General FAQs

NOTHING ON THIS WEBSITE CONSITTUES LEGAL ADVICE.

PLEASE CONSULT AN ATTORNEY IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT MINIMUM WAGE COMPLIANCE OR OTHER LEGAL ISSUES. 

How many hours per week can I expect an intern to work during the academic year? 

The FLSA does not establish a maximum number of hours that an employee (including employee-interns) can work per week for interns over the age of 18. However, if it is a paid internship and the employee works over 40 hours per week, (s)he must be paid time and a half for those hours worked in excess of 40 unless (s)he qualifies for an overtime exemption. State laws vary on the maximum amount an employee may work each day or each week before (s)he qualifies for overtime in respect to their internship salary. 

Companies should discuss this question with each individual intern to determine a reasonable number of working hours that will satisfy the credit requirements of the school if school credit is being sought and will otherwise be productive for both the company and the intern. For example, even if it is a paid internship, the company and the intern should determine a schedule that will not interfere with school studies to ensure that the intern can perform his or her best for the company. (WayUp, Legal Guidelines for Hiring Paid or Unpaid Internships.) 

How much do other companies pay their interns? 

The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) announces that the Virginia minimum wage rate will increase to $12.77 effective January 1, 2026, in accordance with Virginia law. All Virginia employers must pay covered employees at a rate not less than the minimum wage. 

“Virginia’s Minimum Wage Act allows for gradual adjustment of the minimum wage rate in response to economic conditions.” said DOLI Commissioner Gary G. Pan. “The new minimum wage will ensure the Commonwealth remains the leading destination for businesses and job seekers alike.” 

Under Virginia law, the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry has the duty to establish an adjusted state hourly minimum wage annually. The new minimum wage is calculated by adding the current minimum wage to the product of the current minimum wage and percentage increase of the United States Average Consumer Price Index, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The current minimum wage rate for 2025 is $12.41. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2024 percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all items, all urban consumers (CPI-U), is 2.9%. Therefore, the new adjusted state hourly minimum wage is $12.77 ($12.41 + [$12.41 x .029] = $12.77). The Virginia adjusted state hourly minimum wage rate for January 1, 2026 until January 1, 2027 is $12.77. This calculation will continue to be used for annual minimum wage rate adjustments. 

The minimum wage applies to most employees in Virginia, including full-time, part-time, and temporary workers. However, certain exemptions exist, such as for some seasonal and job-specific categories. For more information about the minimum wage increase and Virginia’s minimum wage laws, visit: www.doli.virginia.gov. 

**Information was taken from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry website. DOLI – Virginia Department of Labor and Industry.

Compensation for paid internships varies widely across geographic markets and industry. For example, in some industries, the interns are paid at the same rate that the company pays to entry level employees upon graduation. In other settings, the interns are paid at the applicable minimum wage rate. (WayUp, Legal Guidelines for Hiring Paid or Unpaid Internships.) 

• NACE Hourly Wages for Interns Have Kept Pace with Inflation (March 11, 2024): Current research from NACE shows that the average hourly wage for interns has increased over the past 10 years, but when adjusted for inflation, the increase is 0.2%. The average hourly wage for interns in 2023 was $22.06. 

Are there support resources available to my company if I want to hire young people with disabilities as interns? 

Yes. There are at least two excellent programs: 

• The Project SEARCH program provides real-life work experience combined with training in employability and independent-living skills to help young people with significant disabilities make successful transitions to productive adult life. The Project SEARCH model involves an extensive period of skills training and career exploration, innovative adaptations, long-term job coaching, and continuous feedback from teachers, skills trainers, and employers. As a result, at the completion of the training program, students with significant intellectual disabilities are employed in nontraditional, complex and rewarding jobs. Virginia currently has 18 sites. More information here. disabilities are employed in nontraditional, complex and rewarding jobs. Virginia currently has 18 sites. More information here. 
• The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) supports several initiatives that help employers interested in hiring individuals with disabilities.

Can I hire an international student for an internship? 

