Should an internship be paid and how to distinguish it from a probationary period?

Where to begin?

When applying for a job, you need to be prepared for the fact that you may need to undergo an internship. It is a practice that involves the trainee acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to perform professional duties. Typically, internships are carried out at enterprises that have complex production or high labor safety requirements. Therefore, the need for it is not everywhere.

However, many employers, taking advantage of the fact that people do not understand labor laws, specifically introduce internships, at the end of which they fire employees due to alleged “unsuitability” without paying salaries.

After all, the intern often does not know for sure whether the internship should be paid or not.

Internship – what is it?

What exactly is an internship? First of all, it is experience. Regardless of whether you get hired or not, these skills will be useful in life.

Thus, an internship is an excellent opportunity for a young specialist to gain practical experience after gaining theoretical knowledge, as well as master many skills that will be useful for career growth. Thus, the employee learns in practice and at the same time receives a salary, as well as performs job responsibilities.

An internship is not just an important part of gaining professional skills. Thanks to this practice, you can improve your skill level. The valuable skills gained through daily work will be useful in the future and will be a great experience. It is necessary to distinguish educational qualification practice from internship for the purpose of getting a job, since the latter is paid.

How long does the practice last?

The duration of the internship upon hiring depends on working conditions and the complexity of the work performed. Therefore, its duration can vary over a fairly wide range: from 2 weeks to 6 months. However, this practice usually lasts 2 weeks, after which the candidate is transferred to a permanent position with a fixed salary. If a person has a poor internship or decides to leave, then the contract concluded with him upon admission is terminated.

At the same time, he must receive payment for the work performed. After all, according to current legislation, they are an integral part of the labor process.

How long can the internship last?

The total period of probation and training is determined by the employer. The Labor Code today does not regulate the duration of internships. In each specific case, the duration of the period is determined individually and is prescribed when concluding an employment contract.

Normative base

The fact that internships are paid when applying for a job is stated in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, there is no separate article here that would be entirely devoted to all the intricacies of the internship. It is mentioned in Art. 59, which is devoted to the conclusion of a fixed-term contract.

However, it is worth noting here that the amount of salary during the internship is determined by the employer independently. Naturally, the salary for the internship period will be slightly less than that of experienced employees in the same position. But the amount of payments for this period should not be lower than the minimum level prescribed by law.

In order to clearly know how much money will be received during the internship period, this point must be discussed with the employer before concluding the contract. Moreover, the document itself must contain a clause regarding the amount of salary a person is entitled to during practice.

Also, payment for an internship may be regulated by by-laws that regulate labor relations in the Russian Federation.

Why does an employee need a free internship? Does this make sense?

Such things are very profitable for employers, which is why free internships are very popular, because management does not spend any money on training a new employee.

Such an employee must constantly be in the branch; the training institution is needed for:

Preparation for work in another organization, this helps the employee in increasing the level of his competence and acquiring new knowledge and skills, all this contributes to work in the future;
Studying complex methods and directions prepares the future specialist for independent work in his position;
After such training courses and tests, it is possible to determine the level of a person and set him tasks that he will definitely cope with and consistently bring benefits;
Contact with direct responsibilities opens up new potential opportunities for a person; in theory, he may not show himself very well, but in practice he will open up in his own way and show a high level;
Adaptation and stabilization in the future there will be no difficulties with minor psychological difficulties;

You can see that although the company does not spend money, it spends its time and specialists, and may also suffer some losses due to the work of a new employee.

Is it possible to take vacation or sick leave during the internship?

Sick leave pay is intended only for permanent employees;
Vacation is applied only for its duration, because due to the campaign it is allowed after half a year of work;
A fixed-term contract is shifted due to similar problems by type: illness or vacation. Therefore, it is not necessary to renew it. This must be indicated during the conclusion.

Registration procedure

If it is necessary to undergo an internship when applying for a job, the following procedure must be followed:

First, the employer is required to draw up an order for hiring a new employee;
After this, an order for the internship is prepared. To do this, the organization must have a set of documents that specify the procedure, timing, goals and other aspects of the implementation of this procedure;
At the end of the internship period, the employee must pass an exam to check the level of assimilation of the acquired knowledge.

If the hired employee has acquired the necessary knowledge and also mastered it well, then the employer transfers him to a vacant position and then pays him a salary according to the scale available at the enterprise.

Subtleties of payment and processing

In the case of a paid internship, upon hiring, an employment contract must be concluded with the new employee (Article 67 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, payment for the internship period should not be less than the level established by the minimum wage. However, there are exceptions here regarding students undergoing such internships.

In the case of students, the company must enter into an appropriate agreement with the educational institution.

The subject of this document must be labor practice. Do not confuse internship and student practice. These are two different things that are regulated differently. After all, in the case of students, there is no need to talk about hiring.

Here the organization simply provides a place and opportunity for internship. Therefore, this practice is not paid. At the same time, the bonus here is the possibility of further employment if there is a vacant position at the enterprise, and the student completed the internship with “excellent marks”.

