(LegalLaw247.com, May 13, 2012 ) Miami, Florida - Sarelson Law Firm announces the filing of a major, consolidated appeal on behalf of three employees who received no compensation for providing services to medical centers and insurance companies.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires all employees to be paid a minimum wage. The Act does not authorize or contemplate unpaid interns at for-profit employers. Despite the clear text of a federal law dating to 1938, numerous for-profit companies are taking advantage of free labor by hiring interns without compensation. Unfortunately, the job market is so bad that many students and graduates are left with no choice but to work for free with the hope that it will lead to a paid position with the company, said Sarelson. But, he added, a bad labor market is not a basis for disregarding federal law.
The workers were involved in insurance collection for health care providers the more workers, the more revenue. One client performed the same tasks as paid employees. The employer would divide the workload equally among all employees and unpaid interns and the unpaid employees did the exact same thing as paid employees. Another client performed secretarial services and was ridiculed for not working additional hours after the internship ended to finish his work. A third client worked for a company that admitted that it used interns for economic reasons. This third client even had to train her replacement intern. Despite these and other facts indicative of a traditional employment relationship, all three cases were dismissed pre-trial because the evidence weighed against an employer-employee relationship. These three unpaid workers were denied an opportunity to present their case to a jury.
The Department of Labor has issued non-binding guidelines suggesting that a very limited amount of truly educational internships could avoid the minimum wage provisions of the FLSA. But those guidelines do not have the effect of law and have never been blessed by the Supreme Court. Regrettably, many employers are improperly taking advantage of these non-binding guidelines in arguing that their interns are not entitled to compensation under the Act.
The Eleventh Circuit case is Kaplan v. Code Blue Billing & Consulting, Inc., Case No. 12-12011-BB. For inquires, call (305) 379-0305 or on the web at http://www.sarelson.com.
Sarelson Law Firm
Cheney Winslow
800.221.8424
winslow@attorneysonlineinc.com
Source: EmailWire.Com
Subscribe to LegalLaw247.Com Newsletter