The United States government tightly regulates the employment (and internships) of foreign nationals, so the answer depends on the type of visa the student has. The student must have either an F-1 or J-1 visa. One benefit of the F-1 and J-1 status is that most students may apply for work authorization to accept a variety of employment opportunities. Best of all, it is possible for students to begin working without their employers having to provide visa sponsorship. 

Working in the US without prior authorization is a serious violation of immigration regulations and may lead to cancellation of the student’s visa. 

For more information about F-1 Visas, see here. 

For more information about J-1 visas, see here. 

Several institutions of higher education have posted guides for employers who want to hire international students as interns: 

• University of Michigan, U.S. Employer’s Guide to Hiring International Students 
• University of Chicago, Employer Guide for Hiring International Students 
• Northwestern Kellogg University, Hiring International Students 
  
   

Personnel and Human Resources FAQs 

NOTHING ON THIS WEBSITE CONSITTUES LEGAL ADVICE.

PLEASE CONSULT AN ATTORNEY IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT MINIMUM WAGE COMPLIANCE OR OTHER LEGAL ISSUES. 

State Minimum Wage 

Virginia’s minimum wage is $12.77 per hour, effective January 1, 2026 for most employees, including full-time, part-time and temporary workers. Employers must pay at least this rate to covered employees, with certain exemptions for seasonal or job-specific categories. Employers should review the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Labor Law.  

Workers’ Compensation Insurance 

The Virginia Workers Compensation Act applies to all employers that employ more than two part-time or full-time employees. An employee is viewed broadly under workers compensation law and includes part-time, seasonal and temporary workers, minors, trainees, immigrants and working family members. More information is available here. 

Paid interns should be covered by the employers workers compensation policy. In Virginia, workers compensation is statutory; that means it is required by law. Therefore an employer cannot exclude an individual employee or employees from a policy, by waiver or by any other means. (Source) 

Even unpaid interns could be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. While statutes and case law relating to unpaid interns vary by state, in Virginia, in determining whether there is an employee-employer relationship, the Workers Compensation Commission issued this guidance: 

• A person is generally considered an employee if: 1) they are selected, 2) can be dismissed, 3) earn pay or wages, and 4) control is exercised over the means and method by which the work is performed. The last factor is given the greatest weight. If inquiry indicates that control is exercised over the worker, the worker should likely be counted as an employee for coverage purposes. (Source) 
• The right to control includes not only the power to specify the result to be achieved, but also the power to control the means and methods by which the result is attained. If a person has the power to direct the means and methods by which another does the work, then an employer-employee relationship exists. 
• While unpaid interns may be eligible for workers compensation benefits, volunteers generally are not. Generally, volunteers that are not paid or compensated are not employees under the Virginia Workers Compensation Act. However, should a business wish to cover a volunteer they can be endorsed onto a policy. (Source) 

Unemployment Insurance & Benefit Eligibility 

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) administers the unemployment insurance program. More information is available here. 

In Virginia, a person must have earned at least $3,000 during two-quarters of the regular base period of covered employment. If the intern is no longer employed for reasons other than a reduction in the workforce (lack of work), the VEC will collect information from both the former intern and the employer regarding the separation. This information will be used to determine the intern’s eligibility for benefits before any payments are issued. The former intern must be able and available to work, actively seek employment, and meet weekly eligibility requirements. 

Non-Compete Agreements 

Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:8 (Covenants not to compete prohibited as to low-wage employees; civil penalty) states that, No employer shall enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete with any low-wage employee. The statute defines low-wage employee to include interns, students, apprentices, or trainees employed, with or without pay, at a trade or occupation in order to gain work or educational experience. 

VA Human Rights Act 

The Virginia Human Rights Act, in employment, safeguards all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination in employment because of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or military status. 

Links to Additional Sources 

Legal Guidelines for Hiring Paid or Unpaid Interns 

Can a career center or faculty member pre-screen candidates for an employer? 

Best Practices for Internship Programs. (Best practices are based on information from Building a Premier Internship Program: A Practical Guide for Employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), and current NACE research, including NACE’s Recruiting Benchmarks Report, Internship & Co-op Report, Job Outlook, and Student Survey Report. The internship guide is free to NACE employer members at www.naceweb.org/mynace/resources/; complimentary copies of the research reports are available to participating members at www.naceweb.org/mynace/research-reports/. 

