On Campus Student Employment

Every on-campus supervisor and student employee are responsible for reading the Student Employment Policies and Procedures Manual. This document includes all guidelines and expectations of the university student employment program, both for federal and non-federal work study. If you have questions or concerns about any part of the manual, please do not hesitate to contact Career Services.

Guidelines for Unpaid Internships

The Department of Labor utilizes a "primary beneficiary test," which includes the below seven factors, to determine if an intern must be paid minimum wage and overtime. The information below will help employers distinguish between an employee, who must be paid, and a trainee, who can legally work as an unpaid intern. 

  1. The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee—and vice versa.
  2. The extent to which the internship provides training that would be similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the clinical and other hands-on training provided by educational institutions.
  3. The extent to which the internship is tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.
  4. The extent to which the internship accommodates the intern’s academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar.
  5. The extent to which the internship’s duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning.
  6. The extent to which the intern’s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern.
  7. The extent to which the intern and the employer understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.

For more information, please see the Department of Labor's fact sheet.

The California Department of Industrial Relations, specifically the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), has taken the position that employers should follow several additional requirements that stretch beyond the DOL's six criteria. The additional requirements are:

  1. The training should be part of an educational curriculum.
  2. The students should not be treated as employees for such purposes as receiving benefits
  3. The training should be general in nature, so as to qualify the students for work for any employer, rather than designed specifically as preparation for work at the employer offering the program.
  4. The screening process for the program should not be the same as for employment.
  5. Advertisements for the program should be couched in terms of education rather than employment.

Professional and Ethical Expectations of Students and Employers

As a member of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, Career Services adheres to professional standards which:

  • Promote a fair and equitable recruitment process for both students and employers
  • Allows students to openly, freely and objectively select employment opportunities based on their assessment of the best use of their abilities, their personal goals, and other pertinent facts
  • Provide support for informed and responsible decision making by students in an ethical and professional fashion

While Career Services strives to maintain these standards, the presence of job announcements provided through Handshake or from Career Services does not indicate an endorsement or recommendation from University of the Pacific or Career Services. Students and alumni should take responsibility for all necessary precautions when interviewing for, or accepting these positions, and students and alumni are solely responsible for obtaining necessary information concerning the employer. In the unlikely event that a problem is encountered with a company listed through our office, please notify Career Services promptly