Since the Fair Labor Standards Act contains no provision contemplating the concept of the unpaid intern, employers often find themselves defending their decision to classify someone who provides services to the company as being outside the protections afforded “employees” under the statute. Such a defense can be challenging, although one vocational school in Tennessee succeeded in just such a defense last year. A refresher on the federal standard for exclusion from “employee” protection as a “trainee” can be found on the Jackson Lewis web site, here.