What to do if you are offered an unpaid internship

Unfortunately, while unpaid internships are clearly an illegal method of employment, there are few real ways to hold an employer accountable for such actions.
It is necessary to obtain comprehensive evidence of the fact of working without an employment contract. And the employer, in turn, always has the opportunity to refuse to conclude an employment contract on formal and legal grounds. Even despite the presence of positive court decisions in the existing practice in favor of workers, they were mainly ensured only by the fact that employers seriously violated the rights of workers in addition to unpaid internships, or simply had minimal training in the field of jurisprudence. However, the very fact that an employer offers an illegal method of employment can already say a lot about him. It is unlikely that such an employer cares about compliance with other labor guarantees provided for by law. Most likely, the employee will subsequently have to deal with other illegal actions of the employer.

Of course, situations often arise when there is no alternative to such employment. However, an unpaid internship does not always mean that the employer is malicious. Many employees and employers generally prefer to resolve possible controversial and conflict situations outside the official field of legislation.

In turn, the employer can also sometimes accommodate the employee halfway, allowing him additional paid absences or providing financial assistance. But the most common “gift” is the payment of wages “in an envelope” - but in a slightly larger form than it would be in completely official mutual settlements.

What should an employment contract contain?

When hiring any citizen, an employment contract must always be concluded. If necessary, this document specifies all aspects related to the internship. It is especially important to clearly state the amount of salary received by the trainee. It will also be important to describe the conditions for the internship.

During the allotted internship period, a candidate for a vacancy must:

learn the features and subtleties of the tasks performed;
familiarize yourself with the rules of labor protection and technical safety;
familiarize yourself with the necessary instructions that you will be required to follow in the course of your work in your position.

An employee, before concluding an employment contract, must familiarize himself in detail with all its clauses.

Student agreement

In practice, this type of contract is not much different from a fixed-term contract. You will also need to write an application and draw up an agreement.

Do internships have to be paid by law when signing a student agreement? Yes, but in fact the employer does not pay wages, but a stipend, the amount of which is specified in the contract. When performing a specific production task, the amount of the scholarship must correspond to the real amount of payment for such work.

In addition, the contract spells out the employee's clear responsibilities and what the employer's intentions are if the trainee successfully completes the training.

If the trainee fails to complete the training or does not return to work, then the employer has the right to demand that the trainee reimburse the scholarship.

The internship period is not included in the length of service, and this is not recorded in the work book.

Supervision of an intern

To transfer to an inexperienced employee the necessary knowledge and skills during an internship, he is assigned to a responsible person. This could be the head of a department or another person working on the company's staff. The person in charge monitors the completion of the internship and writes it into a report every day. Based on his observations, as well as the result of the work, the effectiveness of the practice will be assessed at the end of the internship.

It is worth noting that the opinion of the person in charge may influence the amount of payment for a given period. This is due to the fact that the internship conditions may have a clause on reducing payments if the candidate fails to comply with certain rules and requirements (for example, having an agreed percentage of defects, being late for work, etc.).

Pros and cons of internship

Pros:
Knowledge and skills from experienced workers in your specialty;
Lack of full responsibility for the result of the work done;
Creates a correct and complete idea of the position, makes it clear whether you are getting what you expect;
You can refuse at any time, since the contract states that the candidate has no obligations and can leave the position at any time.

Minuses:

There is no exact guarantee that after the verification period you will be accepted on a permanent basis;
There may be more than one candidate, management uses their ideas and literally chooses the best one;
Without a payment clause, the work may be free.

What happens after the end of the internship?

Upon completion of the internship, the previously concluded agreement ceases to exist. Usually the document is issued for the same period that the internship will last. After completing the internship, the employee takes exams. Based on the assessments received, a decision is made to transfer him to a permanent position with the conclusion of a new employment contract.

If the practice was performed poorly or the person himself does not intend to continue cooperation, then a new contract is not concluded, and a final settlement is made with the employee.

General information

All new employees have a probationary period during which they undergo a training phase. During this period, the employee must acquire basic skills for further work. All internships take place under strict supervision of management.

After which they are faced with the choice of whether to accept a newcomer or not; if all recommendations and established conditions are not met, the person is fired due to inconsistency with the assigned tasks.
The official part of the law speaks of a period from two weeks to one month, this can be amended, the period can be extended to several months, all these aspects are discussed when drawing up the contract, if there is no clause on duration, then accordingly the employee is accepted on a permanent basis.

In which case is a probationary period established?

Competition for a position;
Female individuals with a child two years old or on term;
A minor;
An employee with a contract that is valid for no longer than two months.

Receiving payment

At the end of the internship, the employee receives payments for the time worked at the rate established by the contract. If the employee has not received the money or was given only part of the due amount, he has the right to go to court and defend his rights in court.

However, delays in payments may be due to various reasons. For example, funds have not yet been transferred from the state budget, there has been a delay in payments under the contract and the company currently does not have the required amount of money, etc. In this case, the parties agree on the terms of payment. If they are not fulfilled, then the employee can only go to court.