Can a student or new graduate volunteer to work unpaid for an employer to gain experience? 

Best Practices for Internship Programs. (Best practices are based on information from Building a Premier Internship Program: A Practical Guide for Employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), and current NACE research, including NACE’s Recruiting Benchmarks Report, Internship & Co-op Report, Job Outlook, and Student Survey Report. The internship guide is free to NACE employer members at www.naceweb.org/mynace/resources/; complimentary copies of the research reports are available to participating members at www.naceweb.org/mynace/research-reports/. 

Interns and Harassment 

In general, employers are aware that it is unacceptable to harass employees. Unfortunately, however, some have not applied that awareness to their treatment of interns, paid and unpaid. As such, it is imperative that interns are aware of the law and understand what remedies are available should they believe they are being subjected to harassment in the workplace during their internship. (Source: National Association of College and Employers). 

Oftentimes, interns are the lowest on the totem pole in the workplace. As a result, interns lack bargaining power and can be more vulnerable to workplace discrimination than others. Interns, however, share the same or very similar rights to “normal” employees. (Source: Intern Discrimination at Work, Workplace Fairness.) 

 Remote Interns FAQs

NOTHING ON THIS WEBSITE CONSITTUES LEGAL ADVICE.

PLEASE CONSULT AN ATTORNEY IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT MINIMUM WAGE COMPLIANCE OR OTHER LEGAL ISSUES. 

Do you have any tips for onboarding and orientation of interns working remotely? 

Onboarding Tips

• Start the onboarding and orientation process earlier or consider lengthening the internship by a few weeks to allow extra time for start-up and acclimation to remote work 
• Send a welcome packet of information before the start of the internship; include branded gear to help the intern feel like they are integrating into the company
• Create short video bios of every member of the team introducing themselves and sharing something about themselves and send those to interns prior to start or on the first day 

Orientation and Training 

•  All members of the leadership team should still be involved in the orientation schedule, and video introductions should be utilized as much as possible.
• Some orientation can still happen in person, especially if there is a small cohort of interns starting at the same time; an in-person meeting could help build relationships more quickly.
• Determine how much time during each day of orientation interns should be asked to participate in online meetings versus working at their own pace reviewing policies, procedures, etc., and then create a schedule for the first week or days with detailed agendas. 
• Keep training segments focused on one task at a time and have interns practice or discuss content after each topic to keep people engaged. 
• Consider a scavenger hunt within the company’s online resources.
• After a company has carefully chosen an online collaboration platform, whether the same one that all employees use or one specific to the internship program, train the new interns on using the technology (if the platform is new and specifically for the internship program, ensure that all current employees who will interact with the intern on the platform are also trained). 

Communication and building a relationship with interns just seems harder in a remote environment. We miss the casual chats in the hallway and interns feel lost in all-staff crowded Zoom meetings. Any advice? 

• Inform interns of company norms such as: When do we use chat tools? When do we post an update on progress to a project management platform? Why do we write emails? At what point do we pick up the phone or schedule a video call? 
• Consider prefacing communication with the context each person is in or what they’ve just completed (providing a bridge can help transition from a previous unrelated task to the conversation or task at hand and help avoid or explain distracted or seemingly curt exchanges).
• Consider starting with frequent scheduled check-ins, multiple times a day, until the intern feels secure in their work assignment.
• Ensure the intern knows they can still ask a lot of questions using Slack or other chat tool.
• If a company hosts many interns, consider an “always-on” video room staffed by a monitor so the intern is able to see at least one other person working and can ask questions. 
• Some companies follow the rule that if one person will attend a team meeting remotely, then all team members participate via individual video; when some team members are together in a room and others join the meeting via video, the experience is not equal. 
• Consider company-wide online town halls with agenda items crowdsourced from all employees and interns in advance. 
• Use break out rooms for portions of large meetings. 
• Consider weekly 15-minute random groupings of two or three team members who connect on video just to chat about non-work things.
• Use jamboards for all employees to post comments about a weekly non-work topic (favorite summer vacation spot, favorite Thanksgiving recipe, pet peeves, etc.).
• Host a virtual “Show & Tell” and ask each intern to show an item that had special meaning; their choices and stories can provide insights into what they value.
• For interns to get to know each other, use a LinkedIn Scavenger Hunt: use break-out rooms so groups of interns can collaborate to find profiles of other interns on LinkedIn that meet criteria you set (name an intern who studied at USC, name an intern with an outdoor background); set a time limit, bring everyone back onto the main meeting and see which group found the most correct answers. You can take it one step further and review profile best practices and send the groups back to breakout rooms to assess their profiles and advise each other. 

With interns working remotely, my company is saving money on lunches and events. Do you have suggestions for using that money in a way that will help interns feel engaged with our company and valued? 

Pairing a scholarship with your internship program can be a great way to promote your program and attract top talent, especially in very competitive industries. This is true whether interns are working remotely or in person. If your company has unspent internship program funds available, consider adding a scholarship. 

Our interns need access to sensitive information on our networks and specialized hardware and software, so we’ll be sending each intern a laptop. Do you have any tips for ensuring interns are ready to use this technology at the start of their internship? 

• Ensure interns have a stable high-speed internet connection and, if not, supply funding to pay for it or provide a mobile hotspot. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia took a Closer Look At Virginia’s Digital Divide In Education and found that (1) statewide, fully one in five Virginia students (K-12 and college) lack either high-speed internet or a computer in the home and (2) while students living in rural areas are less likely to have broadband internet in the home compared to urban students, nearly 40% of all students without broadband live in or around Virginia’s cities. 
• Provide easy-to-follow printed instructions or videos for setting up the company-provided hardware and software.
• Schedule a one-on-one virtual meeting for each intern with a member of the IT staff to conduct the initial setup of the hardware and software and to troubleshoot any issues. 

We want to ensure that our interns are as prepared to work remotely as our employees. Do you have any tips? 

• Provide every employee, including interns, with great headphones to ensure good audio quality and less echo or feedback.
• Assist the intern to evaluate (i.e., through a checklist) their homework space to ensure they have everything they need.

Our intern mentors have relied on building rapport informally in an in-person environment. Do you have tips to help the mentors start off on the right foot with their mentees in a remote environment? 

Consider training your staff who mentor interns on strategies to work productively in a remote environment. 

We usually use focus groups and anonymous surveys to gather feedback from interns about our internship program and their experiences as interns. Online surveys are valuable for their anonymity, but they don’t allow participants to hear and react to others’ feedback. Are there other options for collecting feedback? 

Consider using a digital whiteboard tool (like the Google Jamboard) that allows participants to post anonymous feedback and also see and react to others’ comments. 

Are there ways that we can capitalize on or take the best advantage of a remote environment? 

• Build relationships with and recruit interns from colleges and universities that are not your usual sources (either due to geographic distance or budgetary considerations that previously limited your travel to career fairs, etc.).
• Perhaps not all scheduled work hours need to fall during regular business hours; perhaps a remote intern can do some work asynchronously at any time of day, especially if the intern is located outside of your time zone; however, a work schedule should still be agreed upon and followed and both supervisor and intern should recognize the benefits and barriers to working different hours.
• If the company has more than one location, consider taking advantage of the remote environment to broaden the list of executives who can participate in the internship program. 
• Invite college and university career services personnel to interns’ virtual presentations of their work or to listen to intern panels. 

Are there any additional resources? 

15 Best Practices for Internship Programs, National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 

How to Create a Successful Virtual Internship Program (Harvard Business School) 

10 Tips for Successfully Managing Remote Workers (SHRM) 

How to Establish a Virtual Onboarding Program (SHRM) 

Remote Internships 101: Your Guide to Creating and Managing a Remote Internship Program (Parker Dewey)

8 Tips To Develop A Successful Virtual Internship Program (eLearning Industry)

Considerations for remote internships (GitLab) 

What to do about internships in light of the COVID-19 pandemic? A short guide to online internships for colleges, students, and employers (The Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions, UW-Madison)