She then refused to give us her name. There's no real way of knowing whether businesses that don't pay interns are really breaking the law, because no intern has ever stood up and accused any of them of breaking it - the authors of this article included. The truth is, no matter what the law says, interns benefit greatly from internships. Kathy No el, an investigator with the Labor Department in Sacramento, says she's never heard of a complaint involving an intern anywhere in the nation. Neither has Brian Yeskovich, an investigator with the Department of Labor in Reno.
Interns often receive credit from their respective colleges for the work they perform.
Many businesses refuse to take interns unless they have documentation that they will be receiving school credit. That's the belief. But, according to Yeskovich, whether or not interns are getting credit, they should be paid minimum wage, period. If all criteria of an employment relationship have been met, the provisions of the FLSA may apply. As interns, we found out about the Fair Labor Standards Act through the University of Nevada- Reno's Internship Center.