When an Intern Should be Paid

DC Shuttle …

Labor Dept Issues New Internship Guidance. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced changes to the way it defines interns. DOL issued an updated fact sheet on internship programs under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The “primary beneficiary” Fact Sheet lists seven factors for determining whether an intern is an employee and thus should be paid. That guidance is consistent with rulings by federal appellate courts rejecting the department’s former six-factor test. The guidance provides a new analysis centered on whether the intern or the hosting business is the “primary beneficiary” of the internship. Businesses must ensure that the interns are the primary beneficiaries of the experience, or the position must be paid. Bloomberg reports.

Senate Holds First HEA Reauthorization Hearing. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), the federal law governing higher education. The hearing focused on financial aid simplification and transparency and was the first held this session is the Senate regarding reauthorization of HEA. The committee will hold a hearing on access and innovation in under the HEA, after the House Education and Workforce passed a reauthorization bill, the PROSPER Act, which could be taken up by the House.

Senate Approves Nominations to Education Department. The Senate HELP Committee voted to favorably report out nine of President Donald Trump’s nominees for top posts at departments, including the Education Department. The committee approved the nomination of school choice advocate Mick Zais to serve as deputy to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The HELP Committee also voted to send to the full Senate the nominations of Kenneth L. Marcus to be assistant education secretary for civil rights and Jim Blew, who has worked to expand school choice in California, for assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy analysis. The committee will hold a confirmation hearing for former Florida Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan to be assistant secretary of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the Education Department.