credit for the Internship.