Policies & Procedures

Interim Policy: INTERNS

Interns

This interim policy implements Oregon House Bill 2669, passed June 5, 2013, and effective immediately. The bill extends protections against certain unlawful employment practices to interns as defined below.

An intern is defined as a person who performs work for an employer for the purpose of training if:

• The employer is not committed to hire the person performing the work at the conclusion of the training period
• The employer and the person performing the work agree in writing that the person performing the work is not entitled to wages for the work performed, AND
• The work performed:
• Supplements training given in an educational environment that may enhance the employability of the intern
• Provides experience for the benefit of the person performing the work
• Does not displace regular employees
• Is performed under the close supervision of existing staff, AND
• Provides no immediate advantage to the employer providing the training and may occasionally impede the operations of the employer.

The new law requires that interns be “considered to be in an employment relationship with an employer” for purposes of Oregon’s employee protections against certain unlawful employment practices including the following:

• sexual harassment
• discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or age
• discrimination based on service in the uniformed services
• disability discrimination and impermissible medical inquiries or examinations
• whistleblower retaliation
• requiring breathalyzer, polygraph, psychological stress or brain-wave test
• obtaining or using genetic information
• discrimination based on tobacco use during non-work hours
  